[Stig eh]

that is my understanding as well, had some Michelin new all season that were really squirrley the first couple of hundred miles in the corvette, now they are fine. stig eh

Originally Posted by DetCam

I'm looking forward to reading your "long term update". I too bought the Firestones and after my first autocross and into my first HPDE with them I though "oh man, what have I done". But I must say, by the end of my HPDE, my story was changing, and my 2nd and 3rd track days made me a fan. They took a really long time to scrub in and were unstable in the beginning. Once scrubbed in it didn't take me long until I was turning faster laptimes with my Firestones than I was with the factory Goodyears. (There was some learning in there on my part, I was improving my line a bit).

At first I preferred the feel of the solid sidewall of the Runflat, but soon changed my mind.

On a normal driving day on "cold" tires (going to/from work) they never did hook up on a dig like the Goodyears. So they are definitely not for the drag race crowd.


OP: I'll be curious if your experience matches mine, where they get better with age.

[pjz1082]

Good review and pretty much lines up with Tire Rack's review. I also just purchased these for my 1LT and I really like them so far. But mine is a daily driver and I don't track the car so I don't need to worry about pulling g's. The ride is smooth, turn in is good and I love the look of them. I would def recommend for a daily driver tire, especially at $145/each (245/40/20).

[Canyon Carver]

UPDATE:

They've gotten a little better (phew). Adjusting the pressures helped (to be expected) and they change direction a little better now with some miles on them. They still bounce a bit on the highway, which took getting used to - but overall, I don't regret putting them on my car since they were just so damn cheap.

I do still stand by my initial review, but let's just say that everything I was unhappy about has just reduced in severity a bit. I was able to hit 1.01 with them recently so they're sticky, no doubt about it, but they still need more steering input and they just wander more. Maybe it's just me still getting used to them, but I'm usually pretty quick at adapting to changes on my car.

Anyway - no need to write another book here, bottom line? If you don't need a Y rated tire (they're W rated) or you just use them as a DD tire, why not. If they were more expensive, I'd say steer clear, but they're so cheap that it's hard to go wrong.

Final Grade? I'd give them a C+ / B-. Could be a lot worse...

[Canyon Carver]

Originally Posted by DetCam

I'm looking forward to reading your "long term update". I too bought the Firestones and after my first autocross and into my first HPDE with them I though "oh man, what have I done". But I must say, by the end of my HPDE, my story was changing, and my 2nd and 3rd track days made me a fan. They took a really long time to scrub in and were unstable in the beginning. Once scrubbed in it didn't take me long until I was turning faster laptimes with my Firestones than I was with the factory Goodyears. (There was some learning in there on my part, I was improving my line a bit).

At first I preferred the feel of the solid sidewall of the Runflat, but soon changed my mind.

On a normal driving day on "cold" tires (going to/from work) they never did hook up on a dig like the Goodyears. So they are definitely not for the drag race crowd.


OP: I'll be curious if your experience matches mine, where they get better with age.

Hey man - good info, thank you. :-)

I just posted a short update and it sounds like we had similar experiences with these tires. They have improved with pressure adjustments and age, to be sure...but my initial feelings still stand, just less extreme. I look forward to getting the Firestone's out on a track day, so your opinion for the track days were welcome, and good to hear.

You really prefer the Goodyears from a Dig? For me, the Firestone's have been hooking up better...are you in cold temps? Just curious. Are you MT or AT? I've got the 6spd.

[enzia35]

Seems like all tires need to get worn down a bit, to remove the tire mold release chemicals.

[DetCam]

I've got the A8, so trying to put down all that power in first gear is a challenge for any tire. I ran a whole summer on the Firestones... Granted, this last summer was cooler in average than the summer before, but I think I was typically able to hook up from a light just a little better with the stock tires. My only experiences were like I said, red lights on "cold" tires. Even on a warm summer day, they still needed some warm up before they would hook. Sitting in traffic for my 8 mile commute isn't ideal for getting anything up to optimal temps.

I'd like to be able to do a side by side comparison, it's possible I was romanticizing the Goodyears after the Firestones were so slippery their first couple hundred miles.

[Chevy71]

OP, is your car stock power level? I’m considering getting these just for the rears on my car for some late night hard highway pulls.. I can’t find much that hooks up well, and ultimately end up wearing my rears out in 5-8k miles. If I can get a tire that hooks up alright, and is cheaper then I don’t mind wearing them out fast lol. How do you feel these hook up on a highway roll, full throttle? Currently I’m blowing conti extreme sports and PSS off at a punch. I expect that, but wearing the expensive tire out so fast stinks lol

[Canyon Carver]

Originally Posted by Chevy71

OP, is your car stock power level? I’m considering getting these just for the rears on my car for some late night hard highway pulls.. I can’t find much that hooks up well, and ultimately end up wearing my rears out in 5-8k miles. If I can get a tire that hooks up alright, and is cheaper then I don’t mind wearing them out fast lol. How do you feel these hook up on a highway roll, full throttle? Currently I’m blowing conti extreme sports and PSS off at a punch. I expect that, but wearing the expensive tire out so fast stinks lol

Car is dead stock...so I can't speak to how they would hook up with a highly modded car, but the only time I've gotten them to break loose on the highway or on a roll, is if there's a little rain on the ground or I'm pushing hard with NLS (chirps in second, sometimes third). Even then, I have total confidence in their ability to grab and go on a highway roll. I also find they do better with a little less pressure than recommended - but that will affect mileage, of course, so I fill them to recommended when commuting and let some air out when I know I'm going to push hard.

[ssmike]

Im thinking about pulling the trigger on these but Tire Rack has the fronts on backorder till 3/31. Anyone know where to buy these now? OP great review! Thanks!

[Canyon Carver]

Originally Posted by ssmike

Im thinking about pulling the trigger on these but Tire Rack has the fronts on backorder till 3/31. Anyone know where to buy these now? OP great review! Thanks!

Thanks...

I think simple tire has them - and cheaper...that's where I got them.

https://simpletire.com/

[Frank237]

Good review...Thanks CC.

My oem Goodyears have maybe half the summer left in them...I was thinking Firestones as they are a bunch cheaper.

THIS really helped.

[ssmike]

Mine are on order from the local Firestone dealer. Rears are in stock but he told me about a month for the fronts. Firestone is building them right now. Big demand for these thus the shortage in stock.

[Chevy71]

Originally Posted by Canyon Carver

Car is dead stock...so I can't speak to how they would hook up with a highly modded car, but the only time I've gotten them to break loose on the highway or on a roll, is if there's a little rain on the ground or I'm pushing hard with NLS (chirps in second, sometimes third). Even then, I have total confidence in their ability to grab and go on a highway roll. I also find they do better with a little less pressure than recommended - but that will affect mileage, of course, so I fill them to recommended when commuting and let some air out when I know I'm going to push hard.

Nice! I may give them a try. How many miles have you put on yours so far? Any degradation in performance as you have gained mileage?

[Canyon Carver]

Originally Posted by Chevy71

Nice! I may give them a try. How many miles have you put on yours so far? Any degradation in performance as you have gained mileage?

4K so far and I haven't run the canyons in a while, so it's tough to say if there's degradation due to mileage. I'm hoping they will improve with mileage...we'll see. I'm going to be diligent about checking pressures so I can start getting an idea of what's best. It's raining this weekend, but I'm going to make a (much needed) canyon run next weekend and I'll report back.

On the street, they're still working well. They have lightened up the steering a bit, which I've gotten used to. I've learned that at high pressures, they don't hook up as well from a dig (to be expected). But they're just fine in town, not as loud as the Goodyears and aside from getting a little "bouncy" with a pogo effect on some road surfaces, they're generally comfortable.