Currently Available Goodyear or Firestone Tires for 1971

[Paul C.]

I currently BF Goodrich T/A tires whihchave 90% of their tread left but are 15-20 years old so I am replacing them for safety reasons.

Which currectly available Goodyear or Firestone (since they originally came on the 1971 & no I don't want kelsey or coker tires) will fit the 8 inch rim and not rub the wheel wells. I wanted Goodyear Eagle GT II (no longer made) but looks like the Goodyear Wrangler SR-A(light truck & SUV) and the Firestone Destination LE (light truck) are the only tires that comes in 225 x 70R x 15---also BF Goodrich T/A. Same size but 235 yeilds the same 3 tires. I quess my question is are there any other sizes that fit the 1971 like 235 x 75R x 15 or something else? I understand why everyone who buy radial tires are running the Goodrich T/A.

[Leonard M.]

Re: Currently Available Goodyear or Firestone Tires for 1971

Here are Goodyear 215 70 15 Integrity tires. Plain vanilla, but new, reliable, correct brand and correct modern comparable size. Purchased direct from Goodyear, shipped to and installed by a local shop on their list. Brought my own valve stems. Had them install the stick on weights on the outside so they are completely hidden by the trim ring.

[Paul C.]

Re: Currently Available Goodyear or Firestone Tires for 1971

How do they handle? They aren't rated well for wet surfaces?

[Patrick B.]

[Paul C.]

Re: Currently Available Goodyear or Firestone Tires for 1971

245/60-15 size tires are not avilable in Goodyear or Firestone. Wow, NCRS needs to change to include Goodrich since nothing avilable that for sports type cars except kelsey tires for example that cost $360-$435/tire. Doesn't fit the budget of many people. Some things on older corvettes should be exempt from judging--things that wear out and can't be obtained except at $$$$$$ costs like tires, shocks, etc. Just my 2 cents. I will say my car still received top flght even with the BF Goodrich T/A radials.

[Rick A.]

Re: Currently Available Goodyear or Firestone Tires for 1971

"NCRS needs to change......." that is the reason there are STANDARD deductions for tires, etc. The owner needs to decide what the level of pain is for each item where there is a standard deduction - pretty straight-forward if you take time to understand the process.

[Duke W.]

Re: Currently Available Goodyear or Firestone Tires for 1971

The only sizes you should consider are 215/70R15 and 225/70R15 with a preference for the latter.

You can get an idea of how tires will perform by looking at the UTQG and speed ratings. I doubt if anything you can find from GY or Firestone could be considered a performance tire. Most will have S (112 MPH) or T (118 MPH) speed ratings with high wear ratings (maybe 500 or more) and would be considered "all season", "standard touring", or maybe even light truck tires.

There is a general inverse correlation of wear rating and grip. The higher the wear rating the lower the grip and vice versa. A tire with a wear rating of 500 may last for 50-80K miles, but on a vintage car they will likely "age out" before they wear out, and maximum lateral and braking grip is around 0.75g.

The first UTQG letter is the wet braking rating, which will likely be AA or A, and the second is the temperature tolerance rating. For S and T speed ratings it may only be "B", the best being A, and don't buy a C temperature rating.

In normal driving they should perform reasonably well including in the rain, but they will not have high limits and may not offer good breakaway characteristics in spirited driving at the limit of adhesion.

The only really high performance tire currently available in suitable sizes for vintage Corvettes is the Avon CR6ZZ, which is actually a DOT legal racing tire with a wear rating of 80, but they should last about 10K miles of normal road driving and will provide nearly 1g worth of grip when you need it. Probably the biggest drawback is the price... about the same as a new set of shoes for a C7, but if you enjoy spirited driving and want your vintage Corvette to perform similar to a modern sports car, they are the way to go.

As far as judging is concerned my recommendation, especially if you want to proceed beyond the chapter level, is to buy a set of repro tires to mount on the original wheels, which will yield the minimum deduction and then buy a set of repro wheels and mount some decent tires on them for driving. The NCRS Flight Judging standard is not likely to change.

Duke

[Paul C.]

Re: Currently Available Goodyear or Firestone Tires for 1971

I knew when I typed the reply I was opening a can of worms and it would detract from my original question. Bad me. I understand the standards. I'm happy with my top flight at the local chapter and if I go further I will still have the tire deduction. I quess Im just upset at the lack of choices of tires by Goodyear and Firestone. I really like the looks and performance of the Goodrich T/A radials but may look into the others.

[Dan A.]

Re: Currently Available Goodyear or Firestone Tires for 1971

I am facing the same issue with my 72. I currently have repro Goodyear Wide Treads and while I like the look the driving experience is not that great. Has anyone tired the new Firestone Wide Oval radials that look period correct? https://www.cokertire.com/new-wide-oval-radial

[Daniel K.]

Re: Currently Available Goodyear or Firestone Tires for 1971

Dan - I have the wide oval radials and so far I'm very satisfied. But I haven't put many miles on them yet...

[Dan A.]

Re: Currently Available Goodyear or Firestone Tires for 1971

Dan - I have the wide oval radials and so far I'm very satisfied. But I haven't put many miles on them yet...

Good to know. What size did you get and did you buy them from Coker?

[Paul C.]

Re: Currently Available Goodyear or Firestone Tires for 1971

I really like the looks of the Firestone RWL super wides ovals. I assume you got the GR70 15 which are equivalent to P225 R70x15 and not the FR70 15 which is equivalent to P215-R70 x 15. I like the wider tires even though prior to 1973 had the F70-15 and 1973 and after had P225-r70-15. Im sure Id loose some points for having the GR70 on a 1971 ut I like the wider tire.

Didn't even know they were making these tires.

[Daniel K.]

Re: Currently Available Goodyear or Firestone Tires for 1971

I bought them directly from Coker (not certain you can get them anywhere else), and they are FR70-15's.

[Jeffrey S.]

Re: Currently Available Goodyear or Firestone Tires for 1971

I currently BF Goodrich T/A tires whihchave 90% of their tread left but are 15-20 years old so I am replacing them for safety reasons.

Which currectly available Goodyear or Firestone (since they originally came on the 1971 & no I don't want kelsey or coker tires) will fit the 8 inch rim and not rub the wheel wells. I wanted Goodyear Eagle GT II (no longer made) but looks like the Goodyear Wrangler SR-A(light truck & SUV) and the Firestone Destination LE (light truck) are the only tires that comes in 225 x 70R x 15---also BF Goodrich T/A. Same size but 235 yeilds the same 3 tires. I quess my question is are there any other sizes that fit the 1971 like 235 x 75R x 15 or something else? I understand why everyone who buy radial tires are running the Goodrich T/A.

Paul,
Firestone has a tire called FR 710 which is available in 215-70-15. It has a UTQG of 560AB. I chose these for Diamonback to put a redline on because I wanted to keep the manufacturer name/logo on the tire (just my preference) and this was one they said that they could fit the redline in the right place with the writing intact. I also like that since it is an original supplier for my '69 and it is the current size equivalent to the F70-15, it would get some credit if I ever have the car judged again (highly unlikely). Attached are 2 photos of the tire on my car. I am very please with the ride quality and noise level (low) of these tires. They just cost a small fortune!

[Paul C.]

Re: Currently Available Goodyear or Firestone Tires for 1971

Anyone have any idea how many points deduction during judging a 1971 would get if it had GR-70 RWL wide oval versus FR-70 tires? Thank you in advance for you help, knowledge, and input.