Driving 7 hours home on a 2003 Corvette with just 4.2k miles? Old tires safe?
04-20-2015, 09:49 AM
#61
Le Mans Master
Awesome... let the games begin! 
04-20-2015, 01:36 PM
#62
04-20-2015, 01:47 PM
#64
Safety Car
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However, hard tires (as pointed out by the investigators to the writer of the article) are what we would refer to as a "contributing factor" to a skilled racecar driver losing control of a street car at speeds well below the limits of both his ability and that of the car
04-20-2015, 01:47 PM
#65
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Thanks all for comments and insights, they were all much appreciated.
Was able to verify via the date codes on the tires that they were at least not the original set of tires, and all though even still a little old at 2006 and 2007 build dates, we felt comfortable enough to drive her home and had no problems. Local Chevy dealer did a Mobil1 Oil Change and 27 point inspection the day prior, so that helped allay any concerns, as well.
Definitely will be looking into some new Michelin's in the near future, though.
Had no problems all the way home, save for some weather. Had to pit stop under a Sonic cover for three hours as a storm line went through, but was able to make it home eventually, (albeit 4am!)
The car was amazing looking, like a brand new 12 year old Corvette Z06. Everything worked and sounded like it did when it was new. Sounds like previous, original owner had a place large enough to store all of his 15 personal cars, and the car definitely looked like it was stored in a climate controlled facility.
My Dad's last Corvette (7th in his lifetime,) was a new 2003 Corvette Z06 that he sold in 2009, so this is like a do-over for him. Number eight won't be leaving the family anytime, soon!
Was able to verify via the date codes on the tires that they were at least not the original set of tires, and all though even still a little old at 2006 and 2007 build dates, we felt comfortable enough to drive her home and had no problems. Local Chevy dealer did a Mobil1 Oil Change and 27 point inspection the day prior, so that helped allay any concerns, as well.
Definitely will be looking into some new Michelin's in the near future, though.
Had no problems all the way home, save for some weather. Had to pit stop under a Sonic cover for three hours as a storm line went through, but was able to make it home eventually, (albeit 4am!)
The car was amazing looking, like a brand new 12 year old Corvette Z06. Everything worked and sounded like it did when it was new. Sounds like previous, original owner had a place large enough to store all of his 15 personal cars, and the car definitely looked like it was stored in a climate controlled facility.
My Dad's last Corvette (7th in his lifetime,) was a new 2003 Corvette Z06 that he sold in 2009, so this is like a do-over for him. Number eight won't be leaving the family anytime, soon!
04-20-2015, 05:18 PM
#66
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And who's to say there weren't other "contributing factors" besides the tires? The fact remains the main cause of the crash, as determined by the investigators, was excessive speed. Everyone knows speed kills! All other "contributing factors" are secondary, whatever they may be (or have been in this case), and thus not the primary reason any particular crash occurs. "Contributing factors" didn't cause that crash; excessive speed did. To argue that fact is pointless. Just ask Porsche and they'd tell you the same thing. It wasn't the vehicle, it was the actions of the driver which caused Paul Walker's death.
You're absolutely right, the car could have had other areas that were neglected that factor into how it handles at high speeds... but the only one the investigators singled out was the age of the tires
It really doesn't matter... we're both aware that old, hard tires are dangerous for performance driving, so at this point we're just splitting hairs on a particular incident that nobody lived to tell us about from their perspective
04-20-2015, 05:58 PM
#67
[QUOTE=JR-01;1589438364]There are a lot of low mileage C5s out there with original tires and I have never heard about or read about any tire failure. These are high performance tires made to go 180 mph and have very low miles on them. A few hours at 70 should not be a problem no matter how old they are. I would not be worried about it.[/QUOTE
I bought my C5 with 4K with orig tires. The car was 4 and one half years and I extended the warranty with GM. Tires at 4 and a half and who knows how long they been in the warehouse have to be at least six years old.
On a clear day a couple weeks after I got it I had the opportunity to drive it from 294 N onto 290 east and being a perfect day no traffic plenty of cash in the pocket I took it up to 140 and continued at 140 150 to the exit at the Dan Ryan espy. In downtown Chicago roughly 20 miles, made for a great day. Tires were fine and I lost my fear of my 1st Corvette. Every time I drive it on a freeway, expsy, turnpike, I have to break 100 as long as I can push it. Luckily I have only gotten 3 tickets for speeding.
I bought my C5 with 4K with orig tires. The car was 4 and one half years and I extended the warranty with GM. Tires at 4 and a half and who knows how long they been in the warehouse have to be at least six years old.
On a clear day a couple weeks after I got it I had the opportunity to drive it from 294 N onto 290 east and being a perfect day no traffic plenty of cash in the pocket I took it up to 140 and continued at 140 150 to the exit at the Dan Ryan espy. In downtown Chicago roughly 20 miles, made for a great day. Tires were fine and I lost my fear of my 1st Corvette. Every time I drive it on a freeway, expsy, turnpike, I have to break 100 as long as I can push it. Luckily I have only gotten 3 tickets for speeding.
04-21-2015, 10:20 AM
#70
Drifting
Thread Starter
Updated photos
Pictures as promised that my Dad took of his new Corvette last night after he washed the little bit of rain we ran into in Oklahoma on our way back Saturday night. 
The itch is turning into a rash for me now, now I really have to find me a Corvette of my own.
The itch is turning into a rash for me now, now I really have to find me a Corvette of my own.
04-21-2015, 02:02 PM
#72
Intermediate
My Dad has some reservations about driving home seven hours from dealer to my house on a 2003 Corvette Z06 with 4,200 original miles. Tires are OE Goodyears; local Chevy dealer is supposed to perform an inspection on whole car today to help give me a better run down on where everything is.
What do you all think, dealer says he has put about 1k miles on car over the last six weeks since his taking possession of it; not sure if he has ever got the tires warmed up to highway speeds or not. They have plenty of tread and still look new!
What do you all think, dealer says he has put about 1k miles on car over the last six weeks since his taking possession of it; not sure if he has ever got the tires warmed up to highway speeds or not. They have plenty of tread and still look new!
04-21-2015, 11:00 PM
#73
Safety Car
If they're OEM, they're run flats which gives you an edge. To me, the most important thing is an inspection of the tires. If they're cracked, showing signs of age, I wouldn't chance it. If the sidewalls look good, yeah, I'd drive it, conservatively. As others have said, at some point you have to make a change.
04-22-2015, 12:15 AM
#74
Team Owner
You're too late, he's been home a couple days with no problems.
04-25-2015, 07:37 AM
#75
Racer
I drove home over 900 miles on the original Goodyear RF OEM tires two years when I bought my 04 CE. They had 29,900 miles on them when I started. They tracked like crap, felt wobbly in corners and turns but they made it back to So Cal without any other issues.
I did buy two big cans of Spare Air, and made sure to not drive it like I stole it.
Changed the tires within days of getting home, though.
I did buy two big cans of Spare Air, and made sure to not drive it like I stole it.
Changed the tires within days of getting home, though.
04-25-2015, 11:24 AM
#77
It's not logical that you can extrapolate that to all instances of driving on old tires.
I believe that engineers like to quote with a smirk a frequent complaint of confused users "...but it was working until it stopped working".
dan k.
04-25-2015, 12:25 PM
#78
Le Mans Master
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Last edited by JR-01; 04-25-2015 at 12:53 PM.
04-25-2015, 12:44 PM
#79
Racer
On my journey to So Cal in the 04, I was driving at high altitude (8-9000 foot mountain ranges), and as fast as 80 on open stretches of highway.
As I said before the Goodyears felt like A$$ to drive, corner, etc, but in a straight line with no sudden lane changes...no problem.
I realize I'm a sample size of "one" but those tires were pretty thin on tread when I started the trip back, and I had to be back for my wife's birthday 36 hours later so I didn't have time to get new tires in New Mexico where I picked up the car.
Spirited driving and burnouts...nah, wouldn't have tried that with those old run flats!
As I said before the Goodyears felt like A$$ to drive, corner, etc, but in a straight line with no sudden lane changes...no problem.
I realize I'm a sample size of "one" but those tires were pretty thin on tread when I started the trip back, and I had to be back for my wife's birthday 36 hours later so I didn't have time to get new tires in New Mexico where I picked up the car.
Spirited driving and burnouts...nah, wouldn't have tried that with those old run flats!