Firestone Firehawk Indy 500

[Solort]

Just put my new Firehawk Indy 500's on last night. (205/45-17 on stock suspension) For the last 10 years or so every tire I put on a car has had directional tread. So I look over these very closely. No arrows, no direction instructions. Then I see that all four tires are identical. Maybe I've got four lefts or four rights. OK I accept that these aren't "directional". These may ride a bit rougher than I'd like. But they're on and they will stay on (until winter comes around again). I guess I got soft after five months on my 60 series snow tires.

They do have a specific inside and outside and should be stamped as such. The outside should have the larger blocks for dry traction cornering for less tread wiggle when full tread

 

[Waterfan]

Just put my new Firehawk Indy 500's on last night. (205/45-17 on stock suspension) For the last 10 years or so every tire I put on a car has had directional tread. So I look over these very closely. No arrows, no direction instructions. Then I see that all four tires are identical. Maybe I've got four lefts or four rights. OK I accept that these aren't "directional". These may ride a bit rougher than I'd like. But they're on and they will stay on (until winter comes around again). I guess I got soft after five months on my 60 series snow tires.

Check again?

Mid-lower, left side of mounted tire image shows upside-down-at-45deg-angle: "OUTSIDE"

 

[BobMaxed]

Yes, I did see the inside/outside message. And my local tire shop did get that correct. Doing a cross rotation of my tires at home with one floor jack is going to be a pain, guess I'll have my local shop do it.

 

[neeqness]

Just put my new Firehawk Indy 500's on last night. (205/45-17 on stock suspension) For the last 10 years or so every tire I put on a car has had directional tread. So I look over these very closely. No arrows, no direction instructions. Then I see that all four tires are identical. Maybe I've got four lefts or four rights. OK I accept that these aren't "directional". These may ride a bit rougher than I'd like. But they're on and they will stay on (until winter comes around again). I guess I got soft after five months on my 60 series snow tires.

They have a break-in period. Things should improve after that...

...I don't remember though if they were directional or not.

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[Waterfan]

Yes, I did see the inside/outside message. And my local tire shop did get that correct. Doing a cross rotation of my tires at home with one floor jack is going to be a pain, guess I'll have my local shop do it.

FYI - you can only rotate front to back, not cross-rotate (front moves to opposite side rear) like non-directional all seasons.

 

[DEss]

FYI - you can only rotate front to back, not cross-rotate (front moves to opposite side rear) like non-directional all seasons.

If they're not directional, why can't the be x-rotated?

 

[jayrod1980]

I've not rotated mine yet but why couldn't you cross rotate if they aren't directional? The stock RE-50's you could. If I hadn't gotten a nail in the stock tires I would have run them another 10k miles.

 

[Waterfan]

I could be wrong, but I thought "OUTSIDE" also meant "directional".

 

[Waterfan]

I could be wrong, but I thought "OUTSIDE" also meant "directional".

Indeed appears I am wrong. OUTSIDE means asymetrical, but does not necessarily mean directional. Directional will have an rotational arrow. No arrow, no restriction on cross-rotation.

Now as for DYI on cross-rotation, it is time-consuming but doable if you have 2 jack-stands (which you should). Pick a front tire to remove first. Put a jack stand on it. Send front tire to same side rear. Move to other front. Jack stand on other front. etc...

I put jack stands on both sides in the front under the inner a-arm bushings (more weight = more stability), then use the jack only on the rear, one side at a time, checking all corners carefully each raising or lowering and chocking any rear tire on the ground.

 

[BobMaxed]

Now as for DYI on cross-rotation, it is time-consuming but doable if you have 2 jack-stands (which you should). Pick a front tire to remove first. Put a jack stand on it. Send front tire to same side rear. Move to other front. Jack stand on other front. etc...

I put jack stands on both sides in the front under the inner a-arm bushings (more weight = more stability), then use the jack only on the rear, one side at a time, checking all corners carefully each raising or lowering and chocking any rear tire on the ground.

Thank you Waterfan. Sounds like an easy enough method.

 

[Capri to ST]

These are newly available in oem 205/40-17 at Tire Rack-
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/Tire...7&rearWidth=255/&rearRatio=40&rearDiameter=17

They're only $375 for a set of four with a $60 rebate going on for a few more days. Great news. A member on here who works for Firestone, [MENTION=405]SpooledUpST[/MENTION], had posted recently that this was going to happen. I'd like to thank him for the heads up.

 

[M-Sport fan]

These are newly available in oem 205/40-17 at Tire Rack-
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/Tire...7&rearWidth=255/&rearRatio=40&rearDiameter=17

They're only $375 for a set of four with a $60 rebate going on for a few more days. Great news. A member on here who works for Firestone, [MENTION=405]SpooledUpST[/MENTION], had posted recently that this was going to happen. I'd like to thank him for the heads up.

GREAT NEWS!

Now, if we can only get them to release a 215/40-17, or 225/40-17 I will jump for joy!!

 

[BobMaxed]

I've got a few weeks in on my set of 500's 205-45-17 on stock wheels. I am very pleased with them on my daily driven ST. I have now added Koni shocks (Orange) on the rear and am even happier because the shocks make the car more stable when powering out of a tight corner.

 

[SpooledUpST]

These are newly available in oem 205/40-17 at Tire Rack-
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/Tire...7&rearWidth=255/&rearRatio=40&rearDiameter=17

They're only $375 for a set of four with a $60 rebate going on for a few more days. Great news. A member on here who works for Firestone, [MENTION=405]SpooledUpST[/MENTION], had posted recently that this was going to happen. I'd like to thank him for the heads up.

Thanks for the mention. Most definitely finalize your order before July 9th to receive the $60 rebate. They are still unobtainable through Firestone as the first few shipments have gone to Tire Rack and other unnamed vendors. Production for store stock will begin shortly as far as I have been able to deduce during my conversations with my warehouse people.

As for when they do become available to the general public through our shops, currently they do not show up on our POS systems when searching using our vehicle or tire size. There is a specific article number assigned to the Indy 500 in our size which I have obtained as a back door to viewing tire pricing. They are a steal if this current hidden price remains the same, especially given the incredibly odd tire size we are dealing with.

I will contact my area manager soon and discuss if I would be allowed to disclose said article number as Bridgestone has not released it to our stores for a reason. If he says go, at least for the Cincinnati area, I may consider offering some kind of group buy IF...IF...IF I get approval from higher up people. It will also depend on what kind of price wiggle room I will have from Bridgestone. This will also be dependant on what kind of volume Bridgestone will produce these in, that is, how available these will be once production switches over to feeding our warehouses rather than vendors. If it takes a while, there may still be the possibility that a larger order can be put in to push the company into producing a small batch destined for the Cincinnati area but may take a few months to arrive. Again, all this is based on what my area manager will agree to as well.

If he agrees with allowing me to pursue this, I will start a thread for us.

Any questions or concerns, PM me until that time. Cheers!

 

[Capri to ST]

Thanks for the info. My car's pretty new, only 3700 miles on it, so I'm not in the market for new tires yet. I'm just happy to have another good option in the scarce oem size, since I've bought aftermarket 17" wheels I am committed to 17's.
The only negative thing I've heard about these is that Tire Rack found some lack of steering precision. Any thoughts on that?

 

[neeqness]

It was lack of "feedback". When you drive them around corners and such, they stick, but the feedback is significantly reduced compared to many other tires...in other words, you can't feel as much whether the tires are starting to lose grip or not.

It can be a bit scary at first because they ARE stickier than most (if not all) in it's class, so the faster you go you expect to feel that it's reaching it's limit...except you don't so you are left wondering if it will lose grip or not. The good news (in my experience) is that they grow on you the more you use them and overtime you will be able to tell the difference and adjust to the reduced feedback.

That said, these are still my favorite tires for street at the moment and if they came in 15s I'd jump on these in a heartbeat! Not only do they have great grip, but they are also really quiet and comfortable tires.

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[KnockOff]

I like my tires to start talking to me a lil bit before they let go. Like hey your getting close there buddy!

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[Waterfan]

FYI, tried ordering 205/45-16 from Tirerack on July 7 and 3 days later they notified me of 8-12 week factory back order. Anyone made a recent order successfully? Tried 4 different places the past 2 weeks, including Ford, can't seem to get them in my area (So Cal). Everyone says" back ordered"

 

[foodtruck]

I'm curious, what pressures is everyone putting in these for 205/45-16?

 

[neeqness]

FYI, tried ordering 205/45-16 from Tirerack on July 7 and 3 days later they notified me of 8-12 week factory back order. Anyone made a recent order successfully? Tried 4 different places the past 2 weeks, including Ford, can't seem to get them in my area (So Cal). Everyone says" back ordered"

Have you tried directly at the Firestone Auto Shops locally? I quoted the lowest online price and they usually beat it especially if you call in first (though not by much).

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