Next to a sick paint job, there’s nothing that can make a car look better than a great-looking set of tires and rims. And, even though looks are paramount to any car owner, few are willing to sacrifice performance for eye-appeal. After all, your car is more than eye candy. It is a valued machine that you rely on to turn heads, make you proud and get you from point A to point B.
And, when it comes to tires, you don’t have to sacrifice performance for great looks. That’s because many of today’s tires boast both.
You just have to know what to look for.
Tire Diameter
The current trend in custom autos is to go for a larger diameter tire. 17” and up seems to be the norm. While bigger tires often look more impressive, they’re not necessarily the best choice when it comes to how the car handles.
Car manufacturers spend a lot of time and money developing automobiles, and their final designs are meant to work in harmony. That means that the parts they’ve chosen all work toward making the car work perfectly.
When you change tire sizes on a standard street-car it’s easy to negatively affect handling, braking, suspension and camber. These affects can be remedied by adjusting your suspension or purchasing an after-market camber kit, such as those made by SPC Performance.
Kit cars are generally carbon copy replicas of their ‘big name’ counterparts, so it’s a good idea to check with the manufacturer’s original specs to see what diameter was used in the original setup.
Tire Birth
Like some beers, tires also have the date of their creation printed on them. All tires here in the US have a code that begins with the letters DOT. Tires manufactured in 2000 have a four-digit number. The first two digits represent the week of manufacture and the last two represent the year. So a tire labeled 1208 means that the tire was made in March of 2008. This is important because rubber deteriorates as it gets older.
Performance
Choosing the right tire largely depends on what kind of performance you expect to get from your ride. Most passenger cars use tires that are built for comfort and longevity. They’re designed to hold air, perform well under dry and wet conditions and are generally inexpensive.
If you have a car that’s in the touring category you’re going to want to look for a tire that’s rated to give you a more precise feel when steering. While comfort and longevity are still important, the responsiveness is front and center.
A car that’s built strictly for performance demands much more than the passenger car. Here, comfort and longevity take a backseat to grip and handling.
For a car of this nature, you’ll want to go with a tire that ‘sticks’ to the road and offers superior cornering. These shouldn’t be confused with racing slicks used in NASCAR and Indy Car (sometimes called stickers). High-performance tires for street use still have a tread design and offer solid handling in both wet and dry conditions. The trade off, however, is the expense and the fact that they wear out much more quickly than traditional passenger car tires.
Low Profile or Standard Size?
There’s no doubt that low-profile tires are the “in thing” when it comes to custom street-cars, but aren’t those tires just for good looks?
Truth be told, the low-profile tires do add a hot look to any car, but they also have some performance benefits you might not know about.
For instance, low-profile tires offer lower weight – up to 7 lbs. – over conventional tires. They also improve fuel economy by reducing the tire’s rolling resistance.
Going with a low-profile tire will also give you a performance boost by creating a lower center of gravity, which makes for greater stability.
Still, there are some classic car designs that just wouldn’t look right with a low-profile tire. I’m thinking along the lines of the classic 60s muscle cars like the Pontiac GTO and the Dodge Charger.
Which Brand?
If you’re a racing fan you’ll notice that there are three major brands of tires that are used on pro circuits: Goodyear, Firestone and Hoosier. But the choice to use these particular companies’ products is more of a result of sponsorship/branding than it is about actual quality.
That’s not to say that tires made by these respective manufacturers aren’t worth your attention, they are, but you should know that there are other tires on the market that offer exceptional performance if not a major brand name.
Yokohama is a favorite among custom street-car aficionados, as is Nitto. Both companies offer high-end performance tires that look as good as they ride.
In Concusion
The bottom line is that, when you get into the upper echelons of tire performance, what you choose is largely based on looks and brand loyalty. Most commercially available high-performance tires will serve your needs well, as long as you have them mounted, balanced and adjusted to your specific make and model vehicle.
