New Firestone Indy 500 tire.

So I got these on yesterday and took a 4 hour road trip after an alignment today. I must say I am extremely pleased so far. Very nice, smooth and quiet ride compared to my S001's with plenty of grip. The car feels absolutely fantastic right now.

Those are my initial impressions. For the record, the fender screw mod was required on my 18x8.5 et42 wheels with these firehawks in 245/40/18, but after the fender screw mod, so far no more rubbing on bumps.

Another 5 hour trip tomorrow and another 4 back to Dallas on Monday. Plan to start auto crossing and tracking within the next couple months.

I am in love with these tires and my new wheels!






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God that tread depth is a mild turn on hahaha. I'm pretty sure these are the same tires I will be going with once my stocks run down some more.

Can this be rotated side to side or only front to back?

rodcosta said:

Can this be rotated side to side or only front to back?

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Im pretty sure they're still symmetrical so you can rotate them however you want as far as I know

2slowvw said:

God that tread depth is a mild turn on hahaha.

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Agreed! [emoji7]



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Info on the Firestone Indy 500 Tire

I have an inside source and was able to find some info on the Firestone Indy 500 tire. My source is pretty good, but I can not be 100% sure on the info as I am relying on him.

The Indy 500 tire is a sister to the RE003 some have mentioned here. Both are made in Japan Edit(forum member added that his tires stamped made in Indonesia -FYI) and run thru the same curing mold, with sidewall plates changed only. The tire is not sold in the USA as a Bridgestone RE003 due to not wanting to have it compete with other Bridgestone tires sold here. Also coming as a Firestone they can sell it as a different price point, an area they do not have many performance summer tires in the lower $100 range. I think this is a good move for performance owners who can not afford the expensive summer tires or do not want to spend over $800 on a second set of tires for dual season use.

I asked about the wear rating change (RE003 is 200, Indy 500 is 340) and did not get a complete answer but it may have been increased based on the tire being updated based on current testing and results. As stated earlier the compounds are the same.

I have not used these tires but will consider them when my Bridgestone Re-11's wear out likely in two more seasons. I love my RE-11's but am interested to test the Indy 500's and at half the cost hard to turn down.

Hope the info helps.

I am in love with these tires and my new wheels!




Wheels look great - tires also!
Black on Black.

In Texas - Hot!

Glad you like the wheel/tire and they are running well.
Watch out for pot holes and Armadillos!

Haha will do! Thanks for all the great info. As far as the wheels they're actually a machine face with a clear black coat (or something like that) so depending on the lighting they come off a bit bronze at some angles and a bit Chrome at other angles. They're pretty interesting and I like them a lot! I'm not the biggest fan of straight black on black myself. This pic shows the color a little more:



I also have good ceramic tint, even on the windshield, and park in a garage at both home and work, so car doesn't get too hot!


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Quebster said:

Haha will do! Thanks for all the great info. As far as the wheels they're actually a machine face with a clear black coat (or something like that) so depending on the lighting they come off a bit bronze at some angles and a bit Chrome at other angles. They're pretty interesting and I like them a lot! I'm not the biggest fan of straight black on black myself. This pic shows the color a little more:

I also have good ceramic tint, even on the windshield, and park in a garage at both home and work, so car doesn't get too hot!


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Click to expand...

In the sun I can see it better. Yes, not black.
I like this! I also have all around tint.

Sandman GTI said:

Hope the info helps.

Click to expand...

Thanks!

Camaro - Testing Firestone Indy 500 Tire.

Nice short video.
The tire in question being tested on another sports car.
Nice looking new White Camaro.

https://youtu.be/iZ72pbNp6Ac

In for updates!

I'm also curious about these tires.

Sandman GTI said:

I have an inside source and was able to find some info on the Firestone Indy 500 tire. My source is pretty good, but I can not be 100% sure on the info as I am relying on him.

The Indy 500 tire is a sister to the RE003 some have mentioned here. Both are made in Japan (only) and run thru the same curing mold, with sidewall plates changed only. The tire is not sold in the USA as a Bridgestone RE003 due to not wanting to have it compete with other Bridgestone tires sold here. Also coming as a Firestone they can sell it as a different price point, an area they do not have many performance summer tires in the lower $100 range. I think this is a good move for performance owners who can not afford the expensive summer tires or do not want to spend over $800 on a second set of tires for dual season use.

I asked about the wear rating change (RE003 is 200, Indy 500 is 340) and did not get a complete answer but it may have been increased based on the tire being updated based on current testing and results. As stated earlier the compounds are the same.

I have not used these tires but will consider them when my Bridgestone Re-11's wear out likely in two more seasons. I love my RE-11's but am interested to test the Indy 500's and at half the cost hard to turn down.

Hope the info helps.

Click to expand...

The Indy 500 is made in Indonesia. Marked on the side wall. Maybe that's why the cost is reasonable. Either way, I have them on my stock Austins and bought another set for my new wheels.

Had 235/40/18s mounted on stock Nogaros yesterday, did Firestones's president's day sale which was $100 off. We got a ton of snow in the last week but now it's mid 50s and snow is quickly melting so I haven't pushed the tires much but so far so good. These are the least expensive summer tires I've ever purchase and have run others recently (Conti DW on my M5, PS2 on 1M, Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta on 1M and R32). Will update when I get a better feel for the tires. But for anyone on the edge, given the promotion on them at Firestone I'd say it's worth trying for the cost, I took off my stock Conti A/S with only 1200 miles on the car. It's a night and day difference on that but as to be expected when switching from a touring a/s to wider summer.

Gareezy said:

The Indy 500 is made in Indonesia. Marked on the side wall. Maybe that's why the cost is reasonable. Either way, I have them on my stock Austins and bought another set for my new wheels.

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Interesting.
Thanks for info.

I went with the presidents day special also and put on some 225/40/18 of the firehawks. The 235's were out of stock in my region but I'll tell you they definitely fit more like 230 in the 225 size.

I was blown away. For what I paid I couldn't be happier. I was on the original stock pro conti's and being stage 2 I could roast those tires off. If I went WOT the car would just spin and spin. The top end of 2nd would be a tire roasting mess where the nanies would kick in.

With the firehawks I can now go full ECS off and fly. On the conti's if I gassed it I'd just sit there and burn out. I can still break em loose but it's rare.

Roasted my buddies 370z by bus lengths now that I can actually get the power to the ground.