Be careful with that tire, I have read nothing but stories about those self destructing themselves in high heat.
Care to send links to stories?
Rear tire
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Cheap isn’t always the best option. Especially with how squirrely a SS can get in a hurry.
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Cheap isn’t always the best option. Especially with how squirrely a SS can get in a hurry.
I hear would you say but price doesn't always signify quality. I get OEM kenda's online without the slingshot name on it for $97 instead of 300 at the dealer. I like the Kendas. I got 21k out of it and I had three sets of them on the rear but thought I'd give it a try to this one since all the reviews I can find were positive.
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Just my opinion, but the Kenda's are a cheap tire, cheap made, not cheap when buying from Polaris. They are a harder tire, designed for longevity and are not good for traction.
Just my $0.03 worth
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I hear would you say but price doesn't always signify quality. I get OEM kenda's online without the slingshot name on it for $97 instead of 300 at the dealer. I like the Kendas. I got 21k out of it and I had three sets of them on the rear but thought I'd give it a try to this one since all the reviews I can find were positive.
I have 19,500 on mine. Two rear kendas and halfway through a nitto G whatever. No burn outs no brake skidding.
I would rather have a softer compound tire to grip the road than high mileage that doesn’t.
I personally don’t know anything good or bad about the tire you bought.
We will wait for your evaluation. We might be surprised.
I’m using a different method in choosing my new tires. The Kendas start out new with 8/32” inches of tread. The nitto has 11/32”. I’m never wasting my money on only half a brand new tire again. The nitto to me has more bang for the buck.
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Only got a bit over 9k out of the factory rear kenda, but my sling was the dealer demo and at just under 1,400 miles when I got it the back was already pretty well worn - I suspect the dealer was fairly aggressive when they gave test rides
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Just my opinion, but the Kenda's are a cheap tire, cheap made, not cheap when buying from Polaris. They are a harder tire, designed for longevity and are not good for traction.
Just my $0.03 worth
They are sticky as hell when hot and on a track day
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well I just broke the rear wheel spoke must have been hitting that humongous pothole. So I just ordered a set a new rims from rev Dynamics with Lexani Tires. I never really liked the OEM rims to begin with.
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I bought a new wheel (18x10.5) so I could try the Achilles ATR Sport 2 305/30ZR18. That tire is .1" shorter than the stock base tire, so the speedo reads a little under its normal reading, but not enough to make a significant difference. As far as tread and grip, I like the tire, BUT getting the tire installed was a PITA. Mounting that 30 profile tire was significantly harder than mounting my Nitto 555 G2 315/35ZR17 tire on my American Muscle Mustang wheel, which Discount Tire was able to do w/o problem. Pep Boys was listed as a qualified installer, but the tire guy at my local Pep Boys struggled and finally gave up trying to get the tire to seal the bead against the wheel. I went to a second shop who found the bead to have been damaged. Although the tire tech denied having done anything that might have damaged the tire and the local store manager denied any responsibility, when I contacted Pep Boys corporate, I received a replacement tire. I had already ordered a replacement tire after my claim was initially denied and the independent tire shop I used also had a difficult time seating the bead, eventually resorting a strong web band around the tire to force it to seat. After this tire wears down, I will either switch back to my Nitto 555 G2 or I'll get the second Achilles ATR Sport 2 tire mounted and then switch back to my Nitto once the second ATR Sport 2 tire wears down.
The Achilles ATR Sport 2 305/30ZR18 tire seems to be popular with Mustang owners and seems to have decent traction, especially for a tire that sells for round $105, but getting that sucker mounted sucked. The 30 profile results in a slightly harsher ride compared to a 35 profile tire, so I'll eventually switch back to the Nitto 555 G2 on the rear. I have Nitto Motivos on the front and have been happy with them so far, so I might even try a Motivo 315/35ZR17 on the rear instead of buying another 555 G2.
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I actually think they broke my wheel spoke which the mechanic denied. They said they would put in a claim with the district manager. I really don't expect anything from them. I never liked the wheels that much so it was a good excuse to buy new rims.
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I bought a new wheel (18x10.5) so I could try the Achilles ATR Sport 2 305/30ZR18. That tire is .1" shorter than the stock base tire, so the speedo reads a little under its normal reading, but not enough to make a significant difference. As far as tread and grip, I like the tire, BUT getting the tire installed was a PITA. Mounting that 30 profile tire was significantly harder than mounting my Nitto 555 G2 315/35ZR17 tire on my American Muscle Mustang wheel, which Discount Tire was able to do w/o problem. Pep Boys was listed as a qualified installer, but the tire guy at my local Pep Boys struggled and finally gave up trying to get the tire to seal the bead against the wheel. I went to a second shop who found the bead to have been damaged. Although the tire tech denied having done anything that might have damaged the tire and the local store manager denied any responsibility, when I contacted Pep Boys corporate, I received a replacement tire. I had already ordered a replacement tire after my claim was initially denied and the independent tire shop I used also had a difficult time seating the bead, eventually resorting a strong web band around the tire to force it to seat. After this tire wears down, I will either switch back to my Nitto 555 G2 or I'll get the second Achilles ATR Sport 2 tire mounted and then switch back to my Nitto once the second ATR Sport 2 tire wears down.
The Achilles ATR Sport 2 305/30ZR18 tire seems to be popular with Mustang owners and seems to have decent traction, especially for a tire that sells for round $105, but getting that sucker mounted sucked. The 30 profile results in a slightly harsher ride compared to a 35 profile tire, so I'll eventually switch back to the Nitto 555 G2 on the rear. I have Nitto Motivos on the front and have been happy with them so far, so I might even try a Motivo 315/35ZR17 on the rear instead of buying another 555 G2.
right now I have the Motivo's all the way around, but when the rear wears out I am thinking about trying a 555 g2 on the back - - love the motivos on the front and like the idea that I can rotate them by just switching them from one side to the other. On the rear the motivo has been much better than the stock kenda, better traction and better life, but I am thinking that a 555 G2 would give even better traction at the cost of some life - - still have a long way to go before I have to decide, the motivo on the rear has about 12,ooo miles on it and should be good for quite a bit more
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Yeah, I'm not an aggressive Rider at all so I never found the kenda's lacking grip. that's why I'm not too concerned about the tires I run. I'm more in the longevity then grip. And I haven't been caught too many down pours.
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Read it on various forums tires thread so its kind of hard to link it since I don't care enough to go searching for it, take it with a grain of salt.
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Just a question ....how much tire grip is dependent on the type of shocks and torsion bar stiffness?
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It depends if you're talking about forward grip or lateral grip
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Just a question ....how much tire grip is dependent on the type of shocks and torsion bar stiffness?
The actual gripping ability of a tire should stand alone however the overall traction of a vehicle and how well the gripping ability of the tires can be applied to the ground is dependent on the vehicles suspension including the coilovers / shocks and the sway bars. - you can have the stickiest tire in the world, but if the suspension is such that weight is shifted off of the tire when going around a corner or if the suspension is so stiff that the tire bounces off of the ground going over irregularities in the road then traction will be reduced - - best / stickiest tire in the world wont do you much good if your suspension is not optimized in such a way that it maximizes the tires contact with the road
Not that long ago I shared a link here about a new trend of some race car mechanics setting up the cars with very soft springs combined wth a very stiff sway bars as this allowed maximum tire contact on race tracks that had bumps and other minor irregularities in the corners. The softer springs kept the tire from bouncing into the air and allowed it to maintain contact better over the bumps where as the lateral spring rate was still very high due to the very stiff sway bar and this kept the vehicle and tires flat to the ground around the turns which also increased tire contact and traction
It actually a very interesting subject as to how all of these things work together not just from side to side, but also from front to back and for use with only 1 tire in the back and side to side leaning only controlled by the front it gets even more interesting - - something I have been trying to learn as much as I can about
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The actual gripping ability of a tire should stand alone however the overall traction of a vehicle and how well the gripping ability of the tires can be applied to the ground is dependent on the vehicles suspension including the coilovers / shocks and the sway bars. - you can have the stickiest tire in the world, but if the suspension is such that weight is shifted off of the tire when going around a corner or if the suspension is so stiff that the tire bounces off of the ground going over irregularities in the road then traction will be reduced - - best / stickiest tire in the world wont do you much good if your suspension is not optimized in such a way that it maximizes the tires contact with the road
Not that long ago I shared a link here about a new trend of some race car mechanics setting up the cars with very soft springs combined wth a very stiff sway bars as this allowed maximum tire contact on race tracks that had bumps and other minor irregularities in the corners. The softer springs kept the tire from bouncing into the air and allowed it to maintain contact better over the bumps where as the lateral spring rate was still very high due to the very stiff sway bar and this kept the vehicle and tires flat to the ground around the turns which also increased tire contact and traction
It actually a very interesting subject as to how all of these things work together not just from side to side, but also from front to back and for use with only 1 tire in the back and side to side leaning only controlled by the front it gets even more interesting - - something I have been trying to learn as much as I can about
I have my sway bar set medium stiffness....could go stiffer. My adjustable shocks are on the softest setting...back shock is only up about 5 clicks...to try to give it some sown pressure.maybe adding a few more wouldn’t hurt.
I’m trying to get a “car ride” out of the SS. I can say with my stiffer sway bar I don’t notice any heavy leaning in tight curves....
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I have my sway bar set medium stiffness....could go stiffer. My adjustable shocks are on the softest setting...back shock is only up about 5 clicks...to try to give it some sown pressure.maybe adding a few more wouldn’t hurt.
I’m trying to get a “car ride” out of the SS. I can say with my stiffer sway bar I don’t notice any heavy leaning in tight curves....
in my post above when I was talking about soft I was referring to spring rates not dampening or rebound - - - the only way to change the spring rate is to change the springs themselves
I am running the JRI GT coilovers the fronts have a very soft spring rate of 185 pounds the rear is 350 pounds which is on the stiff side - - I find the ride actually better than many cars I have ridden in, but I also find it odd that they went with a 350 in the rear on whats sold as a Grand Touring coilover set - Dave@DDMWorks in one post said the ride is controlled more by the rear than the front which would make the 350 seem like a odd choice
from what I have seen most of the adjustable coilovers are 200 to 250 in the front and - 300 in the back
anyway, its not like I planned it, I bought the coilovers and sway bar before I started reading about suspension, but with the 185 coils in the front combined with my twist dynamic solid sway bar I definitely am doing the soft spring stiff sway bar thing and it does seem to both handle very well and also ride very well - I guess I got lucky
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Bigdog - if you are interested in this here are the links I shared before
Road & Track - why stiff suspensions have less traction
Hotrod - big sway bar and soft springs
For me this stuff is very interesting, I am not in a position to do things like supercharging or other high HP mods, but I can play with and try to tune my suspension so that my slingshot is more fun for me to drive and play on the twisty mountain roads. Its also fun to try to figure how these things apply to our 3 wheeled situation - think about it, how do the principals of balancing front to rear sway bars apply when there is no rear sway bar? do we treat is as if it is super stiff because there is no shifting of weight from one wheel to another? or do we treat it as super soft because there is no resistance to roll? because of the lack of traction in the back and the ease with which it power oversteers do we need to worry about causing an understeer situation by having a too stiff front sway bar - - I doubt I will ever know the answers to all of this and I would love to have access to all the different suspension options and a few days at a track to actually try all of the options ad find the answers - - - it is so easy to find this information fo regular 4 wheel cars, but I havent been able to find much at all of three wheel rear wheel drive vehicles - - its the primary reason why I hang out on a reverse trike builders forum - - anyway I hope you enjoy the links
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I'm on air shocks and I know I need a stiffer sway/anti-sway bar up front. Just to much lean in the corners when I'm set on soft ride.
LC
