For the last several years, my 95 Grand Am GT had been using Dayton Daytona P205/55R16 89H M+S tires. They were great in terms of handling, traction on wet and even fair in snow. I just replaced the tires and since I was unable to find Daytons where I live, I went with Dean Quasar Plus tires P205/55R16 91S M+S. Right away I noticed a big difference it the handling. The new tires give a much smoother ride, but the car does not feel as solid and steady as it was with the Daytona tires, even though they were very worn out. I have two questions:

1. Does anyone have any opinion on the Dean tires ? How good are they?

2. I asked that they shop install the exact size as the old tires and I just noticed that, even though they are exactly the same size, the speed rating is different. They old Dayton tires were H while the new ones are S rated. Should I be concerned about this difference?

Thanks in advance to anyone that can help. I posted another question months ago and got much appreciated advice. This is a great site with many knowledgeable readers.

There's been alot of debate about tires on here, so I'll just post :2cents: .... Personally, on my 95 gt I run bfgoodrich gforce kdw in the summer and snow tires in the winter as I really don't like exposing 10 year old alloys that still look good to salt. As for the speed rating, you should have h-rated tires on your car, thats what it calls for and the installer opened themselves up to a whole bunch of liability if you get into an accident that can be proven it was caused by improper tires. As for the Dean Quasar tires, I ran a set of them on a subaru, and I think they sucked. Lousy wet traction, horrible in the snow, and I was completely unimpressed with the performance they gave on a dry smooth road. I have seen other grand am's with them and have not had a chance to talk to the driver about them, but in new england they don't seem to be all that popular for performance, but they are cheap. Hope this helps you.

I preferr the kuhmo ecsta supra 712 tires. They are Z rated for excessive traction at high speeds in rain or on dry pavement...They really suck in the snow though.

My next tires will be either the B.F. Goodrich Traction T.A.'s, or Yokohama Avid's. Both have recieved very favorable user comments.
there is a wealth of info on the TireRack.com website.

Tommy

I ran the Avid V4 before I got the bfg's, and I hated them. Traction wasn't as good as the touring ta vr4's that I had before them, they didn't corner as well, and they were a little noisy.

Wow, thanks for that info... I've got Dunlop Sport's on my GT1 now, but I wont need tires until next summer anyways so I've got some time to get opinions.
I also heard those Goodyear Assurance are supposed to be good too; expensive though....

My grand am had sh*tyear tires on it when I bought it, talk about a lousy tire (eagle rs-a). Noisy, couldn't hold the road for crap, and when I looked really close at them I noticed they were square. The tires were new when I bought the car, which is how I noticed it. I took great pleasure in smoking the hell out of them and replaced them with bfgoodrich touring ta vr4's. Running into a corner at high speed (85 mph), my buddy beside me had his 2000 ss camaro, he came out of the corner at 80, I came out at 90. He was running eagle f1's.

I always liked B.F. Goodrich too. I had their Radial T.A.'s on my '78 Trans Am. Man, you talk about a tire that was glued to the road, lol... That Trans Am would fly if I had put wings on it, lol....and corner like the rubber was glued to the road too.

Tommy