Road to buidling a 1990 Foxbody LX

Classic style but fits and in stock

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Well, they’re street legal but you know, like I do, that’s where it ends.
You know you can’t get caught in rain with those right?
Well, if you do, you know you’ll be slowing right down to a crawl right?

I have no knowledge on the Falcon.
But I have been a passenger in a few cars with and seen the Nitto NT01 perform on track before.
They work very well.
The secret is they have exceptional grip up until the point where they start squealing. That’s when you know you have reached their adhesion limit in corners.
After that it’s not advisable to push any further.

I also witnessed several Toyo cars at the same track event but did not get to drive in them.
They performed very well also.
I don’t know that the Toyo are worth the premium price over the NT01’s.
That’s why I would go for Nitto to save budget for a second set.
From reading I’ve done before on Nitto, I believe the NT05 is quite a step down from the NT01.
The NT01 is a legit track tire (DOT approved as said above), but the NT05 is a real street tire, more like the Michelin AT4.

For high grip like the previous 3, there is also the BF Goodrich G-Force R1.
I’ve seen cars with those as well at track days.
One that comes to mind was a vintage Boss 302 race car at Watkins Glen, in the advanced tun group.
It won’t be cheap. It’ll be on par with the Toyo, if not more.

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And, have you considered the Michelin Cup 2’s?
They have pretty good traction, and would be more suitable to street use than the other 4 above.

You know all 4 will throw up even more stones and debris than the Cup 2’s right?
 
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Well, they’re street legal but you know, like I do, that’s where it ends.
You know you can’t get caught in rain with those right?
Well, if you do, you know you’ll be slowing right down to a crawl right?

I have no knowledge on the Falcon.
But I have been a passenger in a few cars with and seen the Nitto NT01 perform on track before.
They work very well.
The secret is they have exceptional grip up until the point where they start squealing. That’s when you know you have reached their adhesion limit in corners.
After that it’s not advisable to push any further.

I also witnessed several Toyo cars at the same track event but did not get to drive in them.
They performed very well also.
I don’t know that the Toyo are worth the premium price over the NT01’s.
That’s why I would go for Nitto to save budget for a second set.
From reading I’ve done before on Nitto, I believe the NT05 is quite a step down from the NT01.
The NT01 is a legit track tire (DOT approved as said above), but the NT05 is a real street tire, more like the Michelin AT4.

For high grip like the previous 3, there is also the BF Goodrich G-Force R1.
I’ve seen cars with those as well at track days.
One that comes to mind was a vintage Boss 302 race car at Watkins Glen, in the advanced tun group.
It won’t be cheap. It’ll be on par with the Toyo, if not more.

View attachment 62898

And, have you considered the Michelin Cup 2’s?
They have pretty good traction, and would be more suitable to street use than the other 4 above.

You know all 4 will throw up even more stones and debris than the Cup 2’s right?
Normal sport cup 2’s have a lot more tread than mine , might be good choice
I could look at continental pro contacts
Few others little Less grip for more street use

I have sport cup 2 on 350 and not great wet
But not super bad at least when newer
Just ease up and short shift when raining
 
I have no direct experience directly with the tires mentioned, but I did get a set of the ''normal'' Nitto NT555 back in the days on the Focus. At the start they were good all rounders, but by the end of their life, they got really squirelly really quick on any kind of ''damp'' road (not even describing pouring rain). And that was a FWD Focus ST ...
Goes without saying the NT05 (and all the other listed as a matter of fact) are probably worst in the rain.

I know, I know, not going to really see rain often, but thought I would mention just in case. And I know you're already used to your cup2's on the R so you know what is coming.
 
Driving in the rain is not part of the plan, but certainly can happen,
Longer trips or weekend trips, one can't control weather, so drag readils not the plan.
leaning towards summer perfromance does, so leaning towards tires getting warm and performing.
But has to have some rain characteristics.

Cup 2's are not bad at all in wet, hard rain, heavy standing water, not as much fun :)
But stock cup 2's have twice the tread depth. I will look at other options as well.
maybe I should move backwards a bit, I just have a feeling I am going to need some grip to get this to work well.

Remember unlike modern cars this will have no nannies, so traction matters a bit more.
driver and car control will matter also :)
 
What tire size do you intend on running at the moment?

I thought of the same thing.
Not all manufacturers will have all sizes.

If you’re particular about size, that will likely filter a few manufacturers for you.
Leaving you a short list.

If you have a size in mind, I like using the filters on tire rack.com.
Use summer extreme performance or even track tires.
It will show you the sizes of the brands they carry, which is quite a bit.
 
Quick foray to 1010tires.com (Canadian site) to glance at your sizing, you are not limited to only 2 or 3 potential choices. That is a good thing.
- Yokohama Advan Sport V105
- Nitto NT555G2
- Nitto NT05
- BFG Potenza Sport
- Michelin PilotSport 4S
- Toyo Proxes Sport & T1 Sport
- Continental ContiSportContact3

Obviously, other websites and local retailers may be able to find some other alternatives, but all the major brands are pretty much covered...
Marc was right, the reason I was asking the sizes were the tire availability. For example my Firestones cannot be had in the sizes you want.

You'll have good choices it seems! good to know.
 
To avoid Mishaps

Do like Denis did in the end with his GT500

A set of Street Tires, Michelin AS3 Plus

And in your case a set of Track Tires

And you don’t need pretty wheels on the Track
A problme with that is pure costs,
track wheels are often pretty because light wheels are crazy expensive.
Even certain tires, EI: continetal extreme sports 22.8 lbs,
Yokohama high performance tires, 28 lbs,
Unspun wieght is not kind to fast cars :)

The plan for now is same as wheels, cheaper wheels
SVE are quite reasonbale $$$ and not bad wieght at 23 lbs.
Tires, will be high performance summer, without giving up to much
streetable use.

Later I can look at higher end wheels and tires if required, desired
and I refill a sock or two :)
 
Example, Apex Flow form race wheels, that are not insane price, but not cheap
$325.00 USD each ($450 cad each), 19.2 lbs and still cool looking.
throw a high performance track tire on there for another $600.00
$1000 a corner for go fast wheels on a budget :oops: 🤪:ROFLMAO:

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Is this one of those things, where you tell the wife, they were only $150 each :unsure:😁
 
A problme with that is pure costs,
track wheels are often pretty because light wheels are crazy expensive.
Even certain tires, EI: continetal extreme sports 22.8 lbs,
Yokohama high performance tires, 28 lbs,
Unspun wieght is not kind to fast cars :)

The plan for now is same as wheels, cheaper wheels
SVE are quite reasonbale $$$ and not bad wieght at 23 lbs.
Tires, will be high performance summer, without giving up to much
streetable use.

Later I can look at higher end wheels and tires if required, desired
and I refill a sock or two :)
High Performance Summer is better than Drag Radials on rear

If you monitor tread wear and lower speed on wet surfaces No Problem

In any Event your GT350 will most likely be the better choice for weekend trips
 
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