I am going to be their "pilot car"[big & heavy], for a new line of FUZION tires,it is aimed at the Tuner market and my 16s are about the smallest in the line!!
The rep sais I should like them better than the SZ50 I have been running for the past 5 years,,,,,we'll see.
quote:Originally posted by TimeLord: I am going to be their "pilot car"[big & heavy], for a new line of FUZION tires,it is aimed at the Tuner market and my 16s are about the smallest in the line!!
The rep sais I should like them better than the SZ50 I have been running for the past 5 years,,,,,we'll see.
I hope these tires meet your expectations by being comparable to the SZ50 EPs. My Firestone dealer informed me a few months ago that these tires were about to come "on stream" when we realized that the SZ50 EPs were no more. Although the one review of these tires on the Tirerack site is positive - especially since it comes from someone who tracks their car, I'm still sceptical... I know that Firestone has the ability to produce an exceptional tire (the SZ50 EP!) but I'm afraid that they're putting their best technology into the Bridgestone line, in order to charge a premium for a bona fide performance/street tire. My dealer inasmuch confirmed this marketing strategy during our conversations. I was also a "guinea pig" 2 yrs. ago when Firestone introduced their Dayton "Daytona Z" (entry price level) performance line. My dealer convinced me to let him slap on a set of these Dayton "Daytona Z" tires for a track weekend so that I might give him my feedback on their performance. The bottom line was that at 75% of the car's limits on dry pavement (normal street driving), I couldn't tell the difference between these and the SZ50 EPs. On the track at 10/10ths was a whole 'nuther ball game though! Can you recall the Simon & Garfunkel song, "Slip Slidin' Away"? Well... that's exactly how I felt... and that was on a dry track... And on the 2nd day it rained! Needless to say, I gave up trying to do any serious driving in the wet with these tires (which I could have easily attempted with the SZ50 EP), but made the best of a bad situation by putting on the typical RWD, high horsepower "skid/hang the tail out" show for everybody there that day. Actually, I had a lot of laughs trying to keep the car under control and on the pavement! It was a great lesson for me! In the meantime, after 2 sets of SZ50 EPs, I'm getting to know my new Goodyear F1 GS-D3s. So far so good. These tires have excellent grip and are great in the wet, but I don't think they react as quickly to steering inputs as the SZ50 EPs. I think I can adjust to this however... I have a lapping day coming up on Monday the 17th and will keep y'all up to date with my thoughts on these tires after a day on the track.
I will be keeping my SZ50's just in case,they want me to test their tire,that I will do,but I will not handicap myself or put myself in jeopardy.
When I was sponsored by DUNLOP I was running the SP 8000 which was an INCREDIBLE tire,the best street/track tire I ever ran[better than the SZ on the track]and i loved those tires. The year the SP9000 came out they wanted me to switch to them,I was reticent because they were 2 cute in my book.They supplied me with the SP 9000 assuring me that is was a superior tire in every way,dry,wet,wear it even did windows I think. Biggest pieces of garbage I have ever ran,they were not great on dry going into curves hot[which was never a problem with the 8000],they would squeal at the slightest duress,they were not any faster on the highway than the 8000. They were quiet and a little better[very little]in the wet,they were pretty good through standing water. They were horrible at the track,no matter what I tried they would go up in smoke,soft,hard,warmed up,cool,cold,burnout,no burnout,dry hop,around the water,,,,NOTHING would make these tires even attempt to hook. I contacted a tech in Ontario I think[this is a while ago] explained my dilema and asked him how the road race teams were faring with them,if they had better track times,soft or hard,at the start of the session or when they were well heated up,he didn't know but said he would check with the teams,all I had to do was give him a call the next week. When I phoned back the next week he was laughing,he said I was a pretty good tester and had nailed the problems,,,the track team had TRASHED their 9000s and gone back to the 8000s which they found performed MUCH better. The 9000's had the bad habit of forming tiny little balls when abused which acted as ball bearings and negated any chance of getting traction in very spirited driving that overtaxed the tires. The next day I bought BFG Drag Radials for the track. I voiced my concerns to the Eastern Canada president about the poor performance of the tire and his answer was"It doesn't really matter,the tire is selling really well because of the cool pattern" The next year I was picked up by FIRESTONE. I will try the tires,they said in tests the tire is supposed to OUTPERFORM the SZ50 in the wet,that I have got to see[skeptical] and be equal if not superior to the RE730/SZ50 on dry. I will let you guys know the truth,I will be getting them sometime next week!!!!
posted
I'll be checking back here for updates. I was thinking about getting the SZ50 tires this summer, but not if they are going to be hard to replace in case a mishap happens.
Posts: 641 | From: northern Delaware | Registered: Jul 2002
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quote:Originally posted by CamaroSCG: I'll be checking back here for updates. I was thinking about getting the SZ50 tires this summer, but not if they are going to be hard to replace in case a mishap happens.
That is exactly the reason I did not take the last available set in the warehouse a couple of months ago. In fact, I annhilated an SZ50 from my last set of them with only 5000 km. on it. At that time, it was obviously an easy matter to replace it. Timelord, thanks for your info - I am also looking forward to hearing your assessment of these Fuzion tires.
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Wow, you guys are demi-gods in this regard! I bow to you! Seriously I need new tires very soon, as my SZ50 are gone, but I've been holding out in hopes of another tire to take their place. I'd love to hear about these Fuzions....
Thanks!
NiravSS
-------------------- NiravSS Posts: 156 | From: Los Angeles, CA | Registered: Oct 2000
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posted
Great thread! I'll be checking on the results from these tires! Thanks for the info.
Posts: 5946 | From: Litchfield, NH, USA | Registered: Feb 2000
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Although the one review of these tires on the Tirerack site is positive - especially since it comes from someone who tracks their car, I'm still sceptical...![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
