I know that tires have been a regular topic over the years. I went to Goodyear today to price some new tires and they told me that the original equipment tire for the C5 has been discontinued. They can get me two for the front from another local store, but according to their inventory records there is only one tire for the rear available on the entire East Coast. What other run flat tire alternatives do you guys recommend?

 

Michelin Pilot Sport AS ZP (Zero Pressure.) I got a set on mine about 6 months ago. Cheaper than the OEM Goodyears, too.

 

Acoording to the Tirerack, there are not many choices in C5 stock-size runflats. Quite frankly, I can understand why. Non-runflats are quieter, much smoother-riding, lighter, and significantly less expensive. I have a feeling sales are not very strong for runflats, given their weaknesses.

Still, if you HAVE to have runflats, the Tirerack has the Goodyears; I'm not sure why the Michelins are absent from the list TR generated online.

 

Many people are running the Kumho runflats.

 

ran into the same problem as the OP when my fronts wore out shortly after coming home from Iraq. The Michelins are an excellent alternative

 

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1993675

Two OEM rears with less than 280 miles on them here........

 

Michelin is what I have now as well. The Michelin PSs are not as loud on the road as the GY Eagles.

 

I just replaced my GY - with Firestone firehawks. Haven't had a chance to drive it much but the ride home was quieter than the GY and the price was about $300 cheaper. Good reviews on here for the Firestones

 

Go with the Michelins.

 

I've had Goodyear and Kumho. Next time it will be Michelin.

 

Another vote for the Michelins. I like mine!

 

After 14 years in the tire business I can tell you that Michelin is, hands down, the way to fly. The best way to tell what the premier tire is, ... go look at what is on the manager of the tire store's vette.
While it is true that non-runflats are noticeably quieter and smoother riding (due to the thinner sidewall), what you will also notice is the car is much less "crisp". There will be more lag time between the turn of the steering wheel and the response of the vehicle. You will feel it squirm around more than before. I have tried both on my car, in several different brands, Goodyear EMT, Yokohama runflat, Firestone non-runflats RE960s, Nitto non-runflat, and Michelin Runflats. For a DD, michelin is the way to fly.
While I make a great profit on Goodyear tires, I have been very disappointed at the quality. I expect more longevity, and traction from a tire in that price range. I have had to warranty several pairs out for customer concerns. Michelins are a "sell em and forget em" item for my store if that tells you anything about their product quality. Quieter than Goodyears, a bit more forgiving, MUCH better wet weather traction, and longevity.
Nitto's wear quickly, but have the best dry pavement traction I have found. You will, however, have the squirm I brought up earlier due to the non-runflat. The price on the Nitto's is hard to beat though!
For the most part, your driving habits will dictate the tire that will best suit you. Hope this helped.

 

Thanks for the posts. It seems that most people like the Michelins. I'll have to check them out. Is it always best to replace all four tires? My fronts are showing wear( I guess I need an alignment), but the rears are in good shape for now. Any problem with just changing the fronts?

 

My '02 vert had GSD3s on when I purchased it. They lasted about 32K miles. I was going to get the Michelins but the local dealers wanted about $1,700 for a set so I stuck with the GSD3s.

 

No problem with changing the two tires on the same axle. I recently replaced my GY RFs with the Michelin RFs and am very pleased. I can hear someone talking to me while driving down the road. Either way that you go, good luck.

 

It looks like you've never run Goodyear GSD3s and that's a shame, since they compare very favorably to the PS2s in terms of handling, dry or wet, quietness, and ride. The GSD3s, however outperform the Michelins in wet traction and longevity. Here's an article about both:

"Productreview: F1 GS D3
By Dan Barnes
Photography: Dan Barnes

Designed in Europe, the Eagle F1 GS D3 is Goodyear's "first truly global product," and its first tire aimed at the maximum-performance tire segment. The Eagle F1 GS D3 targets sport compact and tuner vehicles, and follows Goodyear's traditional emphases of maximum wet performance and good, all-around driveability. Goodyear is producing the Eagle F1 GS D3 in 39 sizes, from 15 to 21 inches.
The Eagle F1 GS D3 has internal construction features expected from the latest maximum-performance tire, including high-tensile steel belts, spiral-wound cap plies for excellent roundness and high-speed durability, high ply turn-up for strong sidewalls and quick response, and a rim flange protector molded into the sidewall.

It's the tread design that sets the new Eagle apart. It's divided into three zones; a solid center rib for good steering response is connected to shoulders with large, solid tread blocks by a series of power transfer bridges. The latter are part of what Goodyear calls V-TRED. The diagonal grooves are three times the length of the contact patch, helping evacuate water and avoid trapping air, thus reducing noise. Goodyear refers to the tread compound by the AAtrax moniker, emphasizing the tire's AA UTQG traction rating.
We sampled the Eagle F1 GS D3 at Goodyear's proving grounds outside San Angelo, Texas. The 7,250-acre facility has 58 miles of roadway with 53 different surfaces. There we witnessed demonstrations of wet-traction testing with a pickup truck and trailer test rig, as well as the phosphorescent hydroplaning test made famous in Aquatred commercials. The latter can be done at speeds approaching 200 mph for racing applications. We also drove the new Eagle F1 on a dry-handling loop in 2002 Audi A4 sedans. At moderate to high slip angles, the Eagle F1 felt like a good, ultra-high-performance tire, but it does make more noise than most tires in the maximum-performance category when cornering loads rise. The grip-slip knee in the load/slip-angle curve was very gradual. That made the tire extremely forgiving, but it also made it difficult to decide how hard the tire wanted to be pushed for best speed. Overall, though, the strongest impression was that the Eagle F1's capabilities were well beyond those of the stock Audi's suspension, and a complete evaluation would require a car with more aggressively tuned dynamics.
For evaluation on its Vehicle Dynamics Area, flooded to 0.050 inch with water, Goodyear provided three convertible Corvettes equipped with automatic transmissions. One Vette wore Goodyear Eagle F1 GS D3, one wore Michelin Pilot Sport and one Bridgestone Potenza S-03 tires. Though the cars were theoretically identical, they were rentals and could have had some differences.
In a braking test, the numbers indicated the Michelin third, Bridgestone second and Goodyear first, inverse of the order in which we drove them. Interestingly, we didn't feel the ABS pulsing for the last third of the stopping distance with the Goodyear.
On the wet autocross, journalists were firmly instructed to drive in second gear with the Traction Control System on line. The Goodyear worked well and showed a gradual, forgiving nature. The tire was also well matched to the Corvette's TCS, which intervenes very late, and allows the driver to get sideways. The Michelins slid more and sooner than the Goodyears, and the car was a bit tail-happier. The Bridgestones slid the most."

Of course, if you're referring strictly about runflats, then disregard the article, but from your post, it looked like you thought all Goodyears are garbage and the GSD3s have won enough tire compariso tests to prove that this just isn't true. Michekin does make some very good non-runflat tires, but so does Goodyear and at a better price.

 

I'm running the Firestone Firehawks and they are an excellent tire IMO. Very quiet, good handling and the ride is so much better than with the OEM tires.

 

Kuhmo Runflats all around on my ride. I did not want to spend the money on the high priced Goodyears.

I had to stay with the Run Flats for piece of mind.
While on the Goodyears I had a rear "Run Flat" on me so I purchased new rear tires, then I had a front "run flat". that is when I purchased the matching front tires.

I am a little spirited in my driving and the Kuhmos have been ok so far.

FYI: I attracted a nail in one of my new rears, The tire dealer I go to used a "pull-thru" plug on the tire and it has held up fine.

 

Unfortunantly, I have had more dealings with this line of product than I care to have had. I don't want to burst anyones bubble, or ruffel any feathers, but the number of sets I have had to warranty out speak for themselves, this line included (GSD3's). To say nothing about the PERSONAL experience I have had driving C5's with these products on them.


As I said earlier, I make a great profit off Goodyear tires, so I will sell them all day long, but if you don't want to be seeing more of your local tire shop, you may want to consider a different brand. IMHO. I'm just a tire guy. Hope whatever decision you go with makes you happy.

 

Actually, I DO run the GSD3s and they have matched or exceeded any Michelins that I have had in the past. I spoke to a Discount Tire manager not too long ago about OEM tires and he admitted that even Michelin makes less-than-nice OEMs, some lasting only 10,000 miles. Of course, it's the car manufacturer who selects what goes on its vehicles, so if Michelin offers a quick-wearing, inexpensive tire that meets all other requirements set by the manufacturer, then you as the consumer would be well-advised to stay away from that exact tire when it comes time to replace it.

Generally speaking, though, one can assume that if the tire is made by Michelin, it is very expensive and of high quality. One cannot assume that it is the best because this has been proven to not be the case, many times.