I have a 1989 C4 which needs new tires. My dealer says I will love the 275/40/17 FireHawk Wide Oval tire, but it is a W rating instead of a Z rating. Has anyone used these tires and what do you think of w instead of z rated tires.

 

Honestly... I went out and bought some Kumho's for my 94 C4 and they are a Z rated tire. They are 285 in the rear. I dont have any complaints about the tire, but if you are asking about the rating, i have a weird way of looking at it. Basically, i dont know the exact numbers, but a Z rated tire is good at speeds of up to (lets say) 190mph. The W rated tire would probably be rated at around 165mph. When are you really ever going to be going faster than that where you would end up sacrificing ride quality. It just seems unreasonable. That is just my way of looking at it. You can look up the real numbers on tirerack.com i believe.

 

I am no tire expert but I will tel you, on another car I own came factory with Z rated tires. I (like a dummy) to save a dollar went with a lesser rated tire. Hate the change. As I understand it, part of the higher rating has to do with sidewall thickness. By thinning the sidewall you give up handling and ride quality. I would highlt recomend staying with Z rating. I made the mistake of not and I kick myself daily for it.

 

was up, a z rated tire is go to speeds over 149 mph, w rated tires are go to 168 mph. the info is on tirerack.com, it shocked me i knew z was rated higher. the real change is going to be you,are u going to like alitte stiffer ride from the w?

 

Yeh, tire ratings are a right confusin' area of cars these days!! They came up with the Z designation awhile back now, but since then, they found that it wasn't high enough!! Some of the super cars comin' out today need more ratin' than a Z can deliver... so they started comin' up with whacky new designations... W being one of them.

 

I put Yokohama Z rated tires on my '87 work in progress. She handles like a dream!!! Massive gripping and handling. Super comfortable ride. Kinda pricey but well worth it

 

I looked up the FireHawk tire on tiretrack.com and it did very well in comfort which is most important to me. I had a Pontiac SSEI that came with Z rated tires and I put H rated on and hated them it rode like a lumber wagon with the H tires, went back to Z's. . So that is why I was so worried about going to a lower rating. Thanks for you input, everyone.