When I needed an inexpensive set of four I went with the Kumho Ecsta SPT.

These are summer tires. They need warm temperatures to work. They will go nowhere in winter conditions.

Best part about them in is the wet. I can drive like a maniac with these things in the pouring rain. Nothing special in the dry. Reasonably quiet.

Bad is I've had the devil of a time trying to balance them. They're about worn out and I've never gotten all the high speed vibration out.

Sidewalls are like tissue paper. These are definitely not run-flat.

I have about 20,000 miles on them and the backs are down to the wear indicators. Fronts still look good.

(for some odd reason the back tires never last as long as the front. Can't figger it out!)



They served their purpose, but I won't buy them again. Michelins next time.

 

Depending on a lot of things, I almost made the same decision, but the vette may or may not go so I'm holding off temporarily. I found the most "balanced" I guess you could say would be c5 z06 sizes. My fav is the c6 z06, particularly the machined face style. The 275/315 combo is almost exclusively available in zr1 style wheels and found everywhere(although oewheels said by end of September they would be releasing deep dish c5 wheels in that size). And fact is it adds a good deal of weight while hurting power to the wheels, and is overkill for the power most c4's make and speed most owners try to take their c4's around corners. The c5 sizes give some added flare. But the c5 z wheels change everything. If you use original z wheels, they are probably tons lighter then sawblades so they allow you to run a 265 front 295 rear while not adding much weight if any while still helping handling and traction. One size up may not seem Like much but there's no added weigh, and using a fat tire like a kdw2 or gsd3 gives you tons more contact patch. Plus they fit inside the fenders, so no flares needed. I'm not a huge fan of even that finger width that sticks out when using zr1 wheels.

 

I drive my vette year round and thus run with two sets of wheels & tires. In the cold rainy months Oct - April I run 275-40-17 Continental Extreme Contacts on all 4 corners. I find that for me these run really well in the very wet weather and have done just fine in up to 4" of snow (even on hills). I run these on my stock sawblades. Note that the tread pattern changed a year ago and I personally don't feel that the newer tread pattern is going to be agressive enough for snow. The older pattern can still be found if you look for them.

IN the warmer months I run 275-40-17 GS D3s on my chrome A-molds.

The contis will run just fine in the summer but they wear out too quickly on the hotter road surfaces (70*+) and in my experience the Goodyears don't do nearly as well on a cold road surface (<40*).

That's been my experience. Take it for what you want

 

"265 front 295 rear" Is that combination 17" or 18" wheels and what width ?

 

joe: C5 Z06 wheels = 17x9.5 front 18x10.5 rear. The offset is such that it keeps even with the fenders so they dont stick out. The reason they are an inch bigger but only bump up one size, is the larger wheels force the sidewalls to be stand straight up instead of buldging out, causing them to be stiffer and not flex, therefor better for handling.

Peabody: Were they DW's or they DWS's? The DWS is a true all season while the DW's look somewhat like a pilot sport 2. Id like the GSD3 I had them on the front, heck I really like PS2's but since i may be switching to matching rears so they match over a grand is sorta a hard pill to swallow. The DW's are about 680 shipped.

 

Thanks for the info. McGrik, now so I have this right it would be 265/45/17 in the front and 295/40/18 for the rear 9.5 and 10.5 C5 Zo6 wheels. Thanks again, Joe

 

Smaller. About 4/5ths of the way down the page...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Corvette_C5_Z06

 

Thank you thank you thank you

 

For what they do and for what you pay for 'em, the Sumi Ultra Z's are tough to beat. I love the aggressive tread pattern, too. An obvious homage to the Goodyear Eagle F-1 Supercar!

 

I have the 275X40X17 Firestone Firehawks all the way around on 9 1/2" Z06 Detroit wheels. The advantage I like is that they can be rotated from front to rear. I would prefer a set of ZR1 spoke wheels when I am able to afford them.

 

Street off season:
Goodyear 275/40/17 GSD3's front
BFG 315/35/17 Drag Radial's back
Mounted on original GS wheels

Street/Strip Drag racing season:
Mickey Thompson 26/6.00/R15LT Sportsman S/R Radials Front
Hoosier 275/50/15 Drag Radial's Back
Mounted on Weld Pro Star's Powder Coated Black

Hoosier best Drag Radial on the market. Lighter than other DR's plus they hook great at 24PSI. Consistent 1.6's now in 60' and added 1 MPH up top.

 

Interesting question so I went out in the garage to look at the sidewall as I won't put these wheels back on for a month or so..... and there is no designation other than m+s. As stated this tread pattern is from 4 years ago and infact I just ordered a replacement set which are no longer manufactured however Discount tire has a number of sets of them in their warehouses and were happy to ship a set to my local store. Here is a link to the pattern that I have and as I said these are great in heavy rain and were very good in the snow.

http://www.treadepot.com/tire/15471290000.html?CID=3

The replacement DWS has a different tread pattern where the "snow" tread is on only half of the width of the tire.

 

Yeah. Im def interested in a more summer time version. One of relative cheapness at least. Plus many reviews say their contactsport 3 is actually not as performance oriented as the DW when it should be the other way around. But I cant find an exact picture of that size to compare.

 

I'm going to try a pair of Riken Raptor ZRs in 255/50R17 to see how I like a 27" tire. I want to add ground clearance as well as take out a little effective gear.

If these won't hook in 2nd, Phase 2 of the plan is to move them to the front and match with Mickey Thompson 295/45R17 ET Street Radial II for 27" tires all around.

 

I bought a full set of Goodyear Eagle F1s. 275/40s up front, 315/35s out back.

Driving around town and on the highway they are great tires. Take them to the track and its like driving on ice.

Pulled the rear tires and put them in storage, had some Nitto DRs installed (315/35s). Hooks great on the street and strip now.

 

My 255/50ZR17 Raptors just showed up today. Unmounted they're 26.75" tall and 10.5" wide. Should have 'em on the rear tomorrow.

Based on my measurements, these will reduce my 3.73s to an effective 3.47 ratio as compared to a 275/40R17 tire.

The Rikens are on the rear now. I like the way the 27" tire fills the wheel opening. Inflated section width is approx. 10.75" so they look fine on a 9.5" wheel. Meausured roll out is 84".

I also tried one on the front while the car was on jack stands. I think they will work fine on the front also.

I just need to dial in the Dakota Digital SGI-5 to correct the speedo again.

 

I think the discussion has to include what you want the tire to do. Tires are tools, and in the case of a car like the most important tool as they affect everything from road noise, grip, cornering and manuver performance and predictability, fuel milage, stopping power, and of course price.

I am currently running Kumho XS 285's all round. With a tread rating of 180 they won't last for ever, but I bought them for absolute performance and because they are still competitive at practices if I decide not to change to my V710's or it's raining. The Nitto is probably a slightly better tire for my use, but I was able to buy a club members Kumho bucks and get them for .75 cents on the dollar from tire rack.

I dont' mind replacing tires every year. My Kumho ECSTA's were actually very good, but after 6 practice Saturdays and Competition Sundays before I switched to the V710, they were tired. Gor less that $700 mounted and balanced for the set of XS I like them a lot.

I also leave my car running 1.8 degrees, negative camber front and rear and toe in and toe out, so they may wear more. If your goal is to look cool, there are a lot better looking tires, if you goal is to cruise and you want 5 years on your tires that's a different requirement.

Bottomline I think the discussion needs to include primary use, baseline requirements, utilization and the next two closest compeitors.

 

Going to try some Pirelli PZero Rossa's. Little bit bigger than the 315's

 

Why not go 275 in fronts, they fit fine and you can rotate the tires.

 

Thats kinda why I left it open ended. Hopefully this builds up enough steam to deem it worth a sticky otherwise ill just let it die.

Def the best opinions will come not from those who just are sayin "I love these tires!" but hopefully many on here who can share their own experiences changing from tire to tire till they found what fit them best based upon, as you said, their intent for the tire. I think many newer users start a thread on here and say they want a "good performance tire" and then get overwhelmed or mis-informed about just what performance means. However, there do seem to be brands that arnt even in the same ballpark as another supposedly similar tire, and I hope to expose some of that too.

So lets ttt to keep this goin.