Had the FK-451s (a predecessor) for a while. Great street tire for the cost. Good perf. in the rain. Decent perf. on the track.

They're o.k. in the cold, but where they fail--and fail miserably--is in conditions where there's any snow on the ground. Do not recommend them for winter driving, especially in mid-atlantic to northern areas of the US.

I'll call these a three-season tire.

Same goes for the General UHPs (although I'd take the Generals over the Falkens.)

Just my $.02.

 

I've had the General UHP's on my GTO for about 6000 miles now they are far and away better then the BFG junk that came on it.
Worth a look IMHO for the vette.

 

Guess I'll chime in too. I've been running General UHPs on my stock rims since early last summer. Incredible bargain in my opinion. Interestingly, the tires that fit the stock rims are made in Europe. Not sure which parent company is actually making these for General. I've heard Michelin has a lot of money in General tire, but it could just be a rumor.
As for quality, I think it's in the eye of the beholder. If one equates quality with a tire's ability to drive at sustained speeds of 150 mph or more, then these probably aren't the tire for you. On the other hand, I'm old enough to know that if I attempted to drive at those speeds I would either scare myself to death, pee in my pants, or both. This knowledge opens up whole new vistas for me. I can afford to buy a complete set of drilled & slotted rotors and Hawk pads for the money I save on the tires. This allows me to stop marginally better, look "cooler," and have excellent traction at speeds I am comfortable with. I'm a happy man!
Glen

 

Thanks for the heads up. Won't ever see snow here in Central Florida. Had a slight rain last night and I had to test the tires. They do OK in the rain so I'm still happy.

 

Im in SoCal so snow isnot a problem. L.A., ohh yeah baby.

 

Yeah I noticed they are made in France I think. Michelin? Who knows maybe. There are only about 3 main parent companies or so, so it has to come from somewhere good... I hope. BTW, if the Generals are at about 45+psi (their max is 51) they will be stable at 150mph... trust me. They are rated to 168mph (W) but can still go beyond that for a short while.

 

General Tires are made by Continental.

 

The General UHPs I used are/were made (of all places) in the Czech Republic .

 

I had an article I read comparing some type of continental with the general uhp's. This is not the one though. It says continental at the bottom of the screen.
http://www.generaltire.com/tires/T1/Exclaim-UHP

 

I have about 10k mi, 7 track days, 6 passes at the drag strip and 1 day of driving in the rain. Awesome tire for the money. Probably repl with same when these are done.

 

I don't know how much Goodyear spends on R&D but their tires flat out suck!

 

I've had these for about a year and they still perform and look great. Got mine (18/19) through TomzWheels when they had a deal going on for $760 shipped.


If you have a tire on your car that is working great for you then that's what counts. Thanks for sharing the info, I'm sure many will find is useful.

 

it should be easy to find "cheap quality" tires

 

What ever you do DON'T put Nankang tire's on it. These are rubbish. Cheap and nasty with poor traction and have a tendency to cause your car to pull to one side. I think you cant go wrong with kumho for a budget tire.

 

And speaking of saving money on Corvette parts.......

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...-c5-parts.html

 

^^
I dont think anyone takes savings to the extremes on that post. My car cost me $27k and it has nothing but high end parts under the hood. I dont mess around when it comes to performance, Trick Flow heads, custom cam, FAST intake, Yank tc, Intro billet wheels, Royal Purple, I got them. I also know that some things arent worth their price and that includes a lot of tires. So call me cheap if you will but line up your car to mine and tell me how my exhaust sounds as I leave you way behind. BTW, its a Hooker exhaust I bought at Autozone for $375. For me its about what works, period. Who cares what magazine or show your product is on, it just has to perform.

(Just checked 295/35r18 @ TireRack $193ea.)

 

Believe it or not, people do. Like I said, there is a whole "nuther" breed of C5 owners out there who bought their cars for $15,000. I've seen MANY old 320i BMWs that looked like they couldn't safely exceed 70 MPH. Do I blame the owners? No, I bought my 68 when I was 21, so I know what it's like to want something so badly, the temptation to buy bottom-rung parts is VERY strong.

You may not remember, but back a few years ago, shortly after the Goodyear GSD3s came out, a popular tire was the Kuhumo MX. It was half the price of the D3s and the PS1s and many forum members swore that on the track, there was no difference and anyone paying over $200 for a tire was simply foolish. Soon after, Car & Driver compared the top-selling super high-performance tires of the day. The MXs came in dead last (11th place). Sales of the MXs among some C5 powners dropped off drastically as the news spread around. Others cared only about cost and continued to buy them.

What I'm saying is that while it is certainly possible for a manufacturer to produce 80% of a top-tier tire for less than 50% of the price, it is still unlikely that if you push your car to the extremes, the cheaper tire will equal or out-perform the top-tier one.
Most of the now famous One Lap of America contest winners go with the Michelin PS2, with a bunch of GSD3s among them. If you want the best and can push your car enough to feel the difference, top-tier is the way to go. However, I agree that for most owners who never explore their C5s capabilities (especially in competition), the Generals may be a good alternative.

 

I know its purely cosmetic, but I can't get past the way the look when mounted. It looks like one of the tires is on backwards Almost like they were gonna make a left and right tire but said "ah screw it, will give them all lefts"

 

Tires-easy has Sumitomo's for 120/tire for the rears, 80/tire for fronts.

 

The General's are a good tire.

I had my tire shop order me a set of Grabber UHP's (SUV tire) a couple years ago, as they were inexpensive, and had nothing but great reviews.
When the store got them in, they too were very impressed with the tires (for what they cost). They were so impressed they now stock them.

I am considering running the General's on the Vette based on my past positive experience. They do make them in the 19/20" sizes I need too.

It's either them or the Toyo T1R's. Haven't decided yet. The downside is the Generals are only a W rated tire if I'm not mistaken. Not that I exceed 168mph (often)...but I would prefer a Y rated tire.