Firestone FireHawk 500

Originally Posted by Girald

The Firestones compared to Bridgestone S04s - The S04s win

Heres why:

I hit the track as well as get out in the mountain passes. For the track, im using Federal 595 RS-RRs ( good for the price but there are better) ...

But, I wanted good street-able traction for the mountains etc.

The OEMS for the 15' Sport where grippy but snap out of traction with no warning... When they were toast, i gave the S04s a try for the price and some reviews. The compound was slightly less than the OEMS but were MUCH more predictable on the traction limits. The braking traction was very good and over all a good tire, but certainly just a mid range and not a top tier compound.

I did take the S04s to the track for some light runs and here is what i noticed: Brand new, the tires were scary over 110mph until you burn off the slick top bit off the tires. About mid- wear, they were good at 155+ good reliable traction advertising and braking performance. Again though, a mid tier tire for all of these in my opinion.

The Firestones.
They are a very sexy looking tire on the car, especially since i got some 15' nismo rims to throw them on.

The break-in period was a bit quicker than the S04s and the price could not be overlooked (why i went for a go with these) So far ( and i still have them on, I noticed that they are not happy on the track at all.. The top speed is good and they they too like the S04 have some predictability as far as advertising traction loss...

But the traction loss threshhold is less. A highway speed emergency brake on S04s is solid (using oem brakes or stop techs) On the Firestones, you get chirp on ABS using 80% braking. Turns are the same... the snap out threshhold for the Firestones is less.

On a drift note, The Firestones, will hold a fishtail coming out of a turn very smoothly... Not that I do that often..I dont like buying tires every week

Summary:

The Firestones are actually great daily tires .... But if you plan to get aggressive with them, the S04s will out perform, and of course, a variety of tires on up to PS4s , re-11s. re-71s etc if you want to get up there in max traction. etc etc.

Originally Posted by Zyonara91

Thanks for the solid and un bias review, it is greatly appreciated. I use my car as a daily driver, I never have, or will, take it to the track, but that's just me. The next tires I grab will be the S04's. I am aware that some tire manufactures have a different sizing for the same type of tire. For example a 275 from Mich may be wider than a 275 from Pirelli.

When it comes to S04 sizing vs the Firehawk sizing are they S04's wider or skinnier? Thanks in advance for your assistance, it is greatly appreciated!