Tire Compound / Brand Advice

[Charlie Brown]

I currently have Mickey Thompson 275 / 60 / 15 Sportsman S/T tires on my car. They need to be replaced due to side wall cracking. They drove ok, but they broke loose very easily under moderate load. I'm looking for something with a bit more traction capable, a little more "sticky". Perhaps a softer compound or tread design. I still want a tire that is stable in wet weather conditions should the need arise. Anyone have recomendations?

 

[R413]

Not radial T/A's

Tough to do because a sticky tire that will hold some torque don't work in wet weather.

 

[Charlie Brown]

Ok, in regards to wet weather traction. I do understand that sticky tires and water don't mix, I guess what I'm NOT looking for are tires that have bare minimum tread - almost like slicks.

 

[Dennis H]

Cooper Cobras DO break on demand, but still my go-to street tire. Caught in rain no problem.

 

[4mulas]

Nitto 555 drag radials offer the most tread-ish with a sticky a compound, but still probably aren’t the best.

Otherwise the run of the mill MT sportsman, bfg t/a, and cooper cobra are about your only choices

 

[WileE]

I like the cooper cobras I have on one of my cars.

 

[R413]

Here are 11 choices, on 2 pages
3 drag tires
7 street radial tires
And the BFG TA

275-60-15 Tires | Tires-easy.com

 

[ckessel]

Coopers for me too. Had them on the 65, have them on my 04 dually and the 67 wagon. Great tires plus US made.

 

[BSB67]

You’ll have to decide, good traction verses rain tire. All of the street tires have crap traction. The Nitto’s look nice. I use the MT ET Street, and don’t drive in the rain.

 

[33 IMP]

Does it have to be a radial?
If not, I'd suggest Hoosier quick time (not the QT Pro)
Very open tread, soft compound..... but a bias tire.
For a radial, I'd look at nitto and Toyo. Both make some very high performance tires (including drag radials). I'm not familiar with what is available from them in 15" tires, tho. Look for a treadwear rating around 200.

 

[451Mopar]

Seem the 15" and smaller rim sizes have limited selection of all season type tires.
I like my 15" rims, but most of the modern tires I want to run are for 17" and larger rims.

 

[Black_Sheep]

You’ll have to decide, good traction verses rain tire. All of the street tires have crap traction. The Nitto’s look nice. I use the MT ET Street, and don’t drive in the rain.

I try not to drive in the rain with ET Streets, but it seems to happen every summer. At that point you keep your speed down and drive like there’s an egg between your foot and the gas pedal…

 

[Dennis H]

How do you not drive in rain. Even here in California we got caught on 5 in the rain. If you drive your car, you will get caught in some moisture somewhere somehow.

 

[Carcinogen]

Chris Birdsong's review of tire from Walmart. Walmart Gripmax MaxGrip Classic 275/60R15

Good inexpensive street tire but has issues if used hard auto crossing, deep siping that caused problems would help in the rain.

 

[Dennis H]

Chris Birdsong's review of tire from Walmart. Walmart Gripmax MaxGrip Classic 275/60R15

Good inexpensive street tire but has issues if used hard auto crossing, deep siping that caused problems would help in the rain.

Worth the Watch!

 

[BSB67]

How do you not drive in rain. Even here in California we got caught on 5 in the rain. If you drive your car, you will get caught in some moisture somewhere somehow.

Well, I haven’t. But I haven’t gone to multi-day events either.

But when it does happen, and if I feel the conditions are unsafe, (not all rain events and conditions are the same) I’ll just stop. Either you know it will be a rain day and don’t go, or there could be a pop-up and just wait it out. They don’t last long.