Best Tires for Stock Car, Fair Weather Driving Options

[Nogoodwithusernames]

Hey guys, I know there's lot's of tire posts on here already and I've not really read through them much.
If there is already a thread covering this please drop a link and it would be appreciated!

Anyways it's new tire time for the 914 but I'm not sure what size or brand of tires would be the best bang for the buck while still giving good grip and decent life.
Car is a stock d-jet 2.0L 1974 with rivieras. Only street driving, no auto-x or drag racing etc etc.

Cheers and happy New Years all! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) (safe driving habits to drive and then drink (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) )

[Dave_Darling]

I've read somewhere a very pithy expression:

"A tire is a series of compromises, in the shape of a donut."

Tires have lots of different characteristics, which usually can be traded off against each other in different ways. You need to figure out what is important to you, and research as well as you can with that in mind.

A few of the characteristics that come to mind:
- Dry grip
- Wet grip
- Hydroplaning resistance
- Cold-weather grip
- Grip in snow
- Noise
- Rolling resistance
- Durability
- Price
- Appearance
- Ride comfort

And there are, of course, the various sizes you can also get. The original size would have been 165R15 (165/80-15), while usually sizes up to 205 can fit on stock wheels under stock or slightly-tweaked fenders.

For the ultimate dry grip, the "R compound" competition tires are the way to go. But you'll replace them every year, they're expensive, they're jarring, they're super dangerous on snow (and often very poor in the wet), and pretty much mediocre or lousy in everything but dry grip.

For an "original driving" type experience, something like the Vredestien Sprint tires mentioned above in 165/80-15 should be pretty close.

Other tires work the compromises in other ways.

--DD