FAQ: Which tires work best?

Why are good tires important? You'll accelerate more quickly and reach higher speeds with good performance tires. Performance tires also allow for better road holding in the corners.

With FWD, tires become more than a handling mod. They are essential in transferring power to the ground. Making extra engine power is of little use if you can't keep the wheels from spinning when you accelerate. Also, better tires often come with higher speed ratings. If you ever choose to disable the speed governor and go flat out, you'd better have at least a set of H-rated tires. A modified Riv can easily exceed the safety margin of most average tires.

The brand of tire you choose is up to you, but generally tires with large, flat patches of rubber (like the BF Goodrich g-force Traction T/As) tend to grip the pavement very well. This will help during launching, an important area of concern with drag racing the Riviera.

The caveat with tires designed for high performance is their dependence on ideal road conditions. Many tires that work well on dry surfaces may exhibit problems in rainy situations, and may be totally dysfunctional in mud or snow. Research tires extensively before you buy. Make sure you are getting something that will work to your needs. Unless you live in the south, this typically means running one set of tires for summer and switching to another set for winter. The Tire Rack is a great resource to learn about and purchase good tires.

Other things to consider when buying tires;

Try not to stray from the 225/60/16 size tires that are recomended for the 16" factory rims on the riviera. changing the ratio of the tires could give misreads on the spedo and clearance issues.

The compound of the tire makes a difference in traction and cornering. A hard compound tire will last longer, but the grip will not be as good. On the other hand, a soft tire will have "sticky" launches and corner better, but will not last very long. try to find a happy medium if you drive them daily but sometimes go to the track. there are plenty of great tires that will give good track results and last years*.
(* depends on if you burn the tires at the track )

Since the riviera is a luxury automobile it is important to find a tire that rides nice on the highway and is quiet. If you have ever been in a jeep on the highway using off road tires, then you know what causes noise. The more air that gets traped in the notches of the tire the more noise it will produce. When looking at tires, try to find one that offsets the tread. Take a look at enconomy tires, the tread is in a straight row all the way around the tire and the pattern is almost unchanged across the width of the patch. A quality touring tire will have a specificly engineered design to keep road noise to a minimum.

If you plan on going to the track with your Riviera, do not buy larger wheels. Stay with 16's or 17's at most. The more rim, the harder it becomes to accelerate. It puts more stress on the steering and tranny components and you will not get good track times.

Also, if you have a 95 or 96 rivera (or any without the HD tranny) do not use drag slicks! you might think its cool running slicks, but it puts too much stress on the diff. durring a launch. Even the HD diffs in the "newer" rivs may not hold up under the stress of a super sticky tire in a launch.

I have Michelin HydroEdge tires. They work great in the rain, snow, and dry pavement. All around a better tire then stock.

I'm on my 2nd set of Firestone FireHawk Wide Ovals. Great cornering, decent straight-line accel, and excellent traction on wet roads. And even though they are a summer-only performance tire, not too bad in snow as I found out yesterday!

HAHA well i have the FUSION HRI's they are very good for hard lauches..... but my old tires i could just ignite them !!!!! but now no i can only spin them for 25 feet compareds to easily over 50 feet (prolly depends on tar to!!!!!)

quote: "(prolly depends on tar to!!!!!)"

The road surface is a big factor, probably just as important as the tires themselves.

http://www.performanceplustire.com/products/tires/searchType/searchByBrand/manufacturerID/107/productID_/2874#prodAnchor


General Grabber UHP 275/45R20 by General Tire



yess they are truck tires AND obviouslly i got 16's

What made you go with those?

UMM i gota VERY good deal.... and there sooooo MEATY...... that sounds gay but realy 3/4 inch of tread.

are they noisy? looks like they would be good in the rain and off road
have you tested them to see how they are? ride quality, traction, grip, road feel, response?

not noisy...... GREAT In THE RAIn......... i can spin em on dry tar for more than 3 feet......and they are made for SVT lightings and SRT10 trucks....... GREAT i would DEF buy again

time for some 4-wheelin

Mud Bogger SS By Buick

uumm FOR UR info it is now not an SS anymore..... someone JACKED the badges 6@$†@®d

it was a buick fan, they knew damn well those decals didn't belong there

RhinoFLA wrote:

it was a buick fan, they knew damn well those decals didn't belong there

umm no it was some kid in a caprice......... i found out like 45 min ago....... he put them on uspide down and the trong way SO LMFAO at him hahhaha................. and i stole em' back and $h!† CANNED EM;.............. for all the haters fµ©k YOU.............jk i see whre ur comin from

Hmm. I've never had anyone bother my car, and I don't have any stickers on it... coincidence?

AA wrote:

Hmm. I've never had anyone bother my car, and I don't have any stickers on it... coincidence?

HAHAHAHAHA prolly......

AA wrote:

Hmm. I've never had anyone bother my car, and I don't have any stickers on it... coincidence?

Hah

On those 19" wheels im getting tomorrow night are a set of Nitto NT555 series tires. I'm certainly no tire expert but I know the basics. I went to their website and it appears these are a high performance street tire. They feel stickier than my current tires, thats for sure.

Performance rating : "w"
Tread wear : "300"
Traction : "A"

the rim size is 8" wide instead of our stock 7" so I would imagine a handling improvement is not out of the question. Can anyone enlighten me on the grip benefit of these tires.

http://www.nittotire.com/#index%2Etire%2Ent555

You'll probably notice a firmer ride, and better cornering just because they are lower profile and wider. Better straight line traction, but harder to accelerate. How much do the wheels & tires weigh compared to stock?

AA wrote:

You'll probably notice a firmer ride, and better cornering just because they are lower profile and wider. Better straight line traction, but harder to accelerate. How much do the wheels & tires weigh compared to stock?

I have no idea what the stock weighs.. When I change it, I can arm it and see but i think they were about the same from when i switched the one before

w = sustained speeds of 168mph. good luck getting the riv up there
tread wear of 300 doesnt really mean much since each co uses different test to determine their base line tread rating. but im guessing you will probably get ~25k miles out of them if you stay off the track.
you would think the traction would be better than A for a high performance tire, but they look pretty aggressive and will do well in the rain. hope you have another set for snow weather though.