All;

Replaced the cracked Michelin tires that were on the Corvette when I bought it. I bought Continental Extreme Contact Sport, in the OEM sizes.

Ran into something I hadn’t noticed before...the previous owner had Michelins all around, but the fronts were undersized...235/40/17. OEM size is 255/45/17.

Other than having lowered the front of the car by 3/4 of an inch, and by virtue of the 40 series tire, having a shorter, stiffer sidewall, I can’t help but think losing 3/4 of an inch width from EACH tire more than offset any potential gain from the shorter stiffer sidewall.

It will be a couple of weeks before I get to wring it out on The Dragon, about an hour from my home, but can anyone give me an idea of any differences I should notice in general?

One positive in going back to the taller OEM size, my front air dam doesn’t scrape going in my driveway any more.

 

Not sure if the size will make a noticeable difference but I’m sure the new tires will stick much better due to the softer rubber. My older tires are constantly breaking loose and I can’t wait to get new rubber on the ground. Let us know what you think when you take it to the Dragon.

 

I think a lot of owners undersized their tires as a cost saver--then just sell the car.

Ronn

 

I barely noticed any difference on street use going from 255 to 275, on the autox track I felt some difference. Stuck better, less roll, better accel and braking.

Road noise maybe, but that depends on brand a lot too.

Increased ability to hydroplane does come with the wider tires though. Possible previous owner got scared once and went narrower.

 

I have the Conti XCDWs and they are very good tires at a very good price. They are performance tires, not all-season.
You should notice a slightly better ride and handling, and slightly more forgiveness to road imperfections, depending on the pressures you run. And possibly more road noise, but not much if any.

 

The previous owner's fitment was goofy. On these "staggered width" C4s that came with 255/45/17 front and 285/40/17 rear, I often recommend downsizing slightly to 245/45/17 front and 275/40/17 rear so you have a lot more choices in tires. This works really well. Your OE fitment will work fine too, and ride a little cushier with a slight sacrifice in steering response but slightly more ground clearance, as you've discovered. Those EC Sports are outstanding tires for everything except below-freezing conditions. They have wonderful dry grip and are a go-to choice for autocrossing in the rain where a real street tire is required (the Michelin PS4 is the other outstanding tire for this).

 

We had a day near 70 on Saturday, and since The Dragon is only an hour away, I just couldn’t resist.

I’ve only had the Continentals a few days, but my overall impression is very positive. On the highway, they appear to give a smoother, quieter ride than the Michelins did. The tendency to follow grooves in the pavement appears to be very reduced from what I’d grown accustomed to.

On The Dragon, it felt like a different car. Turn in is sharp and predictable, and imperfections in the road don’t seem to make the rear as unsettled in hard cornering. The tire store did a 4-wheel alignment, which possibly may be a part of taming the rear’s tendency to be a bit darty. Handling is very close to neutral, and the tires are surprisingly quiet, even in tight cornering. It was fairly easy to steer gently with the throttle on exiting turns, the transitions between hard cornering, and breaking rear traction with power were very predictable, and gradual.

My style of driving on curvy roads like The Dragon usually trends toward trail braking on very sharp curves, and the overall performance of the car with the new tires seems perfectly suited to my preferences, and the tires were predictable enough that it took very little time to get comfortable with what the car was doing.

I wasn’t setting any speed records, (my 77-year old mother was my passenger), but we moved along at a very brisk pace, and she told me afterward that at no time did she feel uncomfortable with what I was doing..

The only complaint I’ve got thus far is that I didn’t do this sooner.

 

Thanks to you (and others). I did exactly that (going down one width size) and got Riken Raptors... they were $400 for the whole set (before install)! I cannot complain!

 

Yep, I ran those too for my all-season street tire option. In the dry, they are every bit as good as Nitto crap for a lot less money, and much better in rain and cold. At the time I got mine, I think they were about $350 for the set. I remember being amused that the whole set cost less than one single BFG Rival S tire that I used for autocross competition...

 

I recently did this. Thank you for the recommendation. All I could ever find in OE sizes were sometimes Nittos and sometimes Conti's, both summer tires. Downsizing gave me a lot more choices, and particularly (for me) in all season tires.

 

I just put a set of the same on my '93. So far, so good, although they feel looser on the road than the Nittos I replaced (when they were new), but are much better than the Nittos at 8 years old. I really wanted an all-weather but there's nothing right now, so the car gets parked if it gets toward 20F.

Jerry