Performance Tires

[evm1024]

I'm getting close to finishing off my suspension rebuild (well inthe next month or so) and I've been reading the archives on performance tires and cruising tire rack's ratings. I think that I', setteling on 195/60-14 rather than 205/60-14 and have looked at the usual Yoko, Sumo etc (currently running 205/60-13 Sumo htr on the '75).

What caught my eye was the General Tire Altemax HP. Highly rated from Tirerack. I don't plan on driving on snow....But we do get rain here in the PNW and at least this year some snow.

Does anybody have experience with the Altemax HP or other comments they would like to offer?

Regards, Ethan

[mdrburchette]

Sorry, I haven't tried the tires you're speaking of. I'm running Cobras and they're so hard I doubt they'll ever wear out in my lifetime. I did want to know what width rim you're running your 205/60s on.

[baltobernie]

How do you like the HTR200 you have now? $48 in the 195/60 x 14 size you're seeking, but not for you if you want (or need) to drive this car in near-freezing temperatures.

I've never been a fan of General tire; they and Uniroyal made the TPC-spec OEM tires for GM years ago. Those were useless as boat bumpers, let alone automotive tires. I also don't like directional tread tires; I'm sure they work like gangbusters in the wet, but rotation options are limited. The big caution I have with the Altimax is its designation of "Grand Touring", which I interpret as ride quality foremost, performance second - something I don't associate with Fiat Spiders.

If you can't use the HTR200 because of snow & ice, I'd consider something in the "High Performance" (or better) All Season category. But I gotta tell 'ya, the thought of you driving a Spider in ice & snow gives me the willies. No ABS, no air bags, no rollover protection, difficult for other drivers to see you, etc. etc.

[mdrburchette]

Bernie, if you lived a little farther south, you wouldn't have all those worries with driving your Fiat in the snow and ice. You'd be the only car on the road!

[evm1024]

The sumo's are on standard (5.5?) Iron Cross rims. I like them quite well. Pump up the preassure and they are very tight and precise, back off te preassure and they ride smooth. They are slick on the wet....as you would expect. There is a rain rated sumo (HTR H4). Not sure how they work.

I tend to agree that General tire does not inspire much faith. I was looking at the ratings. This begs the question does a 9.x rating in a grand touring equate to a 9.x in High performance. Or rather is it only relative to the catagory of tire? (9.9 GT is a 5.6 HP tire for example.)

In many ways it looked too good to be true. Which brings me back to the yoko or sumo offerings.

-Ethan

[baltobernie]

Tire Rack's ratings are customer-supplied, so I take them with a grain of salt. I suppose if you purchased the correct tire syle for your type of driving, you'd rate a perfect Grand Touring tire and a perfect Performance tire both 10's.

Here's another "ratings" example: Consumer Reports automobile reviews. CR readers have a higher-than-average propensity of owning Japanese cars, so it's only natural that Japanese cars get higher ratings than, say, American ones. Kind of a "self-fulfilling prophecy" sort of thing.

[kmac33]

Ethan,
I don't have experience with the Altemax, but I have General Exclaim UHP's on my current daily driver and am very happy with them. I put these on my previous car (G35 Coupe) and ended up liking them more than all of the previous tires I had used including Sumitomo's (HTR ZII) and Yokohama's. The Generals were less expensive than the Yokohomas, about the same cost as the Sumitomos. In my opinion, the Generals are much better in the wet than both and from a performance standpoint, I like the feel, grip, predictability. etc. of the Generals better as well. Yokohomas second with Sumitomos last on the performance scale.