86 Shelby Charger tire options/sizes

I'm getting close to buying tires for my Charger. This is the last major purchase I need to get the car safely drive-able. I just want some input on what sizes/brands people are running. The stock size is 205 50 15. The car is going to be completely stock as of right now, and will be a weekend driver type car. It will probably not be raced at this point, but will see a lot of twisty/hilly roads and I would like tires that don't do too bad in the rain. I was looking at tire rack and it seems like more options open up for the 195 50/60 15 tire sizes. Would that size look/handle ok? Please provide some input as I would hate to drop this much money on junky tires!

That's the big reason I went to the 16" wheels on my Charger. It opened up a lot more tire options. 205/50/16 on stock Daytona pumpers fit the car perfectly, and with the blue speedometer gear, the Charger's speedometer is the most accurate of all my cars. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSe...50&diameter=16

As for tires themselves, I've always been a big fan of Firestone and Bridgestone. I have Firehawk Wide Ovals on the Charger and Bridgestone G019 Grids on the Daytona (in the summer), and both cars are incredibly sure footed in even the heaviest rain.

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Originally Posted by supercrackerbox

That's the big reason I went to the 16" wheels on my Charger. It opened up a lot more tire options. 205/50/16 on stock Daytona pumpers fit the car perfectly, and with the blue speedometer gear, the Charger's speedometer is the most accurate of all my cars. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSe...50&diameter=16

As for tires themselves, I've always been a big fan of Firestone and Bridgestone. I have Firehawk Wide Ovals on the Charger and Bridgestone G019 Grids on the Daytona (in the summer), and both cars are incredibly sure footed in even the heaviest rain.

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+1 on this. Very few if any state of the art tires are made in 15's anymore. There are some competition tires still made in this size. I put 16X7 wheels on my 89 ES Shadow for this very reason. The larger cars used a taller tire than the l-bodies. The 205/50/16 would be around 24" tall, which is 1" taller than the 205/50/15 (23"). Some people might think that is too tall for a L-body.
A 195/50/15 I believe would be a bit shorter 22.5" than your stock 205/50/15 23" tire. That was stock size on GLHT's. The GLHS Omni got 205/50/15's though.
Todd

The Falken 615K is a excellent tire. Pretty cheap too for a true performance tire. That is what I put on my 85 GLHT a short while ago. They had 205/50/15's.
You can buy them at Vulcantire.com
Todd

IMO there are still a lot of good choices in 205/50r15 and 225/50r15 due to the porches that took those sizes along with a couple others. That only applies if you are looking for a pretty serious performance tire though.

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Originally Posted by supercrackerbox

That's the big reason I went to the 16" wheels on my Charger. It opened up a lot more tire options. 205/50/16 on stock Daytona pumpers fit the car perfectly, and with the blue speedometer gear, the Charger's speedometer is the most accurate of all my cars. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSe...50&diameter=16

As for tires themselves, I've always been a big fan of Firestone and Bridgestone. I have Firehawk Wide Ovals on the Charger and Bridgestone G019 Grids on the Daytona (in the summer), and both cars are incredibly sure footed in even the heaviest rain.

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I am also a big Bridgestone fan, that is what my other cars have on them. I had a set of Potenza G019 Grids on my wife's 06 Stratus. They always handled great in all conditions, even when they were getting worn. My biggest issue with the G019 was that they started cupping early on in the life of the tire, and by the time I replaced them the road noise was LOUD! I rotated them every other oil change too :( Hopefully yours fare better.

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I'm sticking with the stock 15 inch rims for now so it seems my choices are limited. I'm leaning towards the Kumho Ecsta AST or Kumha Ecsta PA31 in 195/50R15. Both are high performance all season tires and are actually pretty cheap, so if I decide to upgrade to 16 inch rims later on, I won't have too much tied up in the old tires. Any thoughts on those?

The way I look at it is if your vehicle doesn't get driven tens of thousands of miles a year, I opt for a stickier tire. My poor GLHT had it's last set of tires dry rot before I used up the tread. My 85 GLHT has 46K miles on it. I can live with a tire with a treadwear of 200-280 for as much as I drive it. I know a solo II autocross guy that uses the Falken Rt-615k as their rain tire, when they don't have the Hoosier slicks on the vehicle. They work well in the rain as long as it is warm out. The Falken 615k's get very sticky when you heat them up, that is why they are a favorite with the autocross guys. Work pretty good at the dragstrip too for a street tire. IMO, all the other all season tires give up way too much summer performance for better longer wear & all weather performance. I guess it depends on how you drive your car, and how much you drive your car.
My wife's car also had the Potenza G019 grids. Same experience. Cupped badly even with rotated regularly and got horribly loud. Never will I buy them again. I have Yokohama Avid Envigor's on my 85 NY'er. Seem to handle great in warmer weather, but not so good in snow. They do have a little more road noise than I would have hoped for. I am driving them year around though.
IMO, 195's are gonna look skinny and short on your SC. Hope you have the car lowered a bit, or it may look funny. I've run Kuhmo tires before. I liked the Victor 700's autocross tires. I would buy a Kumho again based on my previous experience with their comp. tires. Like the Falken tires, they seem like a good value.
Todd

Yes, by Bridgestones did start cupping pretty badly too, but the Daytona was overdue for a suspension overhaul anyway. I put new struts, shocks, bushings, ball joints, and tie rods on it; hopefully the new set I buy this spring won't wear too badly. But with the mileage I got out of the last set, it will probably be due for shocks and struts again by the end of the tire life. Right now the Daytona is getting a solid 900+ miles a week.

When I had my CSX-T, I was running the old Kumho Ecsta Supra tires. They were cheap, handled well, and great in the rain. That model hasn't been made for many years now, but I'm sure the models that replaced it are at least as good if not better. I just wouldn't expect them to be super high mileage tires.