I know this question has been asked ever since cave men decided to put tread on the rock wheel. I also know that it has been asked here like a gazillion times. BUT I have not asked it YET!!!!

I am going to buy new tires for my 98, and I am looking for your opinions, your true stories good and bad, your thoughts. Which tires are THE BEST? Which tires look the best? Which tires last the longest? What tires would you not buy? What tires would you not let a friend buy? Best performance, best handleing, best tread life, Run Flat - No Run Flat.

Give it to me.......Give me your best shot......

I know all of you have an opinion on this topic

 

Like many things concerning aftermarket purchases, this is assubjective as they come.I know several folks that have placed Kumho's on their cars and love them. I believe most have purchased the ECSTA ? model... Non run flats... I placed a set of Kumho's on the wifes CTS and they have been great tires.

Good luck !

 

I have a five Pirellis go bad -- I would never buy them.

I have only three blowouts in my life (42 years of driving -- all Firestones).
Firestones are made by Bridgestone -- so I don't trust them either.

I think BFG G-Force are the best overall "street racing" tire and run them on all my cars, except the Porsche.

Dunlaps are good in the wet but still okay in the dry, so I run them on the Porsche. They are bargains, too, so are Kuhmo.

Michelin are good tires but overpriced.

 

+1

 

my opine GY supercar tires non run flat in z06 size. loved them. down side= 20 k max,heavy rain equals death at highway speeds,non run flat ,1800.00 price.i put them on my 01 coup at 24k now has 118k every 20 k or so i went back for new ones

 

Thanks for all of the advise, I just have one other question. Does running something other than run flats affect the low tire pressure sensors?

 

No, I have non-runflats and the sensors work just fine.

And by the way, take a look at the results of an extensive tire test that Car & Driver magazine did last year:

AlthoughCar & Driverused "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 accerated 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...

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."

On a congratulatory note, the first place tire is made right here in the USA by an American tire company :flag: :cheers:

 

Thanks Dave01

I have been doing my research over the past several days, and your information just help to confirm what I had learned. I am going with the Goodyear GSD3. I think they will be the best. Since my car is not a daily driver, they will last a long time as well.

I don't know where those prices came from though. Here in Houston those tires go for $300 each so they are not on the cheep end. But I do believe that you get what you pay for.

That is also good to hear about the air pressure sensors. Do I need to make sure that they guy who mounts the tires, knows how to deal with the seansors, or are they idiot proof?

 

The prices mentioned in the article are for BMW 3 series sizes. I bought mine from the Tirerack and they recommended an installer that was familiar with Corvette tires and sensors. If you have runflats on your car, you will need an installer who has the equipment to remove them.

Dave

 

I'm sure that over the last 20 yrs, Goodyear has managed to develop a Corvette tire that is NOT noisy. My wifes 87 vette came stock with Goodyear tires and I could hear her coming (with the tire roar) from two blocks away!

It was louder than my old Chevy Blazer running with 4 mud/snow tires. As a result of that noise, I went with Michelins and never tried Goodyears again.