Firestone Firehawk Indy 500

Ouhei

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Definitely less grip than stock. Lower tier tire. I’ve had a set. They’re a good value, but not very high grip performance.
Do you have any data other than your thoughts to back that up though? I ask because according to the Tirerack tests I posted, the Indy 500 posts a dry lap time that’s better than both the Conti Extreme Contact and Pirelli P Zero, both of which are “higher tier” since they’re Max Summer.

I don’t mean to insult you or imply the Indy 500 is better than OEM or obviously the PS4S, I just think anyone that’s saying you’re degrading your CTR by running them is exaggerating the difference in performance or misinformed.
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Do you have any data other than your thoughts to back that up though? I ask because according to the Tirerack tests I posted, the Indy 500 posts a dry lap time that’s better than both the Conti Extreme Contact and Pirelli P Zero, both of which are “higher tier” since they’re Max Summer.

I don’t mean to insult you or imply the Indy 500 is better than OEM or obviously the PS4S, I just think anyone that’s saying you’re degrading your CTR by running them is exaggerating the difference in performance or misinformed.
It's beyond silly to be honest. While my Si didn't have this power. I took it through crazy fast turns and twists. Never felt like I didn't have exceptional grip. Especially for the price. I will try them next and report back.
 

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Do you have any data other than your thoughts to back that up though? I ask because according to the Tirerack tests I posted, the Indy 500 posts a dry lap time that’s better than both the Conti Extreme Contact and Pirelli P Zero, both of which are “higher tier” since they’re Max Summer.

I don’t mean to insult you or imply the Indy 500 is better than OEM or obviously the PS4S, I just think anyone that’s saying you’re degrading your CTR by running them is exaggerating the difference in performance or misinformed.
Autox, personal use, Exo X, Golf R, CTR over the last 6 years. I’d rank the tires I’ve used over that time like this:

1) RE-71R (One word: Fast)
2) AD08R (old tech these days, replaced by a much better tire, the A052. I hope the A052 to be my next tires for the CTR.)
3) PS4S and PSS (these two are almost too close to call. Consistent and predictable, much more livable than the top two, but slower for sure.)
4) Sportcontact 6 (For one hero lap, these could move up a notch. But they get greasy very quickly and grip suffers. If you take a break, you can bring them back with a bit of cooling off time. But their wear level is horrid).
5) S007A (The gap between these and the Indy500s is pretty high. They’re faster and lighter. Although they cost a little more, but they’re still super cheap. I think this is the better budget tire for the CTR.) While not the best tire in the wet, they are still noticably better than the Indy500 in the rain, they are quieter, lighter, and a little quicker in the dry as well.
6) Indy 500 (affordable choice, but markedly slower than stock rubber. I don't want any of the factory performance to fall off, especially since the CTR is my daily driver, and I drive it in the rain often. They’re really just ok. Predictable, not super fast, but consistent. Heavy.)
7) Contisport 5P (These are more expensive tires and man do they suck. They’re dead last by a wide margin. Wear is fair, they are lightweight, but the grip is nowhere near the other tires on this list. I would have never paid money for them, they came on the VW stock.)
 
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It's beyond silly to be honest. While my Si didn't have this power. I took it through crazy fast turns and twists. Never felt like I didn't have exceptional grip. Especially for the price. I will try them next and report back.
So you’ve never used them, I had a set for 18k miles, but my experience is beyond silly?

The only thing silly here is you are defending a purchase choice with absolutely no personal experience in the matter. For an Si, I think they are a fine tire. The R's limits are a lot higher, though, and for someone that cares about driving the R near its limit, they'll be a clear step down from it's stock rubber.
 
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charleswrivers

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The General Gmax make a AS and a UHP summer. They’re apparently not quite there compared to the Indy 500s in dry handling but Tirerack reviewed them as a better all-around performer. I kinda threw it out there too that the Si’s stock summer tires were max summer tires and some of those like a Indy 500 are UHP so they’re in different categories. Sad that the cars they use are different so that it’s hard to directly compare them with that variable added. You’d figure a great UHP tire might compete well with a lower tier Max performance, but I haven’t found a comparison between them on the same car. Everyone who gets a new set of tires tend to love them because they’re better than old, shot tires... but solid new vs new comparisons across different categories without other variables seem nonexistent.

When my Si’s stock summers, the Goodyear asymmetrics are done, the Indy 500s look like a good contender but they may be a harder sell compared to the Generals for little more than spirited street driving that I do. I think I’ll get a good 30k miles of decent performance out of the Goodyear’s. I’ll probably still be above 2/32nds but bet they’ll start getting crappy on the wet.
 


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So you’ve never used them, I had a set for 18k miles, but my experience is beyond silly?

The only thing silly here is you are defending a purchase choice with absolutely no personal experience in the matter. For an Si, I think they are a fine tire. The R's limits are a lot higher, though, and for someone that cares about driving the R near its limit, they'll be a clear step down from it's stock rubber.
Yes because I have used them. I also understand that the difference in total grip will be extremely minimal if even noticeable at all. I also understand this is a street car and not a dedicated race car. To say it will take away from the R is silly.
 

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People just need to make sure they're buying the right tire for what they're doing with the car. I've put ~20k on Indy 500's between my STI and now my CTR and have never had issues where I felt like the tire was holding me back in any meaningful way on street driving (daily + some back road fun), I've launched the car, done plenty of hard pulls and taken a lot of turns at high speeds. If I did auto-x or track days I would not get the Indy 500, but I think it's a great tire for my usage. It might be slower around a track than the stock tires (though I can't find a ton of data around how much faster the Sport Contact is vs. the Extreme Contact and the Indy 500 beats out the Extreme contact in dry tests), but I've yet to find those limits in my time with the car.
 
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Good info. Interesting test results vs the PS4S. Best way is simply to test them out for yourself. Tires are just another consumable or IMO, a maintenance part. Meaning, you'll be replacing them over and over again, so there's not ONE that is superior for every condition. Why not just try a low budget set and move up? As for me, these will be among the tires i'll try next to the Federal RSRRs. Currently, I have RE-71 and Pilot Super Sport. I can attest the RE-71 are sticky! I'm not even driving on track and these things stick! I jack up my car in the garage and it's picking up some of my garage epoxy! :spaz:
Haven't gotten a chance to use the cheaper versions. But excited to so i can experience them all. Doesn't even rain in socal, so i'm not worried about wet conditions. Plus, the cheaper tires will go on my track set, so it'll be fun to see how i burn them up or how long they last. Maybe they'll last forever since I drive like a grandma..:nixon:

Here's some others i'd like to try.

Hankook RS-4
Toyo R888R
Azenis RT615
Nexen Sur4g
 

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Thank you, good thread. I replaced the stock Goodyear All Seasons with Michelin Pilot 4-S tires (there goes a grand I'll never see again),
but gave consideration to going with the Firestone Fire-Hawks. They appear to be excellent tires, for less $$ than the Michelin's.

So far,with about 8,000 miles on them, the Michelin tires are worth the money, based on both dry handling, and especially the few times we got an Arizona monsoon downpour.
 

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You do you, buddy.
The biggest draw for me to this car is it’s handling prowess, and a huge part of that is grip. I can’t fit something with lesser grip than stock and that is the part doesn’t add up to me.
Big problem is the selection of tires in stock size and the pricing.
 


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I bought a set of Firestone Indy 500's for my last car when I thought I was planning on selling in early 2019. They were at best good and more like a 6.5 out of 10 but no where near Michelin Pilot Sport 4S or even Conti ECS let alone what I'm used to competing on. I sold the set for real cheap with 2 months of wear. Buyer was thrilled.
 

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People just need to make sure they're buying the right tire for what they're doing with the car. I've put ~20k on Indy 500's between my STI and now my CTR and have never had issues where I felt like the tire was holding me back in any meaningful way on street driving (daily + some back road fun), I've launched the car, done plenty of hard pulls and taken a lot of turns at high speeds. If I did auto-x or track days I would not get the Indy 500, but I think it's a great tire for my usage. It might be slower around a track than the stock tires (though I can't find a ton of data around how much faster the Sport Contact is vs. the Extreme Contact and the Indy 500 beats out the Extreme contact in dry tests), but I've yet to find those limits in my time with the car.
Any issues with rubbing or anything thinking about buying me a set next week
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