A "Classic Tire Question"

[TransAm95]

Hey guys, well for Christmas I am getting two rear tires. Right now the Cooper Zeon ZPT 245 50 16 is the front runner. My friend has them on his 96 Z and seem to be pretty good for it's low price. I am lookin to spend no more than 130 and that is pushing it, but I really want a tire that is sticky and will hook up. Any body that can put up a arguement for or against the Zeon ZPT is welcomed to try, and any suggestions on higher quality tires with great dry traction are highly apperciated; also if any of you are running 265s or 275s on 16 inch wheels I would like to hear what you have and what you think, Thanks

[Injuneer]

You are pretty much limited to 245/50 or 255/50-16, if you want a "high performnance" tire. There are some wider tires in 16's, but they are not up to the same level as the real performance tires, like the BFG Radial T/A. Generally, you end up with a much larger diameter, which hurts your rear wheel torque.

You need to go to Tire Rack, click on "tires by size" and put in the size you want.

http://www.tirerack.com/index.jsp

245/50-16 gets you a choice of more than 30 different tires, many of which are under $100. Click on "survey results" for tires that interest you, and you will get a user feedback survey rating on things like straight line traction, cornering, wet traction, noise, tread life, etc. When you are on the "survey" screen, you can pull up a list of all the tires and see how they compare.

Once you find the tires that meet your needs, try pricing them with local dealers, showing them the Tire Rack price. Many will match or come close to that price, allowing for the extra cost of mounting and balancing.

Unfortunatley, Tire Rack does not carry Cooper or Nitto, so you will not get data on those tires, but you may find others that are better for less $$$$$.