RobsTV
New LVC Member
When my '94 Mark needed tires a few years ago, I did forum research, then bought the BFG g-Force Sports from TireRack to replace old Continentals.
The g-Force seemed to be one of the best tires to use on a Mark VIII for traction, but I have not seen those results. Perhaps users are leaving traction control engaged? Of course you can't get correct feel of true traction that way. Best times are obtained with traction control off.
After 3 years and 15,000 miles, here is the review I posted at TireRack:
"This is on the wife's car, who mostly drives it fairly easy. I beat on it the rare times I do drive the Mark VIII. Took off a set of worn out Continentals and replaced with these g-Force Sports. 1 mile down the road I had to pull over to lower air pressure from 34 psi to 28 psi. It was just way too hard riding and noisy. Later found that grip was also much worse than the worn Conti's. They spun all the time, wet or dry (TC off for testing). Did a dragstrip test after a couple thousand miles breakin period, and even though track used that sticky stuff (VHT), it still spun every pass, regardless of pressure or pre-stage technique. Ended up installing a posi-unit in the Mark VIII (3.73), and it helped a little, as it now only spins about as bad as the worn out Conti's did, not any worse. After about 15,000 miles, and close to wear bars, I am done with these...." The wear was pretty even and tires were rotated frequently.
Now my question is, could it be that the tire width might be a little too wide for the 7" rims, and this is reducing optimal traction?
Looking at purchasing a set of Firehawk Wide Oval Indy 500's.
Should I stick with 245/50-16, or switch to the more narrow 225/55-16's?
The Firehawk Wide Oval Indy 500 rates near the top for my needs. The 245/50 tread looks to be at least 1/2" narrower than the BFG tread width, so perhaps that different tire in same size with narrower tread will be thinner enough to make a difference? I really like the 245/50 look, but the BFG's always felt odd and never seemed like they were a correct match. Reviews rate this Firehawk version as having much better dry traction than the BFG's, but if my sizes are not the same as tested models, than results might not be the same.
Already replaced speedo gear with Orange, for these tire sizes when used with new 3.73 gear ratio.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this.
Rob
The g-Force seemed to be one of the best tires to use on a Mark VIII for traction, but I have not seen those results. Perhaps users are leaving traction control engaged? Of course you can't get correct feel of true traction that way. Best times are obtained with traction control off.
After 3 years and 15,000 miles, here is the review I posted at TireRack:
"This is on the wife's car, who mostly drives it fairly easy. I beat on it the rare times I do drive the Mark VIII. Took off a set of worn out Continentals and replaced with these g-Force Sports. 1 mile down the road I had to pull over to lower air pressure from 34 psi to 28 psi. It was just way too hard riding and noisy. Later found that grip was also much worse than the worn Conti's. They spun all the time, wet or dry (TC off for testing). Did a dragstrip test after a couple thousand miles breakin period, and even though track used that sticky stuff (VHT), it still spun every pass, regardless of pressure or pre-stage technique. Ended up installing a posi-unit in the Mark VIII (3.73), and it helped a little, as it now only spins about as bad as the worn out Conti's did, not any worse. After about 15,000 miles, and close to wear bars, I am done with these...." The wear was pretty even and tires were rotated frequently.
Now my question is, could it be that the tire width might be a little too wide for the 7" rims, and this is reducing optimal traction?
Looking at purchasing a set of Firehawk Wide Oval Indy 500's.
Should I stick with 245/50-16, or switch to the more narrow 225/55-16's?
The Firehawk Wide Oval Indy 500 rates near the top for my needs. The 245/50 tread looks to be at least 1/2" narrower than the BFG tread width, so perhaps that different tire in same size with narrower tread will be thinner enough to make a difference? I really like the 245/50 look, but the BFG's always felt odd and never seemed like they were a correct match. Reviews rate this Firehawk version as having much better dry traction than the BFG's, but if my sizes are not the same as tested models, than results might not be the same.
Already replaced speedo gear with Orange, for these tire sizes when used with new 3.73 gear ratio.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this.
Rob
