Need some Help!!
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 2
Need some Help!!
I have a 1999 corvette coup. I need some new tires and have no idea what to buy. This is my first corvette and first time buying tires. The current ones i have are on the front good year eagle 245/ 45R17 95 Y and for the back good year eagle P275/40 ZR18. I'm currently in the military and have access to tires that have a pretty good discount to them. Somoney is that not big of an issue--as long as its less then 450 per tire. ok guys, let me know what you think. Thanks for all your time. Bill
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Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 903
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RE: Need some Help!!
This extensive tire test results should steer you in the right direction:
...then check a recent edition of Car & Driver. Although they used "only" a 325 BMW as a test mule, you are very likely to experience similar results with your C5. To minimize variables such as driving techniques, track surface temps, etc, C&D enlisted the help of the Tire Rack and their test mule vehicle. Although the track used was small, it's lined with sprinklers that can soak the asphalt. "It took three days to perform all the tests. We accelerated to 50 mph and then braked to a standstill. There was a benefit to that lower speed: It ensured that we were measuring the braking performance of the tires and not just brake fade."
"In addition to factoring the wet and dry scores, we gave points based on a tires's price and tread-wear grade, which is a rough estimate of how long a tire will have usable tread." "Our test focused on measuring performance, so we decided that results in the dry-lateral grip, for example - would carry the most weight."
So, without further adeau, here're the results:
(Best to worst):
NUMBER 1:Goodyear GSD3: "As an all-around performance tire, you can't beat this Goodyear. It was the best performer in all three wet-track tests and was very competent in the dry. It generated .94g on the dry skidpad, only .01g off the first place (dry) BFGoodrich and tied with the Yokohama and Hankook.
The Goodyear gripped so well, that you might not have been certain that the road was wet. It held onto the wet track with .82g of stick, an impressive figure considering the worst tire in that test made only .67g.
...And like the Continental, the Goodyear had a high 280 trad-wear grade. At $145, ieach, it's $34 cheaper than the most expensive (guess which tires have THAT distinction!).
2nd place: Continental ContiSportContact 2: "It simply didn't feel as sporty as the others.....on dry surfaces, the Conti never rose above third from last among 11 tires. It felt soft and imprecise. But in the wet, the spread from best to worse was 15 percent, which made for a larger point spread (giving the Contis a boost). Plus the Continental had a 280tread-wear grade that was the highest (tied) for this test.
3rd place: Yokohama Advan Neova AD07: Excellent dry performance, but a bit on the slippery end in the wet stuff - expensive at $175 apiece.
4th place: Michelin Pilot Sport PS2: "At $179, the PS2 is the most expensive tire in the test." Competent, but expensive sums up this tire.
5th place: Hankook Ventus R-S2 Z212: At $99 each, these are the least expensive tires - very good on dry pavement, but "greasy and slow to recover" on the wet stuff.
6th place: Dunlop SP Sport Max: "In the dry, the tire seemed to lose its confidence..."
7th place: Pirelli P Zero Rosso Asimmetrico:"In the dry-lateral-grip test, the Pirelli tied for second to last, and it finished seventh in the dry-braking test.
8th place: Toyo Proxes T1R: "...the Proxes never placed higher than eighth in any test"...nuff said!
9th place: Bridgestone Potenza RE050A: "it felt dull and disconnected and was somewhat soft and imprecise when driven hard."
10th place: BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KD: Outstanding performance on dry surfaces, but very scary on wet surfaces - don't get caught in a rainstorm wearing these shoes...Note: The newer KD 2s are much better on wet surfaces, but are a bit noisy on dry roads.
11th place: Kumho Ecsta MX: "They didn't offer much grip and the time of 30.28 seconds in the dry autocross was .62 second slower than the fastest tire. That may not seem like much, but our course was only 0.3 mille long, and on a longer track, that gap would be commensurately greater." "And although the MX - at $136 per - was the third-least-expensive tire in our test, the high score in the price category wasn't enough to regain ground lost in the performance tests."
Othertires that have become available are General UHPs (very low cost, but said to be noisy and has a short life, Sumitomos (similar to the Generals), Valdesteins (something like that - may be wrong spelling). These haven't been out long, so who know anything about them - I'd wait.
Needless-to-say, I have the Goodyear GSD3s; they are the best tires I've ever had or driven on - truly incredible tires!
...then check a recent edition of Car & Driver. Although they used "only" a 325 BMW as a test mule, you are very likely to experience similar results with your C5. To minimize variables such as driving techniques, track surface temps, etc, C&D enlisted the help of the Tire Rack and their test mule vehicle. Although the track used was small, it's lined with sprinklers that can soak the asphalt. "It took three days to perform all the tests. We accelerated to 50 mph and then braked to a standstill. There was a benefit to that lower speed: It ensured that we were measuring the braking performance of the tires and not just brake fade."
"In addition to factoring the wet and dry scores, we gave points based on a tires's price and tread-wear grade, which is a rough estimate of how long a tire will have usable tread." "Our test focused on measuring performance, so we decided that results in the dry-lateral grip, for example - would carry the most weight."
So, without further adeau, here're the results:
(Best to worst):
NUMBER 1:Goodyear GSD3: "As an all-around performance tire, you can't beat this Goodyear. It was the best performer in all three wet-track tests and was very competent in the dry. It generated .94g on the dry skidpad, only .01g off the first place (dry) BFGoodrich and tied with the Yokohama and Hankook.
The Goodyear gripped so well, that you might not have been certain that the road was wet. It held onto the wet track with .82g of stick, an impressive figure considering the worst tire in that test made only .67g.
...And like the Continental, the Goodyear had a high 280 trad-wear grade. At $145, ieach, it's $34 cheaper than the most expensive (guess which tires have THAT distinction!).
2nd place: Continental ContiSportContact 2: "It simply didn't feel as sporty as the others.....on dry surfaces, the Conti never rose above third from last among 11 tires. It felt soft and imprecise. But in the wet, the spread from best to worse was 15 percent, which made for a larger point spread (giving the Contis a boost). Plus the Continental had a 280tread-wear grade that was the highest (tied) for this test.
3rd place: Yokohama Advan Neova AD07: Excellent dry performance, but a bit on the slippery end in the wet stuff - expensive at $175 apiece.
4th place: Michelin Pilot Sport PS2: "At $179, the PS2 is the most expensive tire in the test." Competent, but expensive sums up this tire.
5th place: Hankook Ventus R-S2 Z212: At $99 each, these are the least expensive tires - very good on dry pavement, but "greasy and slow to recover" on the wet stuff.
6th place: Dunlop SP Sport Max: "In the dry, the tire seemed to lose its confidence..."
7th place: Pirelli P Zero Rosso Asimmetrico:"In the dry-lateral-grip test, the Pirelli tied for second to last, and it finished seventh in the dry-braking test.
8th place: Toyo Proxes T1R: "...the Proxes never placed higher than eighth in any test"...nuff said!
9th place: Bridgestone Potenza RE050A: "it felt dull and disconnected and was somewhat soft and imprecise when driven hard."
10th place: BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KD: Outstanding performance on dry surfaces, but very scary on wet surfaces - don't get caught in a rainstorm wearing these shoes...Note: The newer KD 2s are much better on wet surfaces, but are a bit noisy on dry roads.
11th place: Kumho Ecsta MX: "They didn't offer much grip and the time of 30.28 seconds in the dry autocross was .62 second slower than the fastest tire. That may not seem like much, but our course was only 0.3 mille long, and on a longer track, that gap would be commensurately greater." "And although the MX - at $136 per - was the third-least-expensive tire in our test, the high score in the price category wasn't enough to regain ground lost in the performance tests."
Othertires that have become available are General UHPs (very low cost, but said to be noisy and has a short life, Sumitomos (similar to the Generals), Valdesteins (something like that - may be wrong spelling). These haven't been out long, so who know anything about them - I'd wait.
Needless-to-say, I have the Goodyear GSD3s; they are the best tires I've ever had or driven on - truly incredible tires!
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 903
From:
RE: Need some Help!!
Hello, Bill,
No, there are no runflats that perform as well as the best non-runflats and believe me, the difference in ride quality is night and day. The OEM runflats make it seem like you are riding on rocks. The D3s smooth the ride out, tremendously. You lose a small amout of steering response, but the reduction in side-stepping and the ride are well worth the tradeoff.
I carry a small 12V compressor, a plug kit, and a wrench, but in reality, most tire punctures result in a leak that is so slow, you'll have plenty of time to get the car to any tire shop. With runflats, only certain shops will dare to try to remove the tire without damaging the wheel.
Unless you regularly drive 200 miles away from civilization (with the Corvette, that is), stay away from runflats. As a bonus, you'll save 24+ lbs of weight with non-runflats!
Dave
No, there are no runflats that perform as well as the best non-runflats and believe me, the difference in ride quality is night and day. The OEM runflats make it seem like you are riding on rocks. The D3s smooth the ride out, tremendously. You lose a small amout of steering response, but the reduction in side-stepping and the ride are well worth the tradeoff.
I carry a small 12V compressor, a plug kit, and a wrench, but in reality, most tire punctures result in a leak that is so slow, you'll have plenty of time to get the car to any tire shop. With runflats, only certain shops will dare to try to remove the tire without damaging the wheel.
Unless you regularly drive 200 miles away from civilization (with the Corvette, that is), stay away from runflats. As a bonus, you'll save 24+ lbs of weight with non-runflats!
Dave
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