Firehawk Indy 500 and Speed Rating

This tire is one of the very few to be available in 235/70R15. Does anyone have any opinion about it?
The speed rating is only S. But I realize, reading through the various threads, that everyone is riding on tires that have speed ratings far below the top speed of a Corvette. It looks like it is very hard to find the appropriate combination of dimensions and speed rating when riding on 15" diameter rims.
I would like a V or at least a H.

I'm not sure you'll be able to find a higher speed rated tire in 15". The market for high performance tires has moved to the 16"-17"-18" tires for the most part. Current performance cars all have those sizes. The 15" is essentially a non-entity now as far as performance goes. The manufacturers continue to service it with good tires, but put their best efforts and manufacturing research in the larger diameters now. That's where the $ are now.

Hope you can find something you like.

the only 15" tires out there with a speed rating of h or v are blackwall only. i know there is a h rated blackwall 255 60 15 and 235 70 15 v and h rated tires that are used on caprice 9c1's but if you want raised letteres theres nothing.
rj

I just purchased a set of Cooper Cobra GTH, 225/70/15. Speed rating of "H". They are black wall tires, but I will take performance over style any day. So far I am very happy with the handling. Price was about the same as the "S" rated BFG A/T.
Rick

Thank you all for your input.
Indeed, I don't really care about raised letters. Blackwall are fine with me. I care more about performance and consistent safety (or safe consistency?).

I am considering going 225/70R15 if necessary.

Thanks again.

Feel free to tell me I am an imbecile or blast me in any what you see fit.
I need to ask this. If a tire is rated at, let's say 105 mph, does that mean it will disintegrate if you do 110 or does it mean it will not withstand SUSTAINED speeds of over 105? If the answer is that 'it won't withstand a sustained speed', how important safety-wise is it to have it? My cars see over 120 on occassion but I am certainly not running them on a banked track for hours or even minutes at a time. Maybe I'm just dumb but I can not see why you have a need for a tire rated at over 100 mph on a car that is not driven at high sustained speeds.
How many of you maintain speeds of over 80-85 mph for any length of time? I think if I were to plan on driving at those speeds, I would be more concerned about having a drivetrain, suspension, brakes and driver with an over-all safety rating in excess of an "S" rated tire before I worried about the tire.
Make any sense?

Makes sense to me glenn. They usually incorporate a margin of safety into them, to allow for a margin of error.
Sarge

As a matter of fact, I do agree with you.
I agree that there is probably a safety margin too.
Problem is I do not know how big is the safety margin or how close I would be from the actual limit when I go beyond the official rating. As a pilot and as an engineer, I hate the idea of crossing the line.
What is sustained speed? 15 minutes? Does five time one minutes in the same 10 minute period qualify? I do not know. One thing I know is the day I blow up a tire at 130 mph with my 71, I am dead.

glenns said: Feel free to tell me I am an imbecile or blast me in any what you see fit.

I do not mean that. The purpose of my question is to get opinions to educate me, not to insult anyone.

glenns said: I would be more concerned about having a drivetrain, suspension, brakes and driver with an over-all safety rating in excess of an "S" rated tire before I worried about the tire. Make any sense?

This is definitely a very good point. My car is in very good condition since it was completely restored. Still, the handling is not flawless cause the design of the drivetrain and the suspension is almost 40 years old. But there is nothing I can do about it except not driving it anymore, which is not an option.

|UPDATED|10/21/2003 6:31:15 PM|/UPDATED|

I am about as far from an expert on tires as you can find, but I have to believe those ratings are there for a reason. I do believe that of all the 'handling components' the tires are probably the most important. You can put all the finest, most expensive parts into the suspension you want to but if the tires aren't up to the task that the car has been built to do you've wasted your money. And if I've invested heavily in the car overall I'm certainly not going to risk it all on a set of under rated tires.

A blown tire at higher speeds can cause a lot damage. The physical damage to a vehicle can be repaired most of the time. But you can't put a price on the loss of a limb or a life when things go violently wrong.