I searched, and the most recent thread is about 12 years old. Available tires in this size and speed range(s) have changed. Depending on wear this next season I may replace mine over the summer.

​​​​​​I'd like to hear what folks here use, and how they use them. Everybody is a little different in their driving style. I think it may be a useful thread for posters here to have a thread that doesn't indicate a preference for cost, but just has information on what tires different folks have used and what their experience has been with those brands at all price points. That way no one gets flamed for being a cheapskate or a spendy fool, and we create a searchable thread that defies Godwin's Law while serving a useful purpose.

I'd start out with my own preference but I have none, having just purchased a car and not having any real experience to share.

 

I bought the Nitto NT555 G2 for my 93 Vert this summer. I bought the car in August and it still had the original Goodyears on it.
I will only drive the car in the summer and use it as a cruiser so I went with cheap tires. Don't, I repeat, don't buy these tires! After
setting for a few days they develop flat spots and it takes 10 - 15 minutes of driving before they ride smooth again. Other than
that they are ok. I don't drive it in the rain so I don't know how the wet traction is but dry road traction is great!

 

I recently installed a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4S on my '94. Excellent tires, so far. The car's a ragtop, so it will never see a racetrack.

Live well,

SJW

 

I had the same results with the Nittos. Flat spotted and had to drive 10 to 15 miles or so to be able to get on the X-way which is a mile from my house. They would shake the car like the wheels were square. After the sub-prime response from their customer service, they were warrantied out by NTB, I now have Cooper Zeons. I will NEVER EVER own a Nitto product again in my life and anytime anyone asks, I let them know.

Maybe they are OK for California or the desert areas where it stays hot, but not in a climate like Ohio.

 

As someone who bought their first Corvette in March of this year I did a bunch of tire research and settled on General GMAX RS (Summer) in 275 /40 R17. They got good test results at The Tire Rack and I've had good luck with General Tire in the past. I did a hill climb in the car and they did well, but they are not a track tire as was expected with their 360 treadwear rating. They flat spot a little, but warm and smooth out quickly. I used Discount Tire as I was able to work their rebate program to good effect. They have a Black Friday special so you might be able to do well if you act fast.

 

What size did you buy?

 

Having put over 100K on my C4 since I bought it 15 years ago I've run through several sets of tires. I'm on my 2nd set of Goodyear GS-D3. I like them very much.
I do a lot of driving in the rain and these work very well for me.
I don't track my car but I have been known to drive it briskly.
I run 275x40x17 on all 4 corners.

I also own a C5 on which I run Nitto Invo. I know drcook doesn't care for this brand and I respect his views.
I have had no issues over the past 25K with my Nittos and while it doesn't get much below 30 degrees here, the C5 lives outside and I've never had a flat spotting issue.

 

The invo is a much better tire than the G2s too though. On paper it wouldn't seem that way but in reality it is.

 

drcook doesn't care for the Nitto brand due to the stupid answer I got when I called their customer service. Their answer to the G2's flat spotting was put your car on jackstands when you aren't driving it. That is BS. If I want to leave the car in the drive a couple days while I work on something else in the garage, I shouldn't have to put the car up on jackstands in a gravel driveway, that slopes just so their crappy tires won't flat spot.

Nor should I have to put the car on jackstands so that I can pull out of the drive and have to drive 15 miles to be able to drive faster than 55 mph without shaking the car apart.

If they are going to treat me that way over a 1 set of tires, they will treat a person the same regardless of which you get from them. And since multiple people here have said that they experience the same flat spotting in short time, it must be the tire design itself (or a particular batch of tires, such as Firestone had with their 500's)

 

Mine are 245/45/17 on the front, 275/35/18 on the rear.

Live well,

SJW

 

So, you bought new wheels for it? I had Michelins come on my 2014 Camry and I got 66K miles out of them. They are very good tires!

 

I also bought General GMAX RS's last year. I really like them, but because they are summer tires and living in New Jersey if I had thought it through properly would have bought the General all seasons so I could drive the 91 all winter.

 

I was looking on the web at those General tires, good to have some feedback from someone who has them.

I finally looked to see what is on my car...Nexen N3000. Never heard of them. Doesn't matter, as it seems they are discontinued. The price point would indicate they are a cheap tire, a little over 100 bucks, so on that information alone I'm sure I can do better. I was impressed (and surprised!) at how well they did when I had to drive through a light snowstorm for about 100 miles on my return trip from picking up the car, but that may be attributed as much to the ASR system.

I don't have anything else to compare by experience though, so it may just be that I don't know what I'm missing.

 

Yes, my car has aftermarket wheels: 17 x 8.5 front, 18 x 9.5 rear. The new tires replaced a previous set of Pilot Sports, although they were a different model which is no longer available. I wish they were, as they were fantastic tires -- had over 45K miles on them, with a bit of tread remaining, and still had great traction. Here's hoping the Pilot Sport 4S is as good as those were. So far, I'm very impressed with them, but have only laid down a few hundred miles over this past summer.

Live well,

SJW

 

I've posted this in several threads, but since this is a very specific thread it bears repeating. Sizes first: for 17x9.5 wheels I recommend 275/40/17, and for 17x8.5 the matching tire size (same diameter) is 245/4017. There are very few choices in 255/45 and 285/40, which are taller and a bit pinched on the stock rim widths anyway.

For the best true street tire (i.e. non-competition) in terms of grip in the dry and wet, the top contenders are the Michelin PS2 and the Continental ExtremeContact Sport. Both are excellent quality, and neither is intended to be driven in below-freezing temps. The Conti is half the price. The Michelin Pilot Sport 4S would be great too, and it's cheaper (still more than the Conti), but the biggest 17" size is 245/45. Note that SJW is running 18s for the rear, which should work really well.

For a budget tire, there are numerous options. I've chosen Riken Raptor A/S at $99 for the 275. They are a subsidiary of Michelin, originating as a Japanese tire company. They updated the rubber compound 2-3 years ago, so they are reasonably new on technology. The tires are moderately good in dry and wet performance, and have been reasonably quiet with a fairly good ride quality for me. They actually put down power quite well. They seem to have fairly compliant sidewalls, which probably helps with that and the ride quality.

 

Adding a link to another thread here, to this one. Same discussion, but I think the thread title here will make it easier to find in a search.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...new-shoes.html

 

I recently bought 4 new BFGoodrich g-Force Sport COMP-2 tires from tirerack.com

I put 275/40/17's on all 4 corners. I really like them!

This summer I put 4 new General G-max RS tires on my IROC-Z and I really like those, too....they're super sticky!

 

I'm glad you chimed in with info on those. They seem reasonably priced, and I like the tread pattern.

I have run BFGs over the years on other cars, none with a sport compound though. They wore like iron but I found them a bit stiff and slightly noisier than the tires they replaced. Not enough to make me swap em out though, I think I ran 45K on one set on a van I had. A quality tire.

 

These seem hard, but are still sticky. They dont really make any road noise. I don't think they're as sticky as the General G-max RS tires on my IROC-Z, but I think the harder compounds wear better.

The tread pattern on the General's look great, too... here's my IROC tires when I got them. These are 245/50/16

 

Interesting that the Nexen looks EXACTLY like the Riken.