Aftermarket tire rollup (poll)

    What is your preferred aftermarket tire for your Slingshot, for road (non-track) driving? 51

    1. Nitto 555 (16) 31%
    2. BF Goodrich Sport Comp (either summer or A/S) (8) 16%
    3. Goodyear Eagle F1 (1) 2%
    4. Continental Extreme Contact DW (4) 8%
    5. Sumitomo HTR (2) 4%
    6. Hankook Ventus v12 (2) 4%
    7. Michelin Pilor Super Sport (8) 16%
    8. Pirelli P Zero Nero (1) 2%
    9. Toyo T1R (4) 8%
    10. Other (write-in) (10) 20%

    This is a follow-up thread to the "Tires...what are you running" thread. Lots of good input on that thread, but a lot of people said "I'm putting on XYZ tire" and never provided feedback, or were still in the testing phase and didn't have any real information. I'd like to compile some data for those members who might be still trying to figure out what tire they want.


    If you have aftermarket tires on your Slingshot, please take the poll and tell us what you have. You can vote twice if needed, like if you have two different favorites for different seasons, or if you are running one kind in front and another in back. (Note: I was only allowed 10 lines in the poll, so if yours isn't on the list, just reply with a write-in)


    Once you've done that, if you have specific pros/cons on your tire of choice, please reply to the thread and tell us about them.


    (For a total picture, recommend reading the other thread as well. There is some good information over there, and several people gave good pro/con lists, but there is also a lot of chaff to weed through.)

    I am running the General AS-03 now, it is good in the wet and I am getting good mileage out of it. 12,000 miles so far including 4 trips to the mountains to check out handleing with it, a lot of tread left. Now, as far as the BFG I only got 14,160 miles out of it and it was damn near slick. I do very little tire spinning. As to the stock Kenda good wear and for me good traction I changed out when it was almost to the first wear bar at 14,700 miles could have gotten a few more thousand out of it but did not trust the wet traction as I was headed on one of my trips to Maggie Valley. Tread width on both of these tires are about 1 inch less than the Kenda. The tire charts do not list the tread width, they only list the overall tire width. We need to figure a way to get the tread width on all of the different tires. I want the max tread width for a given size tire to run on the SS. I did not like the BFG Comp at all.

    I am running BFG G-Force - Sport - Comp -2
    Not the A/S version.
    g-Force Sport COMP-2 | BFGoodrich Tires


    Stock base sizes on stock base rims, my choice strictly for performance. Outstanding handling and braking, reasonably priced.
    I choose not to go to a taller rim and stick with taller sidewall - what can I tell you I am old school.
    I eat rears every 3K but that is just due to my driving "Style" fronts have 10K and are still going strong

    The more people I meet

    The more I love my Dog!

    Quote from FunCycle

    I think the 275 is the biggest for the stock rim width. I have not seen anyone say anything about using the 275. It might be that it is an odd size and everyone does not make it.

    I'm running the 285/30/20 on the stock 20X9 whhel and that's the largest you can go. It actually should be on a 8 1/2, but Discount Tire says it's ok on the 9 inch. But the tire tread even at that size varies a lot from company to company. The widest tread for that size (that I found) was a Toyo Proxes T1S. Traction was ok

    Nobody gets outta here ALIVE

    As far as the Sumitomo HTR series goes, there is a big tread pattern difference between the Z II and Z III tires. I don't usually spin the rear if I can avoid it and I only got 5000 miles from my HTR Z III 295/30R18XL (300AAA rating) on my Base model Slingshot compared to the 10000 miles I got out of each of the two Kenda stock tires I've had. I'm now running a Nankang NS-20 275/35R18 on the rear. It's slightly larger than the stock size which means it should be turning a little over 66 mph at an indicated speed of 65 mph. It feels a little squirrelly in response to minor steering corrections just driving down the Interstate at 65 mph (at least 1 review I read felt it had soft sidewalls), but when trying a quick lane change from right-to-left lane and back at speed on the Interstate, the Slingshot still seems to handle fine. I now have around 3000 miles on the NS-20 and am interested in how long it lasts, especially after I get my Hahn Turbo kit installed. I bought a Kenda 265/35R18 here locally (Houston, TX area) for around $136, installed, and ordered the NS-20 from Discounttiredirect and paid Discount Tire for the install and the combined cost was cheaper than the Kenda, IIRC. I wish Nankang made a NS-20 in the 295/30R18 size, but the 275/35R18 (360AA rating) is the largest 18" NS-20 tire they make, although they do make a 285/30ZR20 (240AAA rating). I can make the NS-20 spin, but it still seems to provide decent overall traction. I do not normally go out if rain is expected, but I do occasionally get caught in rain.
    I am also considering trying a Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric All Season 285/35R18 size, which should be turning just under 66.5 mph at an indicated speed of 65 mph. It has a 500/AA/A rating with a tread life warranty of 22,500 miles when used in a non-rotatable setup. According to the Goodyear site, it should run around $245 installed + tax, making its operational cost comparable to the Kenda and Nankang tires on a per mile basis, but hopefully offering better overall traction/performance..

    Edited once, last by BKL ().

    I'm running a Mickey Thompson Sport S/R 26x12x18 on a Enkei PF01 18x9.5 5x114.3 +45mm offset wheel on the rear. Why? Between the tire, wheel, aluminum top-hat slotted rotor and aluminum rear sprocket I remove 18-20 lbs of unsprung weight compared to the stock setup.



    On the fronts I'm running Bridgestone RE71-R 205/45R17's on Enkei RPF1 17x7 5x114.3 +45mm offset wheels. Between the tires, wheels and aluminum top hat slotted rotors I'm removing 25 lbs of unsprung weight up front (12.5 lbs per side).



    With Alpha's JRI shocks, this thing floats over bumps. Great grip, even when cold. Removing 43-45 lbs of unsprung weight made a noticable difference in acceleration and nimbleness in handling. Still experimenting with tire pressures. I'm currently running a few PSI under the stock recommended pressures both front and rear.


    I suspect the MT Sport S/R rear tire will last a long time. Maybe not as much grip as an R2 formulation tire, but better to much-better than stock grip depending on tire pressure.

    I'm still running stock on the front. I got caught in an evening rain after dark with the stock rear with near 10k on it. I was trying to get thru the season with that tire, but replaced it the very next day. I went with General G-Max, in stock size. Does better than stock in rain, handles at least as good, and appears to be wearing very well. I've put nearly 3k on it, and so far it still looks new. Only complaint is that it is louder when you break traction. The stock tire would spin, and not attract attention as much (read as "by the local police"). The G-Max bawls like a baby. Has a good looking tread design also. I'd go up a size in width next time though.


    Man....is anyone getting more than 10k on the rear tire, even if it requires you to baby the throttle and never break it loose?


    Or is it just that impossible for every single Slingshot driver to resist the urge to squeal them with some consistency? :D

    Got over 12k on my stock tires, front and rear. Though the rear is getting close to being time to replace it.


    That general g-max has me interested in it though.

    Boating with the dolphins, US Navy '76-'84

    Quote from KayTwo

    Man....is anyone getting more than 10k on the rear tire, even if it requires you to baby the throttle and never break it loose?


    Or is it just that impossible for every single Slingshot driver to resist the urge to squeal them with some consistency? :D

    I got 15,000 on the original, but I don't leave rubber on the pavement! :) Replaced with BFG G-Force Sport Comp 2.

    Quote from Br4hm4

    I've been really happy with the Firestone Indy 500 Wide Ovals that I picked up this summer...only issue is the way it looks. Even though it is the same size as the factory tire, it looks like the tires are stretched a little.

    Tires from different manufactures have different measurements even for the same size. On Tirerack you can look up the specs of the actual tires, here are some examples for a 285/35/19 (tire we are using on the back of ours)


    Bridgestone RE-71R - Section Width 11.4", Tread Width 10.1", Overall Diameter 26.8"
    Continental ExtremeContact - Section Width 11.4", Tread Width 10.4", Overall Diameter 26.9"
    Hankook Ventus V12 - Section Width 11.3", Tread Width 9.8", Overall Diameter 26.9"
    Michelin Pilot Super Sport ZP - Section Width 11.4", Tread Width 11.1", Overall Diameter 26.7"
    Pirelli P zero Rosso - Section Width 11.6", Tread Width NA", Overall Diameter 27.1"
    Sumitomo HTR ZIII - Section Width 11.2", Tread Width 10.3", Overall Diameter 26.9"
    Toyo Proxes 1 - Section Width 11.5", Tread Width 11.2", Overall Diameter 26.9"
    BF Goodrich G-Force Sport Comp-2 - Section Width 11", Tread Width 10.7", Overall Diameter 26.8"
    Dunlop Direzza DZ102 - Section Width 11.4", Tread Width 9.7", Overall Diameter 26.9"
    Firestone Rirehawk Indy 500 - Section Width 11.4", Tread Width 9.8", Overall Diameter 26.9"


    The firestones that you installed have a relatively narrow tread width, with an overall average section width, that may be why they look the way they do.