Scott,
My neighbor owns a tire store and also has a classic 54 Chevy that he enters
into shows. He is a dealer for Dayton, Firestone/Bridgestone, GoodYear, BF
Goodrich and Continental. I had a good chance to ask some good questions and
try out a few different tires one week end. Here's what I found out. He told
me to stick to the same size but try different manufacturers. He said if you
change sizes of tires, it could throw off your accuracy of your speedometer
as much as 10 mph. We all know that our Bricks get enough attention that we
don't need our speedos to be off when we pass Mr. officer. He said tire
technology has come a long way since the Bricklin was made and that at the
time BF Goodrich Radial T/A's (factory tires) were one of the best
performance tires available. If your car is completely stock and you enter
it into shows, it would be best to stay with the BF Goodrich.
My car is not stock. I have changed the seats, carpet and added a sound
system. With this in mind, I was more interested in getting the best tire
for the money. I put about 20 miles on three different tires that he
recommeded: Bf Goodrich radial T/A, Goodyear Eagle ST, and Bridgestone
Potenza. The BF Goodrich and Goodyear were white lettered, which was
something that I wanted. The Bridgestone was not.
The day that I purchased the tires it was overcast with a slight mist. This
gave me a good chance to test the traction in wet conditions. I know many
Bricklin's aren't drive when it raining but the weather in Missouri is
unpredictable many times.
Cost: Bridgestone 129.00 per tire
BF Goodrich 110.00
Eagle ST 94.00
The Bridgestone had the best speed rating, but I don't drive at 150 mph. so
that wasn't a big factor. I found the Bridgestone Rubber very hard.which
gave excellent traction on dry surfaces, but I found my self slipping a lot
on the damp pavement.
The Bf Goodrich was a solid tire with good performance, but the tires seemed to
make more noise. I don't know if it was due to the tread design or what.
I ended up buying the Eagle ST. It had the best traction on damp roads, a
solid warranty, and decent tread design. It was the least expensive of the
Mid priced performance tires and gave me the Classic white lettered
performance tires I was looking for. I was about $100 per tire for mounting
and balancing.
If money isn't an option, and you don't drive in wet conditions, the
Bridgstone Potenza was really a good tire on dry pavement. I just couldn't
spend the extra $160.00 for as little as I drive the Bricklin.
This is just my two cents worth. Do what you want with it. Just remember keep
the same size because of the speedometer accuracy.
Todd Rapp
[This message delayed, as it needed manual intervention by the list
administrator. mjb.]
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