Just How IMPORTANT Are TIRES For YOU In Your High-performance Vehicle?

I like to think that I am intellectually curious. So, I try to learn something new as frequent as possible. When it comes to all things technology — my day job — and automotive, I always keep my ears open.

I am like Johnny 5 from Short Circuit: "Need input."

One thing I've been trying to close the knowledge gap on is tires. And, boy, there hasn't been a stronger case study for this than the 2019 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350.

When I first drove the current-gen GT350 at Lime Rock years ago, it was — as expected — a lot of fun. On the road though, not so much. To be straightforward, it was terrible.

Even when pushed on country roads it just didn't feel entirely predictable and there was a bit of doubt in my mind, nagging "Should I or shouldn't I?" when applying the throttle.

I know everyone's asks from their high-performance vehicle is different but I prefer to be able to predictably push my auto to its limit. I don't want to have to worry about going backwards into a tree.

For 2019 though, Ford made modifications to the GT350's suspension and equipped it with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. It feels lightyears better. More traction, better planted and more willing to be pushed.

While I know it's not just the tires at work here, I can feel that they're playing a big part in giving me more confidence behind the wheel. So, I've got to ask: How IMPORTANT are tires for YOU in your high-performance vehicle?

MDarringer - 6/30/2019 10:49:33 AM

-3 Boost

People are morons about tires.

Racer boys will put sticky tires on their rides that (1) wear out quickly and (2) and beyond unsafe in the rain because they believe they must have top performance.

You should have tires that are appropriate to your climate. It never rains here so I don't need tires that disperse the rain. I'll just slow down and drive prudently on the 6 days a year that it rains here.

If I lived in Seattle, I make sure to have tires that were designed with rain in mind.

At the track, street tires are safer for newbies because the tires have lower limits. My TVRs have track tires.

PUGPROUD - 6/30/2019 11:18:36 AM

+1 Boost

The small area that actually meets the road is extremely important to handling and braking distances. All season tires that are practical for many reasons fall far short in both handling and stopping compared to summer tires. In addition driving enthusiasts can tell when the tire pressure on one or more tires is down.

MDarringer - 6/30/2019 11:27:11 AM

-5 Boost

This shows your ignorance: "...All season tires that are practical for many reasons fall far short in both handling and stopping compared to summer tires..." There are numerous examples of all season tires that are formidable summer tires too.

PUGPROUD - 6/30/2019 6:04:51 PM

+2 Boost

Ignorance is bliss Matt.You must be bliss because you are damn ignorant when it comes to tires.

MDarringer - 6/30/2019 6:51:25 PM

-1 Boost

Wrong, dumbass! And the data is on my side. There are a number of all season tires that do not "...fall far short in both handling and stopping compared to summer tires..." Do they provide less performance than a so-called summer tire? Sure. Do they fall "far short" NOPE. In fact the difference is usually negligible.

Here's the reason why: Performance cars have to leave the factory with tires, but the numbers the cars generate in the hands of magazines have to be on "as equipped cars". Thus, tire companies have worked doggedly to narrow that gap so that the car delivers performance but is not egregiously unsafe in the wet.

I am well versed in tire compounds for the track because I take cars there and drive them at 10/10ths, but those track tires are an entirely different animal than your so-called "summer" tires.

What you said might have been true in 1975, but this is 2019. Clue the hell in.

PUGPROUD - 6/30/2019 7:44:08 PM

+3 Boost

You can spin it any way you want Matt but if you check out the stopping distances from 70 miles per hour between all seasons and summer tires in the wet and dry you will find a significant difference. Twenty feet or more is meaningful in a panic stop.

CANADIANCOMMENTS - 6/30/2019 11:20:56 AM

0 Boost

Back in the day when I had a 3-Series I bought what was then as tested by Car + Driver as the best high performance rain tire but only 3rd in the dry test. I think it was a Goodyear Eagle F1 tire. It had all the directional grooves in it for dispersing water. Very trick and a good tire for all weather from late spring to the late fall.

MDarringer - 6/30/2019 11:30:00 AM

-5 Boost

The Pirelli P Zero Niro is a good tire.

CANADIANCOMMENTS - 6/30/2019 12:23:12 PM

0 Boost

@MD- I have been out of the tire game since 2008 since I got a 4Runner. BMW was hit from behind and totaled due to age and KM's. Today I use an all weather Nokian Rotiiva SUV tire. For winter a Gislaved Nordfrost 200.

MDarringer - 6/30/2019 1:05:42 PM

-4 Boost

You have just the one vehicle?

MDarringer - 6/30/2019 3:19:15 PM

0 Boost

I can see the pissy, overcompensatory manbitches have arrived to down vote.

CANADIANCOMMENTS - 6/30/2019 7:21:11 PM

-1 Boost

@MD Down voters need to get a life outside of Autospies.

CANADIANCOMMENTS - 6/30/2019 6:12:08 PM

0 Boost

@MD- Just the one. No wife no kids, just a dog. I had a C7 in my sights in 2017 but a huge corporate change cut my then job in 4 pieces. The $700k+ I would have pulled in went out the window. I have only driven 25,000km in the past 8 years. Home office and using the train to see clients downtown cuts out a lot of driving. 4Runner is great for a big dog and campsite/8hr/24hr/skiing etc. And handy for being a designated driver shuttle wagon when the crew heads downtown to the Batcave and out for a pub crawl.

MDarringer - 6/30/2019 7:03:21 PM

0 Boost

One wife, six boys, several dogs, and the boys want chickens. They planted a garden this year. I told them I didn't have time to do the maintenance for them and I'll be damned if that garden isn't tended to and producing vegetables with a vengeance.

I drove 32K miles last year on business! 12K of that was to establish that I am doing business in another state for tax purposes.

TomM - 6/30/2019 8:19:18 PM

+2 Boost

Matt- I think you will find that the Chickens are not worth raising

When I was very young - I inherited a family farm - where I built My house on (Myself - no contractor or builder) and we had Chickens and Pigs at the time. It also had a pretty big Smokehouse too.

THe problem with chickens is that you need a good Hunting dog to be around to protect them from predators AND chickens attract mice and rats so you need a CAT around for that. If you "Free range" them (New term for letting them loose sometime) - getting them back into their coops can be tiring. ANd in the end - unless you have enough to be commercially viable - you will find that their meat is TOUGH and Stringy. Chickens are not pets - and you will never be able to train them for that. If you are only looking for a few to have for the kids - I would suggest Ducks - at least they stay together.

MDarringer - 7/1/2019 8:19:30 AM

0 Boost

If the boys want to do it, I'm OK with it. I'm very blessed that the 5 of them--Jed isn't interested--hang together as a team--like their own little Mafia. They have been diligent and meticulous with their garden--I've never had to say anything to them--so they are a good risk. As for dogs we have Rottadors (Rott/lab cross). They are sweet dogs like Labrador retrievers, but frightening as hell to any intruder like a Rottweiler would be. They are trained.

As for ducks, we have them naturally because of the river. Our property ends on the Kern River. The ducks love the infinity pool.

skytop - 7/1/2019 1:15:15 AM

+1 Boost

When I rode motorcyles my riding riding and I when out in the desert with cruise at 160 MPH. I remember looking down over the handlebars looking at the spinning front tire. I thought how my life was riding on the absolute reliability of those bike tires.
Reliable tires are perhaps one of the MOST important parts of any vehicle or motorcycle, or plane.

MDarringer - 7/1/2019 8:20:43 AM

0 Boost

Stay on top of inflation. Rotate them (cars). Inspect them periodically.

t_bone - 7/2/2019 12:13:39 AM

+3 Boost

I like top grade tires in regulars cars. It's a good start for setting up a sleeper.