Gearhead Jim

Well, not an official report. But here's what I've experienced:

This morning, we had exactly 2" of snow in our driveway. The snow was about average in water content- I could make snowballs, but no water dripping out of them. The drive is smooth asphalt, 160' to the street. The first 60' are level, then it starts to incline upward and has a "moderate" slope, measured at 7 degrees, by the time it gets to the street.

Last month I put the Michelin A/S runflats on our Coupe. Today I had no problem getting started on the flat section, and was climbing up the slope with no wheelspin. I intentionally stopped on the slope and got started again with no wheelspin. Not a severe test, but very encouraging.
EDIT #1:The previous snow in our driveway has now been plowed but about 1/4" of packed snow and ice remain, the pavement is not visible. We had about another 1/2" of snow yesterday, loose and fluffy on top of the packed stuff. This morning was sunny, about 15'F in the shade and 25'F in the sun. Part of the sloping section of the driveway is shaded, part is not. Like last week, I could get going on the level part ok, this time with a little wheelspin. I could get up to the street ok, slight slippage on the slope. If I stopped on the shaded section of the slope, I could get going again with some slippage. If I stopped on the sunny part of the slop, couldn't move again, just slippage; had to back down the driveway.
EDIT #2: Last week we drove from Chicago area down to Florida. Spent a couple of hours in Kentucky when it was snowing/raining so hard I could barely see to drive. Temp was 31-33 degrees, so no buildup on the roads but really ugly driving conditions. The car felt very sure-footed when I slowly worked up to 70-75 mph, I did a few braking tests around 40 mph and braking was good. The ride improvement from these tires is subtle but significant- at first they feel only a little smoother than the Goodyears, but after a while you notice that the bumps and tar strips just don't jolt the car like they did previously.

I never did this type of testing with the previous A/S Goodyears, but my impression is that they would have done better today than the Michelins. Of course the Goodyears ride like bricks and are rated "only" to 168 mph, if that matters.

Previously, we had the Goodyear A/S F1 runflats, no longer available on Tire Rack. They look identical to the base tire tread but have a different tread compound for better cold weather performance. They have gone up the driveway many times with 2" of snow, no problem. We once made it through a section of unplowed parking lot that had over 4" of snow.

If I'm reading the Tire Rack survey correctly, the Goodyear A/S F1 got better user reports than the Michelin A/S in snow. But those results are for all sizes and types of cars, not just C6 runflats. So I'm not sure which is better, but it's a moot point if the GY's are gone.

Our C5 had a set of Goodyear M+S runflats, which also don't seem to be available any more. These were real winter tires, with deep knobby tread. A bit noisy on dry pavement, and of course dry grip was significantly less than normal tires. But the only thing that would stop us was snow so deep the front end had to plow it, or so deep the bottom of the body was "floating" on the snow and tires had no weight on them.

Finally, we had a set of the Firestone runflats on the C5. We thought they were great summer tires, just like everyone here likes them on the C6. But I tried them once when the roads were completely dry but very cold, about -10'F. It was like driving on ice, the rubber had turned to stone. One day we had temps a little below freezing and maybe 1" of snow on our driveway, I could barely get moving on the level part and was spinning hopelessly about half way up. Like most "Summer" tires, it is really "Summer Only".

BTW, I keep the winter tires on a dedicated set of wheels/sensors, swap out every Spring & Fall.

Hope this helps someone..

DaveC6ZHZ

Good info, as usual, Jim. When are you and the Mrs. coming to Florida for your annual visit? Then you won't have to deal with these issues. But it has been a bit chilly here lately -- heck, it's only going to get up to 72 degrees F today.

AORoads

that is good info for those wondering which "model" of tire to get for their climate and snow condition. I do think, however, that since our C6s probably can't comfortably (or ably) go thru 4"+ of snow (5", 6" 8", etc.) due to the low parts of the car, at least some of the good snow response is due to the fact that the weight of the car and the compound work in lighter snowfalls. Obviously, that's the case as you compare the Firestones which are "summer" tire.

This offers a real opportunity, if someone's willing to go the expense, for cold (or colder) weather and light snow driving for the C6. Thanks for the writeup, Jim!

Gearhead Jim

February & March, Bonita Springs via relatives in Spring Hill.

If it wasn't for the annual Florida trip, I'd probably skip the expense & complication of having the A/S tires.

CO Lightfoot

Very helpful report.

Next Spring, I'm getting the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S runflats.

The stock supercars have amazing summer grip. But I never race/track my car. And it gets cold around here.

andreop

Thanks for the report. I just ordered Michelen A/S this morning and look forward to safe fun driving this winter and beyond.

phileaglesfan

Great review! I plan on buying a set soon. 40 degrees may occur any month here.

Gearhead Jim

An additional test in post #1.

kedar

have a second set of split spokes + tpms sensors mounted to pirelli sottozeros (non-runflat) purchased from tire rack. been running this combo since mid-november on my dd vette. occasionally, i drive the wife's '11 mustang 5.0 (technically the winter vehicle for big snow). with have a steep grade to get into our garage. with the winter tires, my vette has had no problems so far.

Vette5.5

I dont drive the Vette in snow, but had a Z-28 daily car in the mid 90's with summer tire's, and a Blizzak package for winter use. Couldn't believe the difference for snow use, as almost like bolting on tank tread's. Pretty squishy on dry pavement though, but wouldn't even think about driving a performance car year round without a winter set.

Moonray13

So refreshing to see someone drive their Corvette like it's an actual car rather than a fragile heirloom only to be used when it's 70 degrees and sunny.

Gearhead Jim

For latest comments, see EDIT #2 in the original post.
Very pleased with these tires.

Vet

AORoads

that's interesting,

BLD.70DRIVERMPG-RET.

Nice report

PJC6

Thanks for posting.

I put the Michelins on a couple months ago, very satisfied and a noticeable improvement with the noise.

quicksilver436

I put the Michelins on our 08 C6 in the fall just prior to a trip from KC to Rushmore and Devil's tower. My initial impression was and still is that they ride smoother and are much quieter the the OEM GYs ever were. With the NPP switched to the quiet mode, the car is very quiet. However, it is when it gets cold, teens and below, with snow on the ground, that they really shine. The car is driven daily except when the snow is deeper than the ground clearance allows. Our driveway is on an incline and the car backs into the garage nicely. Of course throttle control is necessary during the bad times.
IMHO

StanNH

I've never run winter tires on my Vettes, but I do have many years of experience driving in heavy snow and frigid temperatures. I've also run a variety of all season and dedicated winter tires over the years.

Although all seasons are much better than summer performance tires, they do not approach the traction levels of a true winter tire. Winter tires use softer compounds and are able to maintain flexibility at lower temperatures. I've done many tests on both all seasons and winter tires, and the differences in braking and steering are significant.

If you drive in snow, you really should be using a true winter/snow set of tires. The slight sacrifice in handling is more than worth the improvement in traction.

DaveC6ZHZ

Glad to hear you made it to Florida safely, Jim. Hope you enjoyed the 80 degree temperature today.

redls3

not sure if this is 100% relevant but...

the best winter tire i have had so far besides the studded tires are Continental extreme contact dws. and i have tried them all before michelin,pirelli, goodyear, A/S and snow tires.

i havent had them on my corvette because i dont think they make the size but i have had them on my mercedes and these tires have been amazing in this Horrible North east weather so far. my car is rwd and while most cars have been stranded on and off the roads here my car has had no problems at all and moves along great in the ice and snowy weather.