Hi, new to forum. Taking delivery of 2001 AP1 this week which only has 12k miles and still has original tires. My apologies if there is a recent update on tires but I keep finding older posts. Anyone running Firestone-Firehawk Indy 500’s? Thoughts? Better options? Top priority is performance and low noise. Thx

 

Best doesn't exist. Everything is a set of compromises. You pick the ones most important to you.

You said performance, and noise. Those are opposites. So best of one is near worst of other. So you're really asking for, I think, good enough performance for the kind of car it is (which means excellent), without too much noise (which, since its convertible with little sound deadening, is never gonna be really quiet, so a noise free tire wouldn't be much better than a tire that just wasn't horrible at noise.)

Bottom line, you're looking for a tire in the Max Performance Summer category. The Firestone's, by all accounts, are awesome, even if technically they are on a rung lower category wise.

By the way, even just defining performance is a set of compromises. Its not just outright traction. I specifically choose a tire with less traction than others in category, because I put more emphasis on stiff sidewall, that this chassis seems to require. Traction is so abundant these days, it no longer needs to be main performance decision factor.

 

Thanks, you make a lot of great points, especially on the noise. I don’t want to compromise any performance related aspects for noise reduction. I plan to enjoy this car as a driving experience. I have a 57 nomad that is my cruiser but not set up for joyful curve tackling fun haha. I heard some recommend the Bridgestone potenza 300. Thoughts on that one or any of the pirelli brand? I’m not so much stuck on going inexpensive…. It is a sports car and should be driven as such. Thanks again.

 

Where are you located? That might impact tire choices. Never heard of the Potenza 300 in North America.

My recommendation for a summer tire that still retains comfort and less noise but has great grip is either the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S/5 and the Continental Extreme Contact Sport 02

 

What ever tire you decide to purchase for the AP1 please learn the car first. The Firehawk are a great tire. Enjoy the car and welcome to our world.

 

I live in the UK, where even in summer the roads can be quite wet, especially in my area, I decided to move to a flood plain for some reason.

I've been using the Uniroyal Rainsport 5 ( a brand of Continental over here and I believe Michelin in the US) and I haven't found a Tyre with wet performance like it. In the dry its an excellent tyre, in the wet it even better.

As said previously in this thread, find a tyre that suits your needs best, choosing tyres is all about compromises.

 

23 year old tires are unsafe to drive at more than boulevard speeds so you need to make a tire change immediately.

As noted "best" tire does not exist. The hierarchy of Summer tires is Extreme, Max, and Ultra High Performance (highest to lowest). Unsurprisingly tread life decreases as you move up the scale. And tread noise goes up.

Go over to the Tire Rack website, enter your car's make and year and look at the summer performance tire category. There are 5 Extreme, 2 Max, and 6 Ultra High performance tires listed any one of which will be suitable. Don't bother with All Seasons. With only 12,000 original miles on the car I doubt you'll be driving thousands of miles a year so tread life is not a consideration. I have Bridgestone RE-71RS (extreme) tires on my car but the Firestone (nee Bridgestone) Firehawk Indy 500s will be fine albeit lacking the warm fuzzy feelings of having Extreme Performance tires on the car. The RE-71RS tires are quiet enough for me,

Note that Discount Tire bought Tire Rack a couple of years ago so any tire you find on Tire Rack can be purchased and mounted at Discount Tire for the same price. There are three Discount Tires within a few minutes of my house and I suspect from yours.

-- Chuck

 

I recently put a new set of Michelin PS4s on my G37 and absolutely LOVE them. I have a set of Michelin PSS (the tire model prior to PS4) on my AP1 S2K (with AP2 wheels) and love them, as well! I have had the Continental ExtremeContact on the G37 and they seemed almost too sticky -- like I had duct tape wrapped around the tires facing outwards. Hard to describe, but they gave me confidence.

One thing I noticed with the Contis is they got really, REALLY noisy when they were worn -- I think its a design feature so you have a good idea of when they need replacing.

As Chuck mentions above, a good brand name tire is worth its weight in gold! It comes down to preference, so go with a tire you know (imo). I would also second Bama Dave's advice about learning the car in a safe manner prior to doing anything stupid in it. So many of these cars have been totalled by inexperience! Sounds like you got a good car. Good Luck!

 

This is not accurate, there are tires that can only be bought from TireRack, Discount does not have access to the same tires. Yes, Discount bought TR, but they are running as separate entities.

 

Correct, they are being run as separate companies. My local (localest?) Discount Tire store told me they could get anything Tire Rack could get -- at least regarding tires for my S2000. Might take a couple of days. My Bridgestone RE-71RS tires did not appear on the Discount Tire website or database at the store but they got them in about a week at the Tire Rack price.

Regardless it never hurts to try.

-- Chuck