My 70 GS 455 calls for G70-14 Firestone Wide Oval raised letter tires on the factory 14x6 Buick rally wheels. The radial equivalent would be a 225-70-14 which is a good sized tire and a good look on these cars. Back to the original question, I have always liked the BFG T/A's but the current ones are not as good as the the sharper V tread that was the previous design to these we have now. They got better traction, lasted longer, and did not deteriorate as quickly.
Sounds like we have a few young ones on here that don't remember the radial T/A as THE tire back in the day when these cars were young enough to be inexpensive cars that kids could and did buy for their shackled up hot rod. The T/A was the tire to have back then. Outdated? They make a better tire today but it's not like were talking bias ply tires here. They are still a good tire, just not the best any more. I would venture to bet that these tires are still good for handling beyond the ability of many of the nay sayers or their cars. These cars are not Ferrari's.
I don't think you understand the concepts behind supply and demand or the factors that go into manufacturing methods and the effect on cost. The very fact that they don't sell many of tires like Cokers makes them have to charge more in order to make a profit and the fact that they may be using antiquated manufacturing methods and material that isn't widely used today also drives the cost up. In today's liability world I would think that some of the outdated tire designs would also cost the manufacturer more in insurance and that cost also gets passed along.
I'm not sure what some people have against Radial TA's. They're NOT junk. TireRack.com : Surveys posted by regular people, people that bought BFG Radial TA's for Mustangs, Musclecars, trucks, anything and everything. Daily drivers, weekend cruisers, street-strip, everything. They've posted a grand total of 16,000,000 miles, thousands of reviews, no one has ever had one come apart, blow apart, have a cord separate, or complain about quality. The Radial TA is the iconic tire for the guy actually drives their Musclecar. It's the only tire that many car show judges will NOT deduct points for. They are an accepted part of the Musclecar hobby. :TU:
Tire rack Survey: :TU: FS Indy 500 Rank #1 dry traction 9.0 ice traction 6.6 treadwear 8.5 BFG T/A Rank #3 dry traction 8.3 ice traction 5.2 tread wear 7.6 According the the survey the FS was Vastly superior in every single category.
You forget though, no one claimed these are the best tire made. They are a good tire, they look good and they are the right tire for that look the car had when it was still a relatively Current car and a guy wanted not only the best tire but also the coolest tire to have on his car. If being the best statistically was the standard, you would be scrapping that '70 Buick. After all, a new Camero is statistically a better car from a safety standpoint to mileage to horsepower. Lots of cars that you could argue are better than a '65 GS out there but that doesn't make them more desirable. Car guy facts 101, "better" isn't the same as cooler or more desirable. The T/A is a good tire with a good track record and its what many of us either ran or wished we could run back in the good old days.
i am on my 3rd set of bfg radial t/s tires on my gs. the latest set are 245r60x15 on new 15x7 rallyes in 2005. i love these tires. now. i gave owned three regular cars ('81 cutlass, 90 bonneville sse, '98 buick regal gs) that came from the factory with goodyear tires. if there was a nail within a 1/2 mile, the goodyears acted like a magnet to attract that nail...
Same for me. Just replaced my Goodyears. Many nails, and worn out at 20,000 miles. Performance tire almost $200 each to replace. No thanks. Had Three sets of Firestones. Loved the Original Wide Ovals. Two sets of firestones came apart in chuncks and the last set (came on a new car that I tried to talk the dealer into removing) worn out in less than 20,000 miles. I will never own Firestone / Bridgestone again. Always loved the BFG's. Now days I like new radial styles in black or the original Poly. I don't want anyone looking at my tires. I want them looking at the car.
Radial T/A's since their inception were always marketed as a muscle car tire. There was even a series of ads they had in the 90's featuring vintage muscle cars wearing them.
Firestone Indy 500s have saved me from several wrecks because they have excellent traction. Radials T/As would have equaled Wrecked Buick!:Smarty:
Oh boy now I don't know what to buy. Anyone have the specs for both tires? I think I am going to go for 225 70 14s in whichever tire I get.
Here are the BFG Radial T/A's: http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/tire-selector/name/radial-t-a-tires That's what I'm going with in the same size as you, 225/70R14.
Yep, and I remember when having T/A's on my 78 Trans Am with the 4 speed and a 400 was as good as could have dreamed of!
Check this site out below for tires. Mickey Thompson has a great selection. I am trying to decide what to buy for tires as well. I have had the BFG tires and like them for that classic muscle car look but I think I am ready for something different. The Sportsman S/T, Sportsman S/R, Sportsman Pro are all nice tires for a muscle car. http://www.mickeythompsontires.com/ http://www.mickeythompsontires.com/street.php?item=SportsmanST http://www.mickeythompsontires.com/street.php?item=SportsmanSR http://www.mickeythompsontires.com/street.php?item=SportsmanPro
Yeah maybe I'll see if I can find a set before they go bye-bye. Neither the BFG or the Indy 500 have very large lettering, but can't have everything I guess. I like the big block letters on the Eagle GT II. Not sure what the Mickey Thompson ones look like in real life, other than that no choices left really (Cooper maybe?)...The Daytons I have on my vert are ok, doubt I'd buy them again though...had two replaced under warranty for defects.
Here are few pics with Firestone Indy 500 and T/A's on diff cars. First are the Firestones on my 66 Charger. They look great, drive great and grip great. The second are the T/A's on my Buick, which now has the Firestones reversed blackwalls with steel wheels and dog dishes.
What kind of firestones? What model? Do they make them in 14's? I have no 15 inch wheels. Also, something to remember is for the man on a serious budget, BFG's are cheap. Don't know what the firestone's go for but something tells me they are probably a lot more money. And ditto on the price gouging. Tires have become almost worse than a tranny rebuild on my daily drivers. Friggin robbery.
here's what i have found over the 22 years of driving and owning cars, also working on cars 16 years for a living. the best tires overall for ride and wear have been michelin's. volvo's had those and goodyears eagle ga's on them in the mid 90's from the factory and the goodyears would be worn down in 20k, the michelins would last to 30k or so. also found that continentals would wear out fast on the xc 90's and xc 70's, also the belts would always break in these. pirellis were awful also, would bubble the sidewalls if you went over a speed bump it seemed, never mind a pothole. we would replace any of these with michelins and would get so many more miles and better ride out of them. i had replaced a set of goodyears that always seemed to have a slight shake around 70 mph with some bfg traction t/a's on my wifes old 99 pont. gp and they had a great ride, shake was even gone that i had been chasing. as far as 15" units go for our cars i have had the best results with the bfg radial t/a's. always balnced up nice, got good milage from them and handled well. the issue with most of these go is they are only speed rated to 112 mph. i have a nos set of the older bfg comp t/a's that are 275/60/15 that are on the rear of my camaro and they ride great and have a 130 mph rating. as far as white lettering goes the bfg is the ONLY one that looks good, all others should be flipped to blackwall. can't stand it when you see a great car that has been done right, awsome paint, nice wheels and then some "no name" white letter tires that make it look sooo cheezy, no excuse. if they are all you can get then just flip them to blackwall. the mickey thompsons that were mentioned previously seem good and might be our only choice down the road since the bfg's are getting harder to come by. their sportsman s/r are radial and have a 130 speed rating, their spertsman s/t have all the sizes we want and have a 118 rating and ugly lettering so they should be mounted black wall. merry christmas.
