Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval Indy 500 tires experience
05-05-2011, 08:42 PM
#1
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Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval Indy 500 tires experience
I installed these tires two weeks ago and have been extremely happy with them.
Last summer I had Michelin PS2's and loved them. The only problems with them was the price and the below average wear time. Also, I wasn't exactly blown away with the cornering capabilities. I wouldn't say they handled badly, but I wasn't enthralled. On the other hand, the wet and dry traction were some of the best I've ever experienced from a road tire.
Anyway, after researching and comparing tires to the point where I can name almost any tire by it's tread pattern (no joke), I decided on the Firehawks. I chose them for three reasons. They received one of the highest average reviewer ratings (8.9) on Tire Rack, I've never had a set of Firestone's, and the price point is almost half of the PS2's.
After about 1000 miles, I can say that the traction is at least as good as the PS2's if not better and the corning has been excellent. A measurable improvement over the PS2's. The road noise is very low though it's hard to judge because I'm coming off of winter tires. I purchased them from OnlineTires.com because they were even cheaper than TireRack. I paid $104.74 for the fronts and $119.48 for the rears.
I can honestly say, I don't think any tire could match the performance for the money. These tires are out performing tires that literally cost double. Firestone got a lot of bad press after the whole Ford Explorer fiasco, but forget about that because these tires are awesome. If you do get them, make sure you get the Firehawk Wide Oval Indy 500's. They also have another line without the "wide oval" that aren't the same.
Cheers,
Chris
Last summer I had Michelin PS2's and loved them. The only problems with them was the price and the below average wear time. Also, I wasn't exactly blown away with the cornering capabilities. I wouldn't say they handled badly, but I wasn't enthralled. On the other hand, the wet and dry traction were some of the best I've ever experienced from a road tire.
Anyway, after researching and comparing tires to the point where I can name almost any tire by it's tread pattern (no joke), I decided on the Firehawks. I chose them for three reasons. They received one of the highest average reviewer ratings (8.9) on Tire Rack, I've never had a set of Firestone's, and the price point is almost half of the PS2's.
After about 1000 miles, I can say that the traction is at least as good as the PS2's if not better and the corning has been excellent. A measurable improvement over the PS2's. The road noise is very low though it's hard to judge because I'm coming off of winter tires. I purchased them from OnlineTires.com because they were even cheaper than TireRack. I paid $104.74 for the fronts and $119.48 for the rears.
I can honestly say, I don't think any tire could match the performance for the money. These tires are out performing tires that literally cost double. Firestone got a lot of bad press after the whole Ford Explorer fiasco, but forget about that because these tires are awesome. If you do get them, make sure you get the Firehawk Wide Oval Indy 500's. They also have another line without the "wide oval" that aren't the same.
Cheers,
Chris
05-05-2011, 08:54 PM
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05-06-2011, 02:01 AM
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Tire Rack's test of Ultra High Performance summer tires last year placed these tires at the bottom of the foursome tested. Two years ago I bought the top-rated tire in this test (Yoko S-Drive). They've survived 16k miles of hard driving and I've been very happy with them. When I ordered new tires this week, I didn't even bother checking prices on the others in the test. I've just purchased another set of Yoko's.
The difference between the Yoko's and the Stones in Tire Rack's performance scores was small (less than 10%), but the price on my Yoko's was about 50% higher. That's impressive. I may have a little better performing tire, but the Firestone's look like a lot more performance for the money.
Good call, Chris!
The difference between the Yoko's and the Stones in Tire Rack's performance scores was small (less than 10%), but the price on my Yoko's was about 50% higher. That's impressive. I may have a little better performing tire, but the Firestone's look like a lot more performance for the money.
Good call, Chris!
05-06-2011, 12:18 PM
#7
Super Member
Thread Starter
Tire Rack's test of Ultra High Performance summer tires last year placed these tires at the bottom of the foursome tested. Two years ago I bought the top-rated tire in this test (Yoko S-Drive). They've survived 16k miles of hard driving and I've been very happy with them. When I ordered new tires this week, I didn't even bother checking prices on the others in the test. I've just purchased another set of Yoko's.
The difference between the Yoko's and the Stones in Tire Rack's performance scores was small (less than 10%), but the price on my Yoko's was about 50% higher. That's impressive. I may have a little better performing tire, but the Firestone's look like a lot more performance for the money.
Good call, Chris!
The difference between the Yoko's and the Stones in Tire Rack's performance scores was small (less than 10%), but the price on my Yoko's was about 50% higher. That's impressive. I may have a little better performing tire, but the Firestone's look like a lot more performance for the money.
Good call, Chris!
I haven't been able to really check out the wet traction yet though.
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05-06-2011, 03:05 PM
#8
Oval as in track, like Indy and others...............
05-07-2011, 06:56 AM
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2016 Chevrolet SS, 2006 Cadillac STS-V
I've installed quite a few sets of the Firehawk Wide Oval RFT on customer's Corvettes and they're been doing very well. They cost $100-$150 less than the factory Goodyear runflat but they've got better traction and they're quieter, ride better, last longer, and wear more evenly. How can you go wrong with that? If I had a Corvette I'd surely be running the Firestones even over a Michelin that I'm a huge fan of. I've been loving the Pilot Sport A/S Pluses I put on the rear of my C55 so far. Much cheaper than the ****ty Pirelli P-Zeros and already have almost 3x more life on them than the Zeros lasted.
05-10-2011, 03:46 PM
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I had the Pilot Sport A/S's for a while. They were a great all season tire. I just can't get over the amount of traction lost between all seasons and summer / winter tires. I used to try to down play it, but it's really night and day. They're good at both, but not great at either.
05-10-2011, 09:31 PM
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Cee Fiddy Five
Why do the P-Zeros have such terrible wear???
Thanks for the review on these tires! I'm going to need tires soon, but am always weary at trying out a new brand yaknow? The price/life of the Pirelli tires is obnoxious.
Thanks for the review on these tires! I'm going to need tires soon, but am always weary at trying out a new brand yaknow? The price/life of the Pirelli tires is obnoxious.
05-11-2011, 12:50 AM
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CLS, SLK, ETC
