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Cooper Cobra Radial G/T vs Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 — Compared

Relative Score (0–100): 60% professional tests, 40% owner reviews.

Cobra Radial G/T leads, 70–66 Narrow edge

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Tire BFirestone

Firehawk Indy 500

Summer

Tests – · 1 test Owners 63 · 1,457 reviews

“Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 Tire Review After my stock rubber wore down I decided to look into other (cheaper) options for this summer. I landed on getting a set of Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 205/40/17 tires and have been on them for about a week now in both rain and dry. The TLDR of this would be buy these tires! The longer version of it is that these tires to me at least feel much more comfortable than the stock tires both in terms of ride comfort and road noise. On top of that the grip in the wet is impressive to say the least! I got a lot of rain here in Oregon so wet performance was really important to me. On the stock tires I always left my TC on and was careful going around turns especially as the tires wore down further and further. These Indy 500 just keep on gripping in the wet and I haven't had any problems at all. The first day I had them out in the dry I would have sworn my car was actually faster accelerating! Probably because there was less wheel hopping or it simply just grabbed the road better. I haven't tried a launch on them yet but hope to do some auto-crossing and such in the Spring. If you have any questions about these things fire away. Read more”

Category by category

Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.

  1. 73

    Dry

    Level
    73
    Why this score
    SourceCobra Radial G/TFirehawk Indy 500
    Reviews found online7777
  2. 70

    Wet

    Cobra Radial G/T +3
    67
    Why this score
    SourceCobra Radial G/TFirehawk Indy 500
    Reviews found online7066
  3. 64

    Snow

    Cobra Radial G/T +20
    44
    Why this score
    SourceCobra Radial G/TFirehawk Indy 500
    Reviews found online6028
  4. 73

    Comfort

    Cobra Radial G/T +6
    67
    Why this score
    SourceCobra Radial G/TFirehawk Indy 500
    Reviews found online7765
  5. 72

    Noise

    Cobra Radial G/T +6
    66
    Why this score
    SourceCobra Radial G/TFirehawk Indy 500
    Reviews found online8066
  6. 68

    Treadwear

    Cobra Radial G/T +1
    67
    Why this score
    SourceCobra Radial G/TFirehawk Indy 500
    Professional tests (TWG score)–70
    Reviews found online7162
  7. 72

    Handling

    Cobra Radial G/T +1
    71
    Why this score
    SourceCobra Radial G/TFirehawk Indy 500
    Reviews found online7271
Scores at a glance
CategoryCooper Cobra Radial G/TFirestone Firehawk Indy 500
Relative Score 70 66
Dry 73 73
Wet 70 67
Snow 64 44
Comfort 73 67
Noise 72 66
Treadwear 68 67
Handling 72 71

Higher is better. The Relative Score follows your weights below; category scores do not change.

Weight the categories that matter to you

Wet grip and treadwear start at “Important” — the two things buyers rank highest. Move the sliders and the scores update instantly.

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Recomputed
Headline score

Cobra Radial G/T

Firehawk Indy 500

Pros, cons & observations

Themes extracted from owner reviews found online — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.

Tire A Cobra Radial G/T

Pros

  • Attractive classic styling with raised white letters
  • Great value and budget-friendly pricing compared to competitors
  • Good dry traction and responsive handling

Cons

  • Road noise can be noticeable on certain highway surfaces
  • Balancing difficulties or minor vibrations reported by some users
  • Sub-optimal wet weather traction under aggressive driving or heavy acceleration
All owner themes in the Cobra Radial G/T review

Tire B Firehawk Indy 500

Pros

  • Exceptional value and affordability compared to premium tier brands like Michelin
  • Outstanding dry grip and confident, responsive cornering capabilities
  • Surprisingly quiet and comfortable ride quality on the highway

Cons

  • Accelerated tread wear and shorter overall lifespan
  • Poor performance and loss of traction in cold temperatures (below 40°F)
  • Vulnerability to hydroplaning or reduced traction in heavy standing water
All owner themes in the Firehawk Indy 500 review

What real owners are saying

From Reddit, forums and review threads. Not part of our score

Tire A

Cooper Cobra Radial G/T

We haven't collected enough community discussion about this tire yet.

Tire B

Firestone Firehawk Indy 500

Positive

The Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 is widely praised by the community as an exceptional budget-friendly ultra-high-performance summer tire, offering great dry and wet grip along with high comfort and low road noise. While a few enthusiasts note that they lack the absolute razor-sharp steering response of top-tier tires like Michelins, their value proposition at roughly half the price makes them a fan favorite.

r/S2000 ·4 upvotes ·2025-06-04

“Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 reviews Hi all! First post here on Reddit for S2K. I have a 2002 with 80k (130 km's) that is 100% stock. I recently purchased some new tires moving from a Potenza RE-71 (rear) Potenza RE760 (front) I bought the Indy 500 Firehawk since a lot of S2K owners say they are an excellent tire, perfect for the S2K with a ton of great qualities. So far I am thinking a little bit of a mixxed bag. The tires are not as responsive as I thought and don't inspire the same level of cornering confidence. The seem a little mushy/soft and my rear end thus far doesn't seem as firmly planted as I would like. Almost kind of wobbly? Alignment is fine, tires are brand new with less than 100 miles on them and tire pressure is factory spec within 1 psi. The DOT code for the tires is late 2024 so brand new. I don't track the car and these days just baby it around town mostly so the tires use should fine for my use. Thanks! Leer más”
r/Mustang ·3 upvotes ·2026-09-24

“I went with Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 and think they’re great without breaking the bank”
r/Charger ·93 upvotes ·2025-06-16

“New Rubber today. Firestone Firehawk Indy 500”
Top themes
#budget performance value#wet and dry grip#ride comfort and noise#stiff sidewall vs mushy feel#comparison to Michelin and Continental#Indy 500 V2 release

Based on 29 community posts

Specs side by side

Attribute A · Cooper Cobra Radial G/T B · Firestone Firehawk Indy 500
CategoryTouring All Season tireSummer
Vehicle typePassenger Car / CrossoverPassenger Car / Crossover
Sizes available1347
Rim diameters14″ – 15″16″ – 20″
Tread depth11/32″9 - 10/32″
UTQG440 A B - C340 A A
Treadwear warranty40,000 mi—
SidewallRaised White LetteringBlack Side Wall
Max pressure36 - 44 psi50 - 51 psi

Which one should you actually buy?

Cooper Cobra Radial G/T

Firestone Firehawk Indy 500

Winner: Cooper Cobra Radial G/T — better snow, comfort and noise. It leads or ties in every category we score.

Pick tire A You drive through snowy winters

Cooper Cobra Radial G/T scores 64 vs 44 on snow.

Pick tire A You want the most comfortable ride

Cooper Cobra Radial G/T scores 73 vs 67 on comfort.

Pick tire A You want a quieter cabin

Cooper Cobra Radial G/T scores 72 vs 66 on noise.

Pick tire A Your priority is wet-weather safety

Cooper Cobra Radial G/T scores 70 vs 67 on wet.

Tire A · Cooper Cobra Radial G/T
Check price on Amazon
Tire B · Firestone Firehawk Indy 500
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How do we compare tires?

Every category score blends two independent signals. 60% comes from professional tire tests (braking distances, lap times, noise measurements), each result compared with every other tire in the same test and newer tests counting more. 40% comes from owner reviews found online, adjusted for how generously each site rates. Both use one scale: the average tested tire gets 70, the best 100. When a tire has only one of the two, the missing half is estimated from the other and the score stays closer to average; with no road test and fewer than five owner reviews it gets no score yet.

Community buzz from Reddit and forums is shown for context only — it never changes the score.

70

Narrow edge

Cobra Radial G/T

Amazon