Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 vs Yokohama Advan Neova AD09 tires

For most drivers of sedans, coupes, minivans, and crossovers, all-season tires make the most sense. All-season tires deliver year-round traction with handling that’s capable and controlled, a refined and quiet ride, stable road manners, and long tread life. That’s fine and checks all the boxes for most drivers. But for drivers who have sporty sedans, coupes, sports cars, or crossovers and like to push the envelope and explore the limits of their vehicle’s performance, all-season tires usually aren’t going to get the job done. That’s when summer or ultra-high-performance (UHP) tires are a great idea. Summer and UHP tires are designed around sharp steering response, decisive traction, and braking and cornering that’s as steady and accurate as riding on rails. That, in turn, brings us to two great UHP tires: the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 and Yokohama Advan Neova AD09.

As we make our way through this head-to-head comparison, you’ll see us make frequent references to SimpleScore ratings. If you’re not familiar with it, SimpleScore is the system that the SimpleTire team developed to give you a quick at glance idea of a tire’s strengths and weaknesses. We look at the tire’s specs, manufacturer info, reviews, and other data points, then distill that all into a 1-10 score for the categories of traction, handling, and longevity, along with an overall average SimpleScore. For the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 and Yokohama Advan Neova AD09, the SimpleScore numbers shake out as follows:

Firestone Firehawk Indy 500:

• Traction: 8.2
• Handling: 8.7
• Longevity: 7.6
• Overall average SimpleScore: 8.2

Yokohama Advan Neova AD09:

• Traction: 8.2
• Handling: 8.7
• Longevity: 7.3
• Overall average SimpleScore: 8.2

As you can see, the Firestone and the Yokohama are really pretty closely matched with each other in all the pertinent SimpleScore categories. As useful as SimpleScore is, though, it’s still the overview, the 30,000 foot take that doesn’t get into too much detail about what a tire can deliver. Let’s go in for a closer look with this head-to-head comparison.

Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 tires

First up is a great choice in a summer/UHP tire, the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500. The Firehawk Indy 500 gets an overall average SimpleScore of 8.2, with SimpleScores of 8.7 for handling, 7.6 for longevity, and 8.5 for traction, so let’s break that down a bit. The Firehawk Indy 500 is designed for steering and handling that are very light and responsive, with a high-tech rubber formulation, wide shoulders for added rigidity, and an asymmetric tread with Firestone’s innovative Pulse Groove tread design that means better control and resistance to hydroplaning on wet roads. The Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 is designed as a summer/UHP tire but is a bit more versatile in its performance than many tires in that category. It’s also worth noting that the innovative lightning bolt-shaped groove toward the shoulder looks great on all kinds of vehicles. SimpleTire’s price on the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 starts at $141 per tire.

Yokohama Advan Neova AD09 tires

Yokohama has decades of experience in motorsports, and the Advan Neova AD09 can be considered a track tire that’s also street-legal – that’s how performance-oriented this tire is. The Advan Neova AD09 delivers super-sticky and crisp handling with a silica-rich tread compound that’s molded into an asymmetric pattern with a strong center rib and large, bold outboard tread blocks. High-speed straight-line stability and cornering are all very much dead-on with the Advan Neova AD09, allowing you to push your vehicle to the limit, and we give this tire a SimpleScore of 8.4 for handling. Wet and dry traction comes from deep lateral grooves and an innovative, curved full-depth circumferential groove for a SimpleScore of 8.7. A rigid sidewall design and durable internal construction figured into our decision to give this tire a SimpleScore of 7.3 for longevity. It’s important to remember that the Yokohama Advan Neova AD09 is a summer/UHP tire – its tread formulation is soft and sticky for great adhesion to the road but will stiffen up and lose traction on colder days so the tire should not be used when temperatures are consistently below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. SimpleTire’s price on the Yokohama Advan Neova AD09 starts at $167 per tire.

Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 vs. Yokohama Advan Neova AD09 tires on traction

So how do these two tires stack up when it comes to traction? Both have performance-oriented tread compounds that deliver tenacious grip, both have systems of grooves that help divert water away from the tire’s contact patch to resist hydroplaning. Both are designed for short braking distances and the kind of grip that keeps you planted on the road during the hardest maneuvers (and of course, both are designed for warm temperatures and shouldn't be used on cold days). With equal SimpleScore ratings of 8.7 for traction, our decision is:

ADVANTAGE: Tie

Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 vs. Yokohama Advan Neova AD09 tires on handling

In the handling category, the Indy 500 and Advan Neova AD09 are designed with rigid internal structures, reinforced shoulders, reinforced sidewalls, and (of course) sticky tread formulations for great adhesion to dry pavement. Both tires come from companies that have extensive track records (no pun intended, or maybe intended after all, sorry) in motorsports, which informs the design of their UHP tires. With all that on the table, it's not a surprise that the Yokohama and the Firestone both come in with SimpleScores of 8.7 for handling. Our verdict:

ADVANTAGE: Tie

Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 vs. Yokohama Advan Neova AD09 tires on longevity

When you’re talking about longevity for any UHP or summer tire, it’s a bit relative. UHP and summer tires aren’t designed for long tread life and generally do not come with coverage from a limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty. With that in mind, the Firestone has a slight edge in the longevity category, with a SimpleScore of 7.6 vs 7.3 for the Yokohama. Our verdict:

ADVANTAGE: Firestone Firehawk Indy 500

When to use each

The question here is, what kind of vehicle are you driving, what are your expectations, and what is your driving style? If you’re looking for a tire that can give you year-round performance with long tread life, a comfortable ride, and low noise, then UHP tires like the Firestone and Yokohama aren’t for you. These are specialized tires that are designed for sporty vehicles and aren’t going to be a good candidate for a family sedan, a minivan, or a crossover. If, on the other hand, you don’t mind switching tires out when temperatures are below 40-45 degrees F, if you like enthusiastic driving and pulse-quickening performance with hard cornering, short braking distances, and quick, direct steering response, then the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 and Yokohama Advan Neova AD09 would both be great choices for you.

Which one should you choose?

In the course of SimpleTire’s comparison reviews, it’s not often that we run across two tires that are so closely matched in SimpleScore categories for performance. The Yokohama and the Firestone are neck and neck with each other when it comes to performance and value, and are both really capable tires for sporty drivers. Both have many of the same strengths (and weaknesses), so let’s think about pricing: $141 per tire for the Firestone vs $167 per tire for the Yokohama. While both tires are considerably less expensive than a lot of premium UHP tires, that’s a pretty significant price spread between the two. We’d put it like this: if price is not an issue, go with Yokohama. If you’re on a bit of a budget, go with the Firestone. Either way, you’ll be getting your money’s worth in performance and value, and either way you can’t go wrong.

Still not sure which tire to buy? Fortunately, SimpleTire is here to help, and our helpful agents are more than happy to assist you in selecting the right tire for your ride and budget.