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Non-runflats do give you a much quieter ride. I ran Michelin Pilot Sports and Goodyear F1 Supercars on mine and noticed the difference over the OEM Goodyear runflats. I did run a set of Firestone Firehawks on the car too and I have to admit they were so much better than the Goodyears.
Agree on all counts.
Also - before switching to non-runflats, I had run 3 types of runflats: OEM Goodyears (the worst), Firestone Firehawks (better), and Michelin (best of the 3 - least road noise and smoothest)
I've got the exact same tires on mine since last May. I agree with your whole post. I might add though... one of my favorite things about the tires is the "chirp note." Give yourself a spirited take off one time and you'll see what I'm talking about!
When I bought the car, it had Khumo Ecsta's on it. Nice ride, but no chirp note to speak of.
I got my Generals' ordered, shipped, mounted, balanced, and out the door for around $525.00 too.
Will explore the "chirp note" soon. Heck for the price of these tires I could chirp every day and not worry about wearing out the rears!
Glad to see I am not the only who dumped the Goodyears and am enjoying my new General Exclaims, put them on this spring and thought I was driving someone else's car. I used the extra $1200 to buy a set of speedline thin spokes from House of Wheels, changed the batteries in the TPS and painted the calipers with the extra money. Car rides better and looks cooler!!!!!
Oh yea that is a picture of my car last fall...before the changes
Can not imagine ever going back to the run flats again!
I ditched my runflats last weekend, too. I am going this afternoon to pick up a compressor and repair kit just in case. During the ride home I was so amazed with the difference in the tire noise. Can hear the exhaust better...much better! The ride was much more like a vette should ride and the handling was so much improved as well. They even stuck better on acceleration. That really helped when I had some a** jockey in an Audi A4 2.0T thinking he was a tough guy.
By far the best choice I have made in a long time.
I guess I have best of both worlds. I have Kuhmo runflats mounted on chrome thin spokes..I use for road trips and a set of General UHP's on a set of polished thinspokes for the rest of the time...Still like the idea of run flats for long trips....
I guess I have best of both worlds. I have Kuhmo runflats mounted on chrome thin spokes..I use for road trips and a set of General UHP's on a set of polished thinspokes for the rest of the time...Still like the idea of run flats for long trips....
For me, long road trips were the worst scenario for runflats - hours and hours of constant excessive road noise. But to each their own!
I replaced the run-flats recently with standard tires. Contrary to others tho I am not happy with the result. It rides way to soft and comfortable for a sports car. I had no idea the change would be so drastic. If I wanted to drive a Cady I would have got one. On the upper hand, they were cheaper.
I replaced the run-flats recently with standard tires. Contrary to others tho I am not happy with the result. It rides way to soft and comfortable for a sports car. I had no idea the change would be so drastic. If I wanted to drive a Cady I would have got one. On the upper hand, they were cheaper.
What do you have for suspension? I have Z51, and when switched out the runflats - the ride was still very firm, cornering still good, just got rid of excessive road noise and wheel hop.
I made the switch and run Vredestein Sessantas on my 01 roadster. It is a non Z 51 car and have no complaints about leaving behind the rock hard ride. I kept my EMT's on Polished thin spokes in the event I didn't like the change. But at this point I can't ever imagine putting them back on.....
$2100.00 for f1 run flats??? come on you can do better than that, $1700+/- here in Denver. i hope they were supplying the Vaseline!!!
I don't know what F1 run flats are, but last time (about 2 yrs ago) I bought runflats I got Michelin ZP run flats from Discount Tire On-line for about $1050 (yes - for FOUR tires, C5 oem size)
Thanks for the post. I switched to non-RF's a year ago and found the improvement to be awesome in every respect (except if they lose air). After doing a lot of research, I bought Goodyear GS D3's and really like(d) them. I also paid more for them then any other non-RF brands out there.
This Spring one of the rears got cut down with a small cut in the sidewall. I had the tire plugged while awaiting a replacement that is on back order. Now it seems that Goodyear have stopped making it, so I am stuck with a full set of almost new GS D3's. It looks like I will be replacing the entire set and will give the Generals a look.
I too gave up the runflats for a smoother and quieter ride. For those who are looking for new tires, I suggest looking at the Goodyear Eagle F1 AS. Check them out on tirerack.com. I use my 'vette as a part-time daily driver, so that's why I went with all-seasons. I used to have to turn the radio up over the road noise, now I turn it down to hear the clean sound of my Borlas!
I was quoted $2100 in St.Louis too , thats when I decided to go non runflats. Went with Michelins ps2for almost $1000 less.Easy decision for me the car rides so much better .
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