After the original Goodyear tires wore out at 17K miles I put summer tires on. At the time I had a second car and my vet did not come out when it was colder then 40 degrees. Well I no longer have a second car and would not try to drive in the snow. However this morning I learned that on a totally flat road with the slightest snow or ice, summer tires on a Vet = going nowhere. It took two of us pushing the Vet to even get it to move an inch.
NEVER AGAIN...from now on it is all season tires for me!

 

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus (ZPs or not) should work well for you.

 

Have the non RF version on mine. Probably have a bout 7,000 miles on them by now. They are responsive, smooth riding, and much quieter than the GY runflats they replaced.

 

That's why they are called "summer tires"

 

I have the ZP's,,nice ride,good handling and so on!! But a small warning,,which probably applies to all of the "All Season" tires!! Cold weather traction is STILL somewhat limited,,even on dry pavement!! Typical asphalt streets(read not freshly paved,lots of bite),,and chilly temps can still let the rear end boogie down the road!! It can be FUN,,,as long as you are ready for it!!

 

If you've got to drive it in the winter, get the all season tires on it. The pucker factor will be a whole lot less.

 

Or buy a little beater that you do not have to worry about -

Then you can put some metal impregnated snow tires on it and if something happens on the ice it wont be your Vette getting trashed

Cheaper than another set of tires!

Or you can buy a cheap set of factory wheels and put snow and Ice tires on them and change them out for winter driving only

Thanks,Matt

 

I have the old AS(not Plus) on mine love 'em

Hey Jet Jock I see you are over here too I just came over to the Darkside from my C4 this week been reading up....

 

Originally Posted by bluec6vet
After the original Goodyear tires wore out at 17K miles I put summer tires on.

 

Interesting. I ran Pirelli P zero Rossos last winter and never had a problem. Think a lot of the time,it's the driver,not the car.

 

Summer tires loose 30% of their traction at 40 F, and more with lower temperatures. Forget about snow !

 

I don't mean to be disrespectful but "Summer" tires are exactly for that. driving in hot weather when the asphalt temps get to above 100* and have the ability of slightly softening the upper layer of the tires to give you better grip.

In who's right mind do you use a tire like that in the snow?

 

One more reason I love Central Texas!

 

I believe it says in the owers manual of my 2003 about the symbols on the side of the original Goodyears I have on the car, (I've got only 14K miles on it) But I think it says that the traction rating are only good so long as the outside temperature is above 32 degrees. Below that and your on your own.

 

Horsepower and cold road surface no matter what tire you are using will create less that good traction.....

Even on 90 degree days it takes half a lap or more to get grip into tires at the track and that's with good stick tires AND a prepared road surface...

Horsepower and cold road are not a good mix

 

This is, in my opinion, the best option. I've been keeping my eye out for a set of stock C5 wheels so I can throw some winter tires on them, that way I can continue driving my car in the winter. As it is, if its less than 35 degrees outside, the Vette stays in the garage and the big 1 ton diesel gets to be the grocery getter.

 

When I had the OEM GY EMTs on the car with only about 6K miles on them and hit about 1/4" of new snow on a straight and level 6 lane divided highway I thought I was riding a toboggan or luge. Car was doing about 45 and suddenly went skidding all over the highway. Thought I would wind up in the median with a rollover.
Did not take the C5 out in the snow with these tires again.

Put PS A/S ZPs which are rated as all season (A/S).
About 3 weeks ago we had about 1" of snow here in MD. Temp was just about freezing as the snow was sticking on the asphalt.
Started out just fine. Went to the store and came out about 15-20 minutes later. Had about 1/2" of snow on the car. Started out slow.
Car had noticable traction problems as I pulled out of the parking lot onto the untreated street. Rear end slid left and right and had some wheel spin also.
I lived in Iowa for 8 years and drove thru feet of snow at temps down to -20 degrees F.
C5 reminded me of a 70 Camaro which was a skate in snow and ice.
I headed home as I did not want to be the cause or recipient of a crash. Drivers here are NUTS anyway. Go either too fast or too slow and cause a multitude of accidents. That day there were 20 to 30 accidents mostly caused by excessive speed.
The PS A/S ZPs are a world of difference compared the the GY EMTs but are no solution for driving in snow or ice.

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