Yeah! Lets get some of them Mericun big name tires on there like Michelin or Bridgestone. Kumho anyone??

Ok, I'm being a smartass. I actually agree that the look of the tires helps make the look of the car. While I'm not nuts enough to run around on bias ply tires like some of the true perfectionists, I require that an American manufacturer's name be part of the white lettering. I had some great Firestone Firehawks on my 69 Mustang, but when I went to replace them, Firestone (owned by Bridgestone now?) had removed the brand name. They now just say "Firehawk" and "Indy 500". I think it had something to do with that nastiness between them and Ford when those Explorers started rolling over. I had to settle for BF Goodrich TA radials. Not nearly as good handling a tire and, even though they are exactly the same size as the Firehawks, the Firestones looked beefier on the car. Go figger.

I've got Goodyear Eagle GT IIs on my Vette. They look marvelous. BTW, I was prepping my Vette for an NCRS judging and took my first look at the spare tire. It was a 1969 vintage Firestone Wide Oval white letter that some previous owner had reversed to black on the ralley wheel. It took several phone calls before I found a tire shop willing to turn it around again. The darn thing was completely healthy with live rubber on the bead and all. I scrubbed the crap out of the lettering until it was nice and bright. The NCRS judges never even looked at it.

 

Gregg, I understand, but hey, did you miss your morning bran muffin, wow !!!!
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I bought my car 2 years ago with brand new tires already on it. They actually look good, they are Mohawk Predator SRS tires and stick like glue. Not what I would have put on but, regardless what anyone else thinks about it, this is still my car and I won't put new tires on it that are not needed just so other Vette drivers will not laugh at me.

 

still just "S" speed rated http://www.dandjtire.com/passenger/mohawk/pred_srs.htm
...don't know why thats considered(advertised) as "High Performance Passenger Tires"

 

I too run the Bf TA's and just happen to like them very much. To each his own. If anyone doesn't like the tires I'm running they can send me the money and I'll be happy to run a more expensive tire. Besides although my car will do 112 plus, I just don't plan on that. Any tire can pick up a nail!

 

T Rush... If you're doing a custom, why not choose tires that suit your taste, on wheels that you love and mod the wheel openings to suit your combo? You're likely going to paint the project anyway, and realigning the wheelwells to fit seems worth the effort VS the trade-offs you mention about screwing with the ride height. Start with a dimensioned image of your chosen year, add your wheel/tire combo via the vendor's site, then Photoshop the openings until it is "right"... then build it that way.

 

If you think Corvette owners "cheap out" on their tire and wheel packages go to a major Street Rod event. It's amazing how many big budget Street Rods you see with wheel and tire packages that just don't compliment the car. They either lack performance and quality or they detract from the overall appearence of the car (sometimes both).
No "bolt on" item has a more dramatic effect on the "look" of a car than the wheels and tires. On top of that the ONLY thing that connects the car to the pavement is the 4 small patches of rubber that the tires provide. Wouldn't you want the 4 BEST patches that you can afford to perform that very important job?



I hear what you're saying and you are correct about that 26" or less tire height. If you are going with a 17x11 and a 315/35 tire aren't you going to flare the car? If you are buy the tires/wheels that you like/want and install the flares to fit the tire diameter. The flares have to be "worked" anyway. Make them fit the tires instead of trying to find tires to fill the fenderwells.

 

If you drive my '77 up to 112mph you will shortly thereafter get your pilots wings! mike...

PS, I do not like the lesser brand tires either.

 

I agree completely! Why put all that time, effort and money into your ride to make it all go fast and stop better when all that you really have in touch with the road is just those four contact patches anyway. I want and use the best tires available. The last thing that I want is a blowout at high speed. Much potential for disaster there. Preach on Brother.

 

yeah I guess so...I think my considerations might have gotten alittle crossed up
... on one hand I was looking at 8"~10" wide wheels and finding tires to fill stock fenders with 17" wheels(still a 275/40R17 is only 25.7" tall, and very few 285/40R17 which is also just 26" tall...you really need a 275~285/40R18 to reach a 27" tall tire)
... but then in the other direction thinking about flares or wide-body fender mods with much wider rims, and there the wheel opening size could be reduced to tightly fit around a 'shorter' tire on a 17" wheel

 

Kumho and Michelin both have V- rated tired in 225/60/15's but are blackwalls.

 

Yeah, you have to be really careful in finding an ~27" high performance tire even in a 17" or 18". I'm running 235/50/17 Michillen Pilots because they are one of the few really good tires that are close to stock diameter (26.6" tall) ... thanks to Porsche for using these on their Boxster . For track days, I'm thinking of switching to 18's, but I'm not sure how they would asthetically, so I'll probably end up with 2 sets of wheels - one for street, one for the track. The 17's still keep a good amount of sidewall so the car doesn't look odd (at least to me).

 

Although vintage Vettes are performance cars, very few ever get performance DRIVEN. This is especially true after a total restoration. After I restored my LT1 it really took the enjoyment from driving it so I sold it (It was much nicer to look at however).

Given the choice (or lack thereof) in sizes and brands for stock rims, whatever tire you chose is fine (are you REALLY going to drive over 100mph on the STREET?). Tire warrentees are almost completely worthless. And try suing for a failure at 130 mph on the highway. If you live, you'll probably be suing from jail.

If you drag, auto-x or HPDE your car (and that's not too many C3's) just buy another set of rims/tires. And like it or not only a handful of name brand tires AREN'T made in China at this point.

 

If Cooper, Kelly, Cornell, Winston, etc, were that good, GM would have put them on the car as OE, right?? Secondly, with respect to the speed ratings, and this is just my own opinion, what's the big deal? Did the "street hemi" cars, big block 'Vettes and Chevelles, Cobra Jet Fords, etc, have "speed rated" tires when they were new? No, they didn't, and in all reality, WHERE, exactly, in the good old USofA, are you going to go 130 sustained MPH??



BTW, my first brand new car was a '71 Chevelle SS454. The car was capable of roughly 140 MPH, I had it up there once, and the OE tires were GoodYear Polyglas GTs........

 

Gregg, I hear all of your ranting, but see NO PICTURE of you and your car showing off the high price wheels and tires! HUH? I agree witht the guy who said that some of us do not have bottomless pockets and are trying to make do for now. We are more interested in trying to get the "car, engine and body correct FIRST! So go ahead with your ranting but be a little considerate of those who are a little strapped for money but are plugging away trying to get their C3 working and correct. Just had to say something.

 

Reading & Comprehension is a requirement on this site. Please see my post #6 of this thread. It is located on page #1 of same.

As to photos of my car's....My profile is open to the public. Please tell me you do not require instructions on how to view same. I too, just had to say something.


Stay in tune....

 

I work in the tire manufacturing industry, you should see the tires that some domestic car makers are putting on their cars. Tires are getting less and less rubber, they're flimsy.

 

Polyglass was the best back then. Why don't you buy Polyglas for your daily driver today. How nice of a ride would that be? The quality is here for a safer tire, why not use it. It doesn't have to be too expensive.

 

All I said was what I had and that they were brand new 2 years ago. I have no intention of wasting money on wheels and tires right now. When everything else is done I plan to do just that. But in this economy, I think my fairly new tires do just fine, regardless of whether or not they are S rated or actually high performance. The ride good, handle nice and look good too....thats high performance enough for me. I get my high performance thrills riding twisties on a huge motorcycle. See the video
http://youtu.be/OnZuqWdGyCQ

 

Obviously reading and comprehension was NOT one of your strong points in any schooling you had. You still do not have your car's picture posted and like several of us has said....that getting the car ship shape is right now more important to us along with the safety factor. Thank You!