[Xman]

My question is, has anyone in this area been having a problem with traction?

I'm in Fort Worth and many of you may know the Texas-OK area has had its driest period ever on record. It has maybe rained once since last summer. I've been having a terrible time keeping the back end on the road. With 15K miles on the OEM tires with plenty of tread left, the rear is breaking loose even when I don't expect it, e.g., 3rd gear at 30 mph with less than 1/2 throttle. I've figured that the tires just got hard from the summer heat. (This happened to a set of Bridgestones on my Z28). While having dinner with the guys tonight, I told one of them that I had had it with the tires breaking loose all the time and was going to buy new ones this weekend. He has an M3 and tracks it and said he had been having the same problem the last couple of months. We developed a theory that since we basically haven't had any rain to wash the roads off, they have a lot of build-up and grime so that even clear pavement doesn't provide the friction it should. I'm considering waiting until we get a good rain to wash the roads and see if the situation changes.

Have any of you been having a similar traction problem? Is blaming the road right now more viable than the tires?

 

[Chief D]

Sounds off to me. Normal road traffic will wear off any built up material on the road surface. You may just be putting too much power on the ground. It is more plausable that your traction issues are from cold temperature. Cold tires, cold pavement - everything is harder. I don't know about the hard tires either. Losing traction actualy improves grip. It makes the tires more plyable as they heat up due to friction against the road surface - removes any foreign material adhering to the tire as well.
Try warming the tires up before you run. A quick burn-out or two should help.

 

[derf]

I live in the area and I haven't really noticed any problems with keeping traction while I'm on the gas. Then again, I'm running BFG KDW tires instead of the rock hard KDWs that comes from the factory.

 

[Good 2 go]

I haven't had this issue either, here in San Antonio. I've got 'bout 8300 miles on the OEM 18" rolling stock.

 

[Xman]

Maybe build-up is the wrong word. From my years driving a motorcycle, I always got off the road for 30 minutes when it started to rain for the first time after a dry spell. It gave mother nature time to wash away the film of grime, grease, and dust.

derf, its good to know you are not having problems. I feel like I'm on ice skates.

Chief D - its has not been cold up here. I think we have had more than 10 days of temps over 80 degrees since Christmas. I've been trying burnouts with no signs of traction benefits following the exercise. Plus I'm stock.

Prior to the last two weeks, I have been able to predict when it was going to occur. lately, the backend has been kicking out when I haven't expected it (no tire squeal at all). I'm kidding myself if I think I can control this. One of these days, who knows when, I'm going to have to execute an evasive maneuver and I won't have control. $800 for tires is not in the budget right now but nor is fixing or replacing a crunched GTO.

 

[GTODEALER]

The stock tires on these cars are horrible!!!! I know what you mean about the dry weather.... they say it's supposed to rain Saturday night and Sunday which will be the first substantial rain since the Summer. I'd say replace the stock tires and you shouldn't have any issues, before I sold my car I put EVERYTHING back to stock, which included tires, and I was quickly reminded about how crappy they are. Just a side note, last night I was toying around with Radio and found out I can destroy the tires all the way through third gear, leaving two nice, dark, and straight black marks for a long long way!! DFWGTO was next to me on the freeway when I rolled into her in second and left about 100+ foot of rubber on the ground.....

 

[b_a_betterperson]

I think there's something to the theory of build up on the roads. Many years ago, I spun a car on freeway cloverleaf entrance ramp. It happened first thing on a Saturday morning. No tire squeal, no nothing -- just went around like on ice. Turns out that ramp had cars idling on it all day Friday -- well into the night -- because of traffic backups on the freeway. Long story short -- there was all kinds of residue from vehicle exhaust which made things slick.

Think about the areas where you're losing traction -- is it first thing in the morning where there are really, really busy roads -- then maybe you're running into the same experience I had on broader scale.

A few other things to look at: 1. Yes, the stock tires are indeed awful. 2. Were you carrying a light fuel load at the time? 3. Also, there are just times when torque, fuel load, position of the car, surface condition of the road all come together and bite ya on the bum for seemingly no reason. My brother had a brand new 1978 Trans Am. Had a state of the art suspension system put on it -- along with Goodyear NCTs -- some of the best tires in the world at the time. Thing was, though, that stupid car, for some reason, was flat out dangerous in certain conditions -- right hand turn at 20-25 miles an hour -- that car would shoot the rear end out 45 degrees with no warning under VERY slight acceleration. In fact, that car behaved exactly like how your car is behaving now.

Guess we'll test the road build up theory after it rains....

 

[tmac4468]

I have been feeling that way myself. I am in Fort Worth too. Happens every day leaving work, make right hand turn, merge with traffic, and rear end is loose. Seems like it has gotten worse. I could always swing the rear loose by getting on it hard. Now it seems to do it even when I try to avoid it.

 

[Russ2005]

As GTODEALER properly put it, the stock tires on the GTO suck. Shame on GM for putting BFGoodrich T/A's on the car with a 400 treadwear. The tires get out of shape sitting overnight. The first few miles of my drive every morning is more like a diesel with knobbie's rather than a high performance machine. The tires, even when warmed up simply will not stick to the road. I suggest burning off some rubber, then use that excuse to get a set of real tires.

Memorize this line...
"Honest Officer, I was only trying to replace my tires"

 

[kevlar2005]

I have the 18 inch factory package on my goat and I have the same problems. It's fairly unpredictable when the tailend is going take on a plan of it's own. I do know that old concrete and asphalt road surfaces are extremely slick even when dry. Traction control left on may be a drag, but it will save you from the bodyshop.

 

[DaveH]

I've noticed my tires out of round overnight as well and wondered if it was common. I've only experienced that phenomonon on softer compound tires before, was kind of surprised to "feel" on the BFGs.

 

[Xman]

Yeah, I turn the traction control off every time I start up if the roads are dry. I dislike it interfering if I really want the car to get out of its own way - prefer to control the acceleration/tire spin/slide on my own. We will see what tomorrow's rain brings. Still may just see if Discount or NTB will give me some trade-in value because there is lots of tread left. The harder decision is what tires to buy. I finally found a good tire for my Z28 - the Firehawk Z50s - but they only make them in run-flats which I don't want nor am I willing to pay $300 a tire for them. Maybe I can get a reasonable price on the Goodyear F1 GS-D3. Also considering P-Zero Nero or KUMHO ECSTA SPT.

 

[MeanGoat]

Very funny you guys are mentioning this topic.

I'm in the Tampa Bay area and have been having the same problem for about the same amount of time.

They've been doing a lot of construction in my apartment complex and I chalked it up to dust on the road by my apartment.

Is anyone getting a dry sliding sound when the tires break loose just a little instead of a squeel like it should be? This was what led me to believe I have a drywall dust-like build up on the tires.

Tried to burn it off with some peel outs, but to no avail. Would be curious to know if anyone else is getting that dry tire spin sound.

 

[Xman]

I get the spinning with no squeal but i don't see any dust around. It can happen after I've been driving for many miles and the tires are warm. Again, burnouts don't help at all. I'll have to pay attention to see if it becomes more frequent as the gas tank gets lower. I'm also going pay attention to see if it happens more leaving an intersection or on heavily traveled roads.

 

[Russ2005]

The best sets of tires I have had over the last 10 years on various cars are Firestone Firehawk SZ50's. I intend to try a set of the new SZ80 ultra high performance as soon as I burn a little more rubber.

BTW, I have NEVER had a tire get out of round by sitting over night before the POS BF Goodrich tires. Hey BFG, are you listening?

 

[Xman]

The Firehawk SZ50 were the best tires I ever owned also but now they are only run flat. I looked up the SZ80s and they are a European tyre that do not even come in our size. I think the SZ50s were replaced with the Firehawk Wide Oval.

http://www.bridgestonetire.com/tireselector/index_bs.asp?pagesource=searchbysize

 

[Xman]

Well, two days of driving after the rain has washed off the roads and he rear end is not hanging loose on me unexpectedly like before - so I believe there was build up on the road - however, that doesn't mean the OEM KDWS are anything to write home about or that better tires wouldn't have minimized this problem (like others reported not having this issue). At least I can take my time finding some quality replacements.

Man, I love my GTO. Its awesome to be cruise down the highway at 80 and with a tap of the foot make others seem like they are standing still.

 

[derf]

I highly recommend the BFG KDW. I've been running them for a couple months now and I've been quite happy with them.

 

[GTODEALER]

I highly recommend the BFG KDW. I've been running them for a couple months now and I've been quite happy with them.

Maybe it's the larger size tire with rear wheel drive, cause the tires on my SRT4 (BFG KDW's) suck ass..... I can blow the tires off through third.:willy:

 

[Xman]

My problem has been I'm usually impressed with the tire the first few months I get them. Its how the behave after a summer or two of heat cycles. I'm going to take my time and see if I can get the Goodyear F1 GS D3s or Firestone Wide Ovals at a good price and make the jump then. Will keep my options open for other tires also. It was an easier decision deciding to get a GTO - a clear performer that stood out from the masses at a reasonable price!