Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 Tires
#76
Lexus Champion
iTrader: (9)
^^^^^They are a bit heavier than Michelins, but they are not heavy IMHO. I have no radial pull and have never had radial pull on the two sets that I have owned. I like the tires a lot, and when it comes time to rebuy, I will be sticking with the S-04 or a later model if they go obsolete.
Note, the RCF wheels are forged, a bit heavier than some aftermarket forged wheels, but they are strong and have the correct bore center so adapter rings are not necessary.
Lou
Note, the RCF wheels are forged, a bit heavier than some aftermarket forged wheels, but they are strong and have the correct bore center so adapter rings are not necessary.
Lou
#78
My early quick review:
Background: i have an 08 and have had the ps2, then the s-04, then the PSS, and lastly the RE-11... the RE-11 are still my favorites but have been discontinued... I did a review on my re-11 in another thread comparing those to all my previous tires tried...the soft tread of the RE-11 did exhibit uneven tire wear in my wear in which i had never had an issue with the rear ever with uneven wear...
So initial review with about 500+ miles on them (stock sizes): they squeal like crazy... off the line and around curves... they feel floaty as response is very slow (yes i am running stock psi recommended pressures)... and they are crazy narrow/don't have rim lips... my rims look like it's part of the stanced out craze of showing the outer rim lip... Grip is OK off the line and you can feel the pull at times... TCS still kicks in around some turns but not all and off the line... but my confidence around curves has become more concerning as turn in is slow and confidence to recorrect a slide has me thinking of having to over correct to get a response... i have yet to push it there and wish to get more miles on em to make sure that initial coating on tires have worn off...
But for only about $550 from tire rack and about $100 install depending on where you go, i can't really complain... but the squealing easily, and slow turn response are a major turn off... seeing my rim lip is annoying too... haven't had a chance to run em in the rain yet...
Background: i have an 08 and have had the ps2, then the s-04, then the PSS, and lastly the RE-11... the RE-11 are still my favorites but have been discontinued... I did a review on my re-11 in another thread comparing those to all my previous tires tried...the soft tread of the RE-11 did exhibit uneven tire wear in my wear in which i had never had an issue with the rear ever with uneven wear...
So initial review with about 500+ miles on them (stock sizes): they squeal like crazy... off the line and around curves... they feel floaty as response is very slow (yes i am running stock psi recommended pressures)... and they are crazy narrow/don't have rim lips... my rims look like it's part of the stanced out craze of showing the outer rim lip... Grip is OK off the line and you can feel the pull at times... TCS still kicks in around some turns but not all and off the line... but my confidence around curves has become more concerning as turn in is slow and confidence to recorrect a slide has me thinking of having to over correct to get a response... i have yet to push it there and wish to get more miles on em to make sure that initial coating on tires have worn off...
But for only about $550 from tire rack and about $100 install depending on where you go, i can't really complain... but the squealing easily, and slow turn response are a major turn off... seeing my rim lip is annoying too... haven't had a chance to run em in the rain yet...
The following users liked this post:
imp0rted1 (09-12-17)
#79
Pole Position
Thread Starter
JKweezy - what tire sizes are you running on your car? I didn't think the Indy 500's came in our stock tire sizes. I've had the Indy's for well over 5000 miles now and my experiences are the complete opposite of yours. I'm running 275 in the rear and 245 in the fronts.
#80
JKweezy - what tire sizes are you running on your car? I didn't think the Indy 500's came in our stock tire sizes. I've had the Indy's for well over 5000 miles now and my experiences are the complete opposite of yours. I'm running 275 in the rear and 245 in the fronts.
I went to firestone and at first they said that it wasn't offered in the 225 for the front... But i found them on tirerack in our stock size... so after i told him that, he said he would look into it and he finally found them...
I guess they'll get better as the initial coating will wear off... like i said these are my initial nit-picks about the tire and i hope it gets better... not sure of the floaty/delayed response feel though when i input a turn in the steering wheel... I do have headers,intake, and tune so maybe off the line tire squeal can be expected but i mean i was in the parking lot and didn't feel like i punched it and it squealed... was kind of embarrassed since i didn't mean to make the tire squeal at all which drew unwanted attention to me...
#81
I am running the stock tire sizes as stated... I have done the 245/285 in the s-04 and didn't like the flex in the sidewall/floaty feel... tried 245/255 in the re-11 to keep as close to a square setup but the fronts i would have to play with the tire pressures since it looked like the contact patch was too wide on stock psi so i had to run em like at 45psi to get the contact patch w/in the triangle indicator on the tread and got tired of doing that... so this time around i just decided to go back to stock and be done with it... the contact patch on the stock size w/ stock pressure is showing a good even contact patch on inner and outer surface...
I went to firestone and at first they said that it wasn't offered in the 225 for the front... But i found them on tirerack in our stock size... so after i told him that, he said he would look into it and he finally found them...
I guess they'll get better as the initial coating will wear off... like i said these are my initial nit-picks about the tire and i hope it gets better... not sure of the floaty/delayed response feel though when i input a turn in the steering wheel... I do have headers,intake, and tune so maybe off the line tire squeal can be expected but i mean i was in the parking lot and didn't feel like i punched it and it squealed... was kind of embarrassed since i didn't mean to make the tire squeal at all which drew unwanted attention to me...
I went to firestone and at first they said that it wasn't offered in the 225 for the front... But i found them on tirerack in our stock size... so after i told him that, he said he would look into it and he finally found them...
I guess they'll get better as the initial coating will wear off... like i said these are my initial nit-picks about the tire and i hope it gets better... not sure of the floaty/delayed response feel though when i input a turn in the steering wheel... I do have headers,intake, and tune so maybe off the line tire squeal can be expected but i mean i was in the parking lot and didn't feel like i punched it and it squealed... was kind of embarrassed since i didn't mean to make the tire squeal at all which drew unwanted attention to me...
#83
Pole Position
Thread Starter
Nobody said you can't, but your sidewalls will be much thicker and your speedo readings will be off. There was a huge thread about upsizing and the 245/35 front and 275/30 rear are very close to the stock ratio. I have noticed my ride is a lot stiffer now than it was with the stock sizes, but I know the Indy 500 tires have a much stiffer sidewall. I may go back with the Michelin tires once these wear out and see if the ride is any better with the upsized tires.
#84
Nobody said you can't, but your sidewalls will be much thicker and your speedo readings will be off. There was a huge thread about upsizing and the 245/35 front and 275/30 rear are very close to the stock ratio. I have noticed my ride is a lot stiffer now than it was with the stock sizes, but I know the Indy 500 tires have a much stiffer sidewall. I may go back with the Michelin tires once these wear out and see if the ride is any better with the upsized tires.
#85
I got a few thousand miles on mine now. No complaints. Even rained for the first time in months and did ok. Obviously acceleration from a stop is going spin if you punch it, but didn't feel like it was hydroplanning or lacked control.
Im on the upsized specs and did the USRS right after. The combo is great. Had V12's before, these are night and day better. They are a bang for your buck tire for sure. Gonna be hard to compare to a RE-11 or the like.
Im on the upsized specs and did the USRS right after. The combo is great. Had V12's before, these are night and day better. They are a bang for your buck tire for sure. Gonna be hard to compare to a RE-11 or the like.
#86
So my 500+ miles on em are a lot of highway commuting so i may need to do more mileage on em to scrub off the initial coating. I would say if i did a lot of stop and go city driving, that initial coating should have been worn off by now.
My installer did take forever when installing these tires compared to my other tires i've tried. But here are the annoying lip pics. I don't know if u are able to appreciate how much exposed lip there is with stock sizes Fronts
Rears
The rears at 36 psi look narrow on the contact patch not fully wearing to the outer tread where the nipples are in the tread groove... going to try 34 psi and see if it'll even out... 36 psi on the front looks even to where the nipples are in the tread groove on the outer shoulders...
My installer did take forever when installing these tires compared to my other tires i've tried. But here are the annoying lip pics. I don't know if u are able to appreciate how much exposed lip there is with stock sizes Fronts
Rears
The rears at 36 psi look narrow on the contact patch not fully wearing to the outer tread where the nipples are in the tread groove... going to try 34 psi and see if it'll even out... 36 psi on the front looks even to where the nipples are in the tread groove on the outer shoulders...
Last edited by JKweezy; 09-12-17 at 12:16 PM. Reason: Added PSI thoughts
#87
Pole Position
Thread Starter
JKWeezy... there is something really wrong there. I think they put the rear wheels in the front of the car which is why you have so much lip showing. The rear wheels are wider than the fronts so if they installed a 225 on the rear wheel and installed it on the front of the car, that would explain why your car is handling so terrible.
Can you take pics of the front wheels and back wheels and post it? Also post the tire specs (225/40, etc) on the front and rear.
Can you take pics of the front wheels and back wheels and post it? Also post the tire specs (225/40, etc) on the front and rear.
#88
JKWeezy... there is something really wrong there. I think they put the rear wheels in the front of the car which is why you have so much lip showing. The rear wheels are wider than the fronts so if they installed a 225 on the rear wheel and installed it on the front of the car, that would explain why your car is handling so terrible.
Can you take pics of the front wheels and back wheels and post it? Also post the tire specs (225/40, etc) on the front and rear.
Can you take pics of the front wheels and back wheels and post it? Also post the tire specs (225/40, etc) on the front and rear.
Last edited by JKweezy; 09-12-17 at 01:18 PM. Reason: sp
#90
there you have it... you have 275 on the rear and it looks pretty flush when it's supposed to bulge out... these tires run narrow is all i'm saying... when i had 245 and 285 in the s-04, they were bulgy... but some tires have a "lip protector" that really doesn't protect the lip but makes it look more flush... i guess these don't have that feature...