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b4i4getit asked: Would it be possible to make an all season performance tire available for the Corvette ? Certainly GM has enough pull with the tire manufacturers to get one of them to develop a runflat that would be usable all year and would have some level of performance. This would be beneficial for those that like to use their cars all year and have no track aspirations and would also eliminate the tire cracking issue that many have experienced.
Tadge answered: As we, our competitors, and tire manufacturers push the edge of the envelope on performance tires, the focus on dry traction tends to compromise traction in wet, muddy, cold and snowy conditions. Although we validate the corrosion, durability and performance of the Corvette in all weather, most customers are extremely reluctant to expose their cars to bad conditions. I've seen the majority of cars at a show disappear with just a prediction for rain. Some customers even rented local garages to keep their babies dry through a storm! Although one would assume we have some influence over the aftermarket offerings of our tire suppliers, we wouldn't be very good business partners if we forced companies into money-losing businesses. It is very expensive to put a new tire into production. The tooling costs are quite high (with unique tools for front and rear on Corvette due to our staggered sizes) and then there are design, development, and distribution costs. Since Corvette has tire sizes not shared by many other vehicles, our customers tend to be the sole source of business to pay back the cost of developing the tire. Our history is not good here. Years ago we encouraged Goodyear to make winter tires available in C5 sizes. Goodyear did just that and the only customers who bought the tires were our own GM development engineers who wanted to keep their Corvettes on the road through the Fall and Winter. Needless to say, with just a handful of sales, that was not a good business for them.
Although this sounds pessimistic, all is not lost. We are still very motivated to enable customers to use their cars for more of the year and have had quite a bit of feedback along the lines of this question. As the original equipment tires become more performance-focused, the argument for a good all-weather tire alternative becomes stronger. Michelin has been an excellent partner and already offers All-Season tires in Stingray sizes (Pilot Sport All-Season ZP's for the standard suspension and non-ZP's for Z51). We have further agreed with Michelin leadership for the additional offering of All-Season ZPs in C6 Grand Sport and Z06 sizes, in addition to the C7 Z51 sizes. The development of those tires is underway and the current plan is to have them available next year (third quarter at the latest). That leaves the C6 ZR1 and C7 Z06 uncommitted at this point. Michelin is currently studying adding those to the A/S portfolio as well.
Interested customers can check http://Michelinman.com for all the latest Michelin Corvette tire offerings.
No wait, that's not strictly true. I bought a set of those Goodyears.
I seem to remember those on the pewter car. They were... suboptimal if I recall properly. But then again, most anything Goodyear makes (or made) is suboptimal.
So, the Michelin reps at the corvette museum labor day event said "definitely, no later than April 2016" there will be all season tires for the Z06. Is this not true (again)?
Pirelli is providing the lambo with an all season tire now (just read the article).
Also, respectfully (and I sincerely mean this) the current issue is the 45 degree limit. We are in the middle of September, and the Temps reached the low 50s. The fall is only 2 weeks old (and I live in northern ky). If I am only able to drive my zip 7 months out of the year, I question my $100tk investment. I would think there are enough additional sales in the northern US and Canada to justify the investment. I imagine this scenario won't be financially feasible until there is enough excess capacity in the p lantern to meet the increased demand. Thanks for participating on the forum! Sorry, I may not have posted this in the correct area.
Last edited by RACE U; 09-17-2015 at 02:59 AM.
Reason: fix spelling
That would be great news to us Canadians that like to drive our cars all year. I would definitely check the order box for all season tires with some level of performance if they were available.
That would be great news to us Canadians that like to drive our cars all year. I would definitely check the order box for all season tires with some level of performance if they were available.
Wow, we thought it snowed in Canada 11.5 months of the year! The other half month was ice.
(only kidding, well....)
They work incredibly well. I can drop the hammer in 2nd at 30mph at 30 degrees and she hooks! Snow...no problem. Slush....be careful. Lol.
These are the tires. The rears may rub. Some have rubbed some have not. They're taller than tire rack claims them to be. I'm sure you could just use the lowering bolt to raise the rear up a bit of it rubs.
Very interesting. Now we just need to get pirelli to make them in Z06 sizes.....though that's a little more winter driving than I anticipated doing in the Z.
@phantasms, I love it. Good for you!! So many haters on driving sports cars in the winter.
I drive my 2010 Mazda MX5 year round and it is a hoot. The C4, if it was not for the salt I would drive it in the winter as well. Contary to popular belief Corvettes do NOT melt when exposed to rain, drag strips, road courses, and auto-x events.
I LOL at the want for all season tires....on a 460hp car? Why? So you can putt putt around only using 300 of those horses? I've driven my car in freezing conditions in late fall to auto-x events on 200TW tires and NEVER had any issues with them. Shoot, people store Hoosiers in the cold and they are fine. Just don't drive on Hoosier when frozen.
The Corvette demographics just kill me. We want our HP bragging rights so we can sit around and say how great it is!!! Oh, 10% chance of rain, better not go to the local cruise in........Give me a break, its a sports car. Drive the damn thing. They are STILL making new C7's every day. Unless its some uber rare older Corvette get over it. Rant off.
I have been using my C6 all year long as my only car and expecting to do the same with the C7!
Looks like that only the Good Year exist but cannot find the DW Extreme in Europe in Z06 dimension... Hope that Good Year will not forget about European market!
Well we aren't talking about 460hp here. We are talking about 650hp with 650 ft lbs of torque. Hell it's hard to keep it on the road in the summer time with dry pavement.
Honestly, if you can get a custom set of wheels for the track in 18" you can get whatever snow tire you want as well. It may require a separate set of wheels but that's not too much of a sacrifice to drive the Z06 all year around.
I've been running Michelin A/S for years on my C6 and they work great in all conditions and get over 40,000 miles. If they made them for my Grand Sport, I'd order them today.
I unfortunately purchased a 2015 with the ZF1 package ( Z51 wheels and tires) mid Dec, the temp was 8-10 C 50 F , the salesman was concerned about the hopping when he filled it up with gas ,Service said "they all do it" I wasn't too concerned as I traded in a C6 Z06 with Michelin Run Flats and was used to it bouncing a bit when parking with the wheel hard over.. I'd be happy if that was all I had to deal with . The car hops at the slightest right or left turn from a stationary stop when driving, It hasn't been any warmer here so don't know what is going to happen when it gets warm. The tire temp says warm yet it still hops.
I have owned every series , numerous C5s and 6s both regular and Z06s and never had to deal with this tire situation . Together with the screaming brake problem when reversing I am not impressed.
I only bought this car as GM is so far behind in ever sending Z06 convert's to Canada. Think the last delv. date was MAYBE 2017 so I gave up. Some Corvetters have even moved over to the 350 HP Focus RS and th new Shelby. Maybe GM should suspend selling Corvettes October to May and not even offer the Z06 in Canada.
09-16-2015, 10:35 AM
[ANSWERED] All Season Performance Tires
