New Shoes
Monday, October 3, 2011 at 10:35PM 
Anyone who is a regular reader of this site knows I beat the hell out of my tires this season. Over 2,000 intense miles of backroad driving on my Tail of the Dragon trip, plus a Lime Rock track day and a few thousand more miles of pleasure driving took their toll, and I was down past the wear bars on my front tires. In the rain, the car was getting downright scary, trying to wander around on the highway. On my drive up to Lime Rock for the vintage races, I braked late for a right turn on damp pavement and skidded clean past the intersection. At that point I knew it was time for new shoes.
I considered the BF Goodrich G-Force Sport tires I had enjoyed on my Skip Barber Formula car, but finding them out of stock I opted for the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 Wide Oval tires, which promised good value and high performance in the summer months. I don't drive my car in the winter, so I decided to ditch my Goodyear all-weathers for something sportier. As you can see, they were pretty much bald near the sidewalls.
I have only driven on them for one day, but I can already say that power delivery feels a heck of a lot more positive off the line, and there isn't even a hint of chirping in the corners anymore. But I have many miles of fun ahead this fall in which to wear them in. A quick plug for anyone in the NYC area: Epic Auto Care in Jersey City did a great job installing the tires for me. Their crew was friendly, professional, and the facility was super clean and well-run. The fees were also reasonable compared to shops in Brooklyn. Definitely recommended for anyone needing tires fitted in the area. Plus you get a free car wash! The guys had a lot of fun inspecting the Alfa's inboard brakes, too.
Epic Auto Care, Firestone, tires in Miscellaneous
Reader Comments (5)
I always try to use Pirelli tires on my GTV6 since they were original equipement. I need new fronts also since I have alot of wear from the camber since my 36mm torsion bars
lower the car so much. By the way, we had a pretty nice Italian car show in Lake Forest last weekend. Here is a link:
http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=337533&page=2
Never saw a silver F50 in person. Also had a red one if you like those cars. I will take one of the 275 GTB's over it any day!!
Tom Tanner/Scale Designs/Ferrari Expo 2012-Chicago March 2012
Well not 100% Italian. Alot of Aston Martin's and a few others also on display.
Pirellis?? What do you think I am, made of money??
those tires look cheap, yo! weird tread too! you should have shelled out for pirellis!
A) They were cheap! Like 85 bucks a piece
B) They got very good online reviews
C) The look really good on the car, and the tread is actually not that noticeable. It's pretty subtle.
D) I wanted a high performance summer tire, and the readily available Pirellis are all-season.