Rapid Fred

I have a '99 which the prior owner upgraded with Z06 wheels. For some reason, he stayed with standard-sized tires (245's front and 275's rear) on the car, which looked a bit funny, and, on the front, were smaller than the smallest recommended for the wider wheels. I drive the car daily, so I replaced his tires with all-season Kumhos. I was able to find 255's for the front, so safety is no longer an issue, but the 255's and 275's still look a bit funny on the wider wheels. I've lived with it, but the tires are nearing the end of their useful life (too quick, BTW, no more Kumhos for me). I do not want to spend $1K or so to downsize the wheels. Even worse would be the expense and inconvenience of switching back and forth between winter and summer tires. I do not need, or want, run-flats.

So here's my question -- does anybody know of a manufacturer selling decent all-season tires closer to the 265's and 295's specified for the Z06? I've tried the warehouses and not had any luck.

Thanks for your ideas...

kedvesh

Reportedly a high-rated A/S tire (#1 on TireRack-com's UHP A/S rating list), you can get the CONTINENTAL Extreme Contact DWS in 275/40-17 for the front and 295/35-18. (I have had different branded tires in those sizes on my stock Z06 rims.)

Have not found any A/S tires for stock Z06 fronts (265s).

Although some consider General UHP Exclaims (which you can get in the 275/295 combo) an A/S tire, I would not go so far to classify them as such. From personal experience, they are great in the dry and wet, but only passible as temperatures drop and in anything resembling more than a dusting of snow on the road. Would I consider buying them again? Yes. But, I would classify them as a three-seasons tire, not meant for DD use in an area that expects more than the dusting of snow during winter.

Have not found any other A/S tires in Z06 sizes...not sure if any less-known makers offer them.

You can get the DWS from TireRack for $786/set (does not show up in the normal size match tool for some reason...have to go to the specs list for the tire) or from others, such as onlinetires-com for $768/set or similar (any shipping and any taxes not included, of course).

Have fun!

Rapid Fred

Thanks Kedvesh!

Funny thing -- I was at my mechanic yesterday and he had a set of those Conti's (smaller size) out front of his shop -- ready to go on a BMW I believe. Nice looking tire and I asked him about them. He said they are pretty popular. We never discussed possible Vette fitment.

Bdiddy

I know for the front of a non z c5, bridgestone offers the Turanza w/Serenity. Not available for the rear though.

herZ06

I've got Vredesteins on the rear of my Z06. FWIW, they did ok in the snow... not great, but ok. Great wet traction considering, and good, not great dry traction in the summer... but, my car is far from stock, so that's a bad comparison if your car is stock-they might get better traction planting 350hp as opposed to 600. I got almost 40k miles out of my last set of rears and just ordered a new set for $550-and I was NOT easy on these tires. I don't know if they make a set for the front, but I'll check them out when I need them, they've been good to me.

I have Michelins on the front, it's a summer tire but I got them at about 95% tread for $200 from a friend, and I drove on them through winter with no complaints.

momo20

General UHP Exclaims i had those on my stealth r/t turbo..great tire..and lasted a long while...plus some track time...and still were holding up fine