I am currently shopping around for a set of tires for my '74. I am interested in a tire that as well as meeting the performance demands of my Corvette will also fit the era, that is to say, I do not want a modern style tread pattern. One other feature that is a must, 'Raised White Lettering'. I will be Air Freighting these tires from the U.S. as they are not available localy (Australia) with the aformentioned features. Whilst I have been able to identify a number of tires that fit the bill via the internet from companys such as 'The Tire Rack', I have no personal experiance with them and to locate someone here who has would be next to impossible. So as you can imagine there is a considerable cost involved in this exercise therefore I would like to get a decent tire first go. Any recomendations?
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Re: '74 Tires
I assume the size you are looking for is 225/70-15. From your post I couldn't quite tell if you are looking for performance or appearance. Most available tires in this size have only a "S" speed rating, hard compounds, and are not high performance tires. Goodyear does have two lines - the Eagel RSA and Eagle GT II, which used to offer "H" and "V" ratings. The RSA is an all season Hi perf tire that was common on Chevy Caprice police cars, though the old Caprice is out of production, and the 225/70VR-15 may be discontinued, too. The Eagle GT II has an "H" rating and a tread pattern appearance that would probably be closer to what you are looking for. Check goodyear.com and see if you can get into the U.S. web site. They have an on line catalog. The best performance tire would be the Michelin XWX. This is a vintage tire from your era, and is sold exclusively in the U.S. by Coker tire. A set costs about $1000 US, but there may be someone down under who distributes them.
Duke -
Re: '74 Tires
Martin,
Through experience I found that there are no companies that are presently producing 100% correct tires for your 1974, but there are several that fit the requirements that you state. Duke mentioned the Goodyear Eagle tires, which is what I chose for my '73 coupe. They look right, feel right and are certainly better than the tires the car came with.
Mike
Quebec NCRS ChapterComment
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Forgot to mention
that I paid the equivalent of about $60.00 US for each tire.
Mike
Quebec NCRS ChapterComment
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Re: '74 Tires
Eagle RSAs or GT IIs? What size and speed rating? When it comes to tires you can't be too specific, especially with a large manufacturer like Goodyear that has mutilple tire lines with similar names and tires with different speed ratings within the same line. Mentioning the DOT traction, temperature, and wear rating helps to further identify the specific tire. Sixty dollars sounds pretty low. Maybe you have one of the less expensive "Eagle" tires with a low or no speed rating.
DukeComment
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Re: '74 Tires
Mike,
Do your Goodyears have the solid raised white letters or the outline white letters? When I was shopping for tires for my '72 I wanted Goodyears with solid white letters (to as closely approximate the stock look as I could with modern tires) but the local tire store said they only make the outline white letters now, so I settled on Firestone Firehawks with solid white letters (215/70's M+S). They look real good from a distance, but up close I'm not crazy about the tread pattern.
Thanks, Bob BoothComment
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Re: '74 Tires
Hi Bob:
I haven't found any solid white lettered tires on the market today regardless of the manufacturer, doesn't mean they aren't around, I just could not find them.
jerryComment
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Re: '74 Tires
Yes I am chasing 225/70/15. 'The Tire Rack' list a Goodyear Eagle GT II with raised white lettering but it is S rated. It appears that high performance tires with RWL are very thin on the ground. The Tire Rack do list 2 'T' rated tires with RWL, they are a 'Dunlop GT Qualifier T' and a 'General XP 2000 II', do you have any experience or knowledge of these? The Goodyear and General seem to have a traditional style tread, but all 3 look OK. It is becoming clearer that the traditional look does not crossover into the 'High Performance Zone' and as my car is unmodified and I am after a stock look I guess I will be looking for the best of the bunch that fit the criteria. Any help/advice greatly appreciated.Comment
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Here's the skinny (long)
My car was purchased from the second owner who had equipped it with the fattest and lowest profile tires that would fit, even though the fronts rubbed on the frame at full lock. It pleased me no end to ditch these when the local Goodyear dealer (who also has a frame off '73) offered to replace them with a better fitting, more appropriate tire. As a side note, two of my castoffs now grace the back end of a mid-70's VW beetle. They look better there than they ever did on my car. Sorry, I digress.
What I expected in the new tire is that they be as close as possible to the physical size and appearance of the original tires, being that perfect repro tires are not available for '73 MY onwards. My tank sticker indicated that the car was ordered with raised white letters,and knowing that '73s came with either Firestone or Goodyears, this narrowed my choices. Next 'reality check' was that my car sees the road only 7-8 months of the year, on nice sunny days, and totals 3,000 miles a year tops. The opportunity or inclination to push my carefully restored baby to the limits of traction either on the twisties or long straight stretches is tempered with the fact that speeding tickets are VERY expensive in Quebec, and you can lose your license in the blink of an eye. When I do throw caution to the wind, and need to scare myself silly I choose one of the two wheeled weapons in the garage. So, what this meant was that paying megabucks for a tire that will never be used to even half of it's potential made no sense to me.
What my Goodyear buddy offered me was:
Eagle GT II raised white letters (solid, not just outline) P225/70R15, 100S treadwear 420, traction A, temp B
The big surprise was how much better the car handled compared to the old weenies. Had I known, I would have ditched them the day I bought the car.
I guess in Martin's case, the end use of the car should also govern tire choice.
Mike
Quebec NCRS ChapterComment
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How about a 235/70-15 102V blackwall
Martin - There are at least a half a dozen tires in the Goodyear product line that will work on your car if you're willing to consider 235/70s and 255/60s in addition to 225/70s Can your reach goodyear.com and get to their on-line catalog? If you can get to the Tire Rack web site, you should be able to get to the Goodyear site. Not all of the Goodyear products are carried by The Tire Rack. The Goodyear site has just about everything you need to make a rational choice including all the basic technical and dimension data. The ultimate choice depends on the tradeoff you are willing to make between performance and appearance. I would go with performance in which case the best choice appears after a somewhat cursory glance to be the Eagle RSA P235/70-15 102V UTOG 260AA Black serated letters. Several manufacturers currently offer V-rated 235/70s as they are OEM on recent turbocharged Bentleys. Didn't check to see if Firstone or General have sites as good as Goodyear, but you might want to try them. I think Firstone is on the Bridgestone site now, and I think General is now owned by Continental.
DukeComment
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Sounds like the right choice
From your post I conclude that you followed a rational and logical decision tree and made the correct tire choice based on your objectives including performance criteria.
DukeComment
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Re: Here's the skinny (long)
Hi Mike:
Did your dealer indicate to you if these tires were currently in production or new old stock items ?
I'm happy you found them, sounds like a great combination to me.
jerryComment
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Jerry-
As far as I know, these are current production items. As Duke mentioned, Goodyear's web site might clarify this.
Mike
Quebec NCRS ChapterComment
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Re: '74 Tires
Thank's Duke, Mike Jerry and Bob for your responses, I have just faxed off an order to Tire Rack for a set of 5 Good Year Eagle GT II 225/70SR15 with RWL. My views and requirements are much like yours Mike, I will only clock up about 3K to 5K miles a year and whilst I will push the car to the limits on occasion, these occasions are few. Again, the standard look/feel of these tires (as best I can gather from the tiny picture on my computer) is very desirable as my '74 Big Block Coupe is outwardly a stocker. Thanks once again for all your help, owning a piece of Americas finest is often quite a challenge down here and assistance/advice such as yours has made this search all the more easy. Martin.Comment
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Re: '74 Tires
Glad to be of help. As you have seen, one of the big benefits of this board is you get many and often opposing bits of advice, but have the luxury of learning the different angles to an issue.
Had this board existed 10 years ago, I would have avoided making REAL BIG mistakes with my car, the undoing of which has cost more than the price of a new computer and decades worth of ISP fees.
When are you going to start an NCRS chapter down under? (you might even let the Kiwis join!)
Mike
NCRS Quebec chapterComment
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