Tires: 1980s vs Today

[Shadow277]

I have been told thay tire technology has changed significantly since the 1980s. I believe it would be more drastic since the 1960s but I am unsure if much has changed in the past 40 years. Please keep in mind I'm 28 so I have not experienced the differences so if I am wrong, enlightened me. Maybe tire development will be an interesting topic.

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[ice445]

Well yeah. The big advancement was going from bias ply to radials in the 1970's. But what's changed with the modern 21st century tires is mostly the chemistry of the rubber compounds. Pretty much every tire has moved upmarket essentially, with even cheap chinese tires being surprisingly adequate in a lot of cases. The premium rubber from the top tier manufacturers like Michelin has gotten so crazy with how it grips surfaces that modern cars can pull much higher G's in both acceleration and cornering. If you took something like a C8 which has a 2.9 second 0-60 and put the best tires from 1995 on it, it would simply not be able to pull that kind of a number anymore, even with everything else being equal. A lot of the crazy performance we see on cars now are enabled by modern rubber.

 

[Shifting_Gears]

Yeah, compound is where it’s at.

Tires will be constantly evolving as new technologies come out to increase stickiness, prolong mileage, reduce rolling resistance, etc.

Tire tech has changed in the last 5-10 years.. a lot. Much less 40 years.

 

[Shadow277]

Well yeah. The big advancement was going from bias ply to radials in the 1970's. But what's changed with the modern 21st century tires is mostly the chemistry of the rubber compounds. Pretty much every tire has moved upmarket essentially, with even cheap chinese tires being surprisingly adequate in a lot of cases. The premium rubber from the top tier manufacturers like Michelin has gotten so crazy with how it grips surfaces that modern cars can pull much higher G's in both acceleration and cornering. If you took something like a C8 which has a 2.9 second 0-60 and put the best tires from 1995 on it, it would simply not be able to pull that kind of a number anymore, even with everything else being equal. A lot of the crazy performance we see on cars now are enabled by modern rubber.

Tread patterns look different and I don't think I have seen directional tires in the 80s.

 

[Strokerswild]

Tread patterns look different and I don't think I have seen directional tires in the 80s.

GoodYear Gatorbacks emerged in the mid-80s....

 

[Shadow277]

GoodYear Gatorbacks emerged in the mid-80s....

I have heard of Gatorbacks only because of Motorweek on Youtube. It's fun seeing hoe far the auto industry has come. To be direct, I didn't know those were directional tires. I wonder how a 1981 Mustang would behave with current tires like Firehawk Indy 500s or Eagle F1s.

 

[Shifting_Gears]

I have heard of Gatorbacks only because of Motorweek on Youtube. It's fun seeing hoe far the auto industry has come. To be direct, I didn't know those were directional tires. I wonder how a 1981 Mustang would behave with current tires like Firehawk Indy 500s or Eagle F1s.

They’d probably flip thinking about how loose those chassis were and how much grip those tires have.. hahaha.

 

[Matti777]

lots of respect to the Nascar guys back in the 70s doing 200 mph

 

[Shadow277]

lots of respect to the Nascar guys back in the 70s doing 200 mph

Brush the brakes.

 

[BeastAR]

The amount of synthetics put into tires has grown a lot. There are passenger tires that can go up to 80k miles on a single set.... And just think all the R&D and money put into tires. Look at the amount of contact patch from a 1980s car to now is. Just for thought... A 1987 mustang GT ran 225/60VR15. My 2019 GT350R runs 305/30/19 in the front and 315/30/19 rear. ( I know its a little out of proportion, but just a thought...)

Here is a link that talks about 1920s to today, interesting read: https://www.actiongatortire.com/evolution-tire-1920s-present/

 

[Shadow277]

The amount of synthetics put into tires has grown a lot. There are passenger tires that can go up to 80k miles on a single set.... And just think all the R&D and money put into tires. Look at the amount of contact patch from a 1980s car to now is. Just for thought... A 1987 mustang GT ran 225/60VR15. My 2019 GT350R runs 305/30/19 in the front and 315/30/19 rear. ( I know its a little out of proportion, but just a thought...)

Here is a link that talks about 1920s to today, interesting read: https://www.actiongatortire.com/evolution-tire-1920s-present/

How's the tire shopping for 315s?

 

[MRGTX]

Some tire sizes that have fallen out of favor have not benefitted from ongoing tech evolution...and this gives us a nice snapshot of how they used to be.

I really wanted to stick to period-correct Wheel diameter for my Dodge Dart Sport and that means 14” or 15” wheels. I need ~26” tall tires which means I was shopping for 60 series tires. Without mods, that car can run a 275/60/15 in the rear but the front is trickier and 235/60/15 seemed to be the best I could do with available wheel offsets.

The street (non drag radial) tires available in these sizes is incredibly limited. Cooper Cobra, BFG Radial T/A, a couple of generic types...etc. and they’re all “all season” rubber with blocky tread.

Compared with the 200 treadwear summer compound 285/35/19s on the Mustang, the Radial T/As on the Dart are hilarious. They lose traction easily and make a lot of howling when they do it. There is absolutely no mistaking the huge leaps that modern tires benefit from.

That Dart has fully upgraded suspension/chassis reinforcements, etc but it was not built for max handling performance...and despite the low grip and mushy sidewalls, they are fairly predictable which means that you can still have fun, even if you’re not going to set a Nurburgring record.

 

[Matti777]

Radial TAs were the go to in my muscle car days. The white lettering looked good. We weren't worried about handling.

 

[Shadow277]

Radial TAs were the go to in my muscle car days. The white lettering looked good. We weren't worried about handling.

More and more people are starting to care about lateral grip. Touge has become popular.

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