the situation is this, i'm a computer geek who doesn't know much about cars, but i'm eager to learn now that i got a used C5. The car was great when i bought it, only 40k miles, its a 98. The tires sure look like the goodyear eagle f1 gs emt's, but i went to the garage and the rear right tire was flat as can be, and i pulled a 3 inch nail out of it, it was sort of in the corner between the tread and the sidewall. so despite the "run-flat" name, its very flat, and doesn't run. i was kinda hoping to replace the two rear tires with something else anyway. based on what i've seen on the forums, i've been looking at (in this order) kuhmo mx's, michellin pilot sports, and someone recommended pirelli p-zero nero's.
so my questions are these: any advice that would sway me toward a specific tire for just the rears (leaving the goodyears on the front is okay i assume?) and i need to jack up this c5 to get the wheel off to fix it so i can get the car to the tire shop, without buying the enormous service manual, where do i jack it up? is putting it in the center of the rear crossbar okay? or should i just jack up the one side and try to get it fixed quickly before the smaller jack buckles i have a 2 ton jack i was gonna use for the rear, but the side is too low so i was gonna use the jack that came for changing tires with my '02 monte carlo.

any advice on the matter is great appreciated

 

At the risk of causing a war, it is not a very smart thing to mix tires. Guys will tell you they do it, but just because something is physically possible doesn't mean it is smart, safe, or a good idea.

Have a care.
Cheers!

 

Owning a Corvette (or any sports car) is a good way to learn about working on cars. 2 years ago, i knew virtually nothing and I'm totally comfortable doing a lot of stuff myself now, but when you are starting out it's best to have someone around to help you out.

The official lift points for a C5 are on the frame on the side of the car. Look under your door and there should find a point where the pucks would go. If you do a search, you should be able to find pics, but there are other spots and if i'm thinking correctly (11 hours into a 13 hour shift) the rear cross bar is where i normally put the jack.

A normal car jack probably won't be low enough to get under the car. You may be able to do it if you drive up on some boards or something, but if you want to start doing some of your own work, i would recomend investing in a good floor jack and some jack stands. I did have a jack stand give out on me a while back and almost dropped the car, so now i just lift either the front or back of the car and use 2 stands.

as for the tires. I've never heard anything bad about any of the wheels you are looking at, but unless you are just going to put around town, i wouldn't mix tires. it would probably have a dramatic effect on how the car handles, do for now, just get 4 new tires and once you find somehting you like, you can change 2 at a time as long as you keep the same kind of tire.

 

When I bought my 99 MN6 w/active handliing, the front Junkyear Runflats were new and the rears were nearly worn out. It was exciting to drive in the rain to say the least, so I bought 2 rear Kuhmo Non-Runflat rears, intending to try them before buying fronts. With the mixed brands, it works just fine, although the tire noise is only 1/2 cured. I have driven it very hard at times, and drove 80+ miles on I-80 last Thurs night in the aftermath of one of the hurricanes(blinding sheets of rain and standing water on Pa broken concrete) and the car never wiggled. Do what you want, common wisdom is not to mix brands, but it has worked just fine for me. The Kuhmos are vastly superior to the Original Equipment tires in the wet and dry, and are much quieter too. When the fronts go, Kuhmos will replace them.

 

i ended up calling around for the kuhmo mx's, but no one around here has them. people told me it'd take 10 days to get them, but i could get michelin pilot sports tomorrow, so i'm thinking i'll just pay the extra money. i've got a vacation this weekend and a highschool sweetheart coming back to town in the next 2 weeks and i don't want to go vette-less. the jacks worked fine and i took the tire to see if it could be patched but they said no, and didn't quite understand why the runflats were completely flat, but oh well. i think i'll stick with replacing just the rears for now, "put around town" as you say for a bit, and next big job or overtime week i get i'll get the front two. thanks for the advice, i'm sure i'll be needing more in the next year as i learn more about this wonderful contraption : )