Riken Raptor or Defender tires?

**flat-top** · 10-03-2005, 07:57 AM

I did a search for these Ebay tires. They are supposedly BF Goodrich's and I think Goodyear sister companies.

I need a 275-40-17 all season tire for the Z. Obviously if the snow is too bad it won't come out.

Also are 285-40-17's too wide for WS6 wheels (9.5inch wide)

thanks guys
formerly blu98Z

nikk777 · 01-25-2006, 09:56 AM

Any new information on the Defender tires? I'm looking at them for my 94 vette. It's a Kelly tire but no idea as to how good of a tire it is. At $160 for 2 tires size 285/40/17 they seem too good to be true.

**x10-wakerider** · 01-25-2006, 04:08 PM

I bought a set of 4 for my camaro and I like them!

**Eugenio_SS** · 01-25-2006, 07:53 PM

i'd stay w/ 275/40-17

nikk777 · 01-27-2006, 06:14 PM

So far the consensus from different tire shops and the few reviews I've come across have been that the defender is ok in dry weather and very bad in wet weather. It's a BF Goodrich/Michelin tire. Not something you'd really want. I went through tirerack.com's reviews/results and the best for the money seems to be the Avon M550 A/S. Yes it's an all season performance tire but it is on top of it's category and right there with those at the top of other categories. Best part is that a 285/40/17 is $126. The Goodyear F1 GS D3 was at the top of it's category and showed a little bit better performance but cost $199. Treadwear was better on the Avon too. Kauffman here in Atlanta got me some for $159 each installed which is about right once you include shipping and then someone to mount and balance them. The defender's would have been $160+$29s/h and probably $20+ per tire to mount and balance so a total of about $230. The Avon's will be $320 installed and it's well worth the extra $90 to feel safer in both the rain and the sun. Hope this helps.