Went with the Firestones. So far so good (about 3K miles). Quieter, good stick on the curves, good in rain, no back&forth because of road groove, nice tread look. about 1/2 the price of GY's. what's not to like? Goodyear needs to stop ripping everyone off with their inflated, no-competition prices. What a car! What a country!

 

Thanks.

 

Just wanted to chime in. I just picked up 2 19" Firestones at the
Firestone store for the same price as Tirerack (tirerack won't have them in until 7/7/07). Also purchased 2 18" from Tirerack yesterday and they have shipped already. They aren't in huge supply but you can
get them.

 

Wanted to try the Firestones on my 05 Z51 but had too much trouble getting them. Local Firestone dealer said months, maybe. Tirerack would, I think, get a couple, sell them and then be out. Also was worried if I ruined one would I not be able to get a replacement.
Went with the non-Z51 Goodyears and so far I like them alot. Ride is much better than the supertires, no where as harse over bumps. Haven't really run them through their paces but I expect that they have more grip than I have ability so I'll be fine. Since I go on trips and therefore run into rain I will appreciate better traction in the rain.
My feeling is that unless you track your car or really need the absolute grip I would not do supertires.

 

Mine is just one opinion I know. Even with traction control on the GY's would light up and I ran terrible times at the strip. Went with wide ovals and I can tell you they are fabulous! I do the twisties whenever I can and they stick like glue. They are much quieter and I am totally convinced I made the right decision. My FS dealer matched Tire Rack prices so you get an awesome tire at less than $1300 out the door with road hazard. Couldn't be happier. Mine only took 3 days to get but since then the demand has been overwhelming. That's my .02 Bob

 

Thanks for the input. For you guys who already have them, when you see them on the car, do they look much less wide? They seem a bit more rounded than the GY's. Thanks again.

 

I've almost worn out my first set of rear SCs in 8000 miles- 4 full days of autocross and a year and a half of "sprited" driving and they're pretty gone. Simply not going to pay GY or PS2 prices - Considering the Firestone's and the KDWs.

I don't drive spirited in the rain so that's not too much of an issue. I'd, of course, prefer runflats, but it's not a deal breaker.

My biggest compliant on the GY SC is that during autocross and on the street the SCs would grip and grip and grip and then (with no warning that I could feel) turn completely loose. To the point you'd almost have to stop the car before they'd hook back up.

I understand the Firestone's and KDWs may not stick quite as long, but does anyone have an opinion on how much warning they give you before they turn loose? Given this compliant do you have a recommendation on FS vs KDW?

Thanks.

 

My rear F1 SC's were showing cord near the outer edge at 8300 miles. I ran into the same back order issue with the Wide Ovals and ended up putting Falken FK452's on my '07 Z51. I chose the Falkens because they were at similar price point to the Firestones (a bit less expensive, actually), my tire shop was able to get them within 3 hours of my calling them (my C6 is a daily driver - I needed it on the road ASAP), and they are not a Michelin product (BFG KDW's are made by Michelin and I'm still pissed about what happened at the USGP a couple of years ago).

I'm very happy with the Falkens. The only real downside is that they're not runflats so I had to buy a small compressor and plug kit at Autozone for $30. Like the KDW2's and the Wide Ovals, they're not quite as sticky as the F1 SC's, but they release more gradually at the limit (i.e. no sudden "letting go" like the F1 SC's) so I feel more confident using the full abilities of the Falkens. All of the other "pluses" of the KDW's and Wide Ovals apply (cheaper, quieter, smoother riding, less tramlining, nice looking tread pattern, etc...). I can't comment on wet handling because I live in SoCal and we probably won't see any real rain until late fall.

For those of you who use your C6 as a daily driver and are looking for a budget-friendly tire, the Falken FK452's are worth a close look.

 

The Goodyear tires are designed specifically for your Corvette, from fuel efficiency to handling performance. Other competitors are not OE for a reason. And remember, you have to compare new tires to new tires, not worn OE tires to brand new Firestones, in which case things will be distorted. Firestone was benchmarked in development, and alot of the claims made here are not done so by a proper experimental test. Stick with what was designed with GM specifically for their car. See some of my older posts on which tire (GS-2 or Supercar) is best for your needs. The GS-2, being the base tire will be better for wear, noise and wet, than the biased towards the dry Supercars.

 

Firestones for two months, quieter, smoother, and much better in the rain

 

Chevy also OEM'd an exhaust manifold versus a set of headers because it was their idea of the proper balance of fuel efficency, performance and cost. That doesn't mean it's MY idea of same. I am certain that you and/or Goodyear provided Chevy with exactly what they asked for, but if Firestone or KDW or Falkin can meet my needs (not Chevy's) better for a lesser price than I must consider them.

And my compliant wasn't about wear, noise or wet. It was that this tire gives very, very little warning that it's about to turn loose. Particularly in street situations, I would prefer a little less traction and a little more warning to vice versa so that I am able to utilize more of the performance of the car without being afraid I was getting closer to the edge than I thought. I am not the first or only person to make this observation.

 

I love Goodyear, and having had a tour of the place in Akron am even
more fond of the company (that model room with all the factories from
around the world is mind blowing).

But, I gotta tell you, the Firestones (Really they are Bridgestones, but
they rebadged them as FSWO), are a superior tire to the GY SC tires.

Traction is nearly the same
Less road noise
Less wander
Better wet traction
Price that can't be beat.

Goodyear is a great American company, but they got beat on this tire,
and GM should change to the FSWO as the OEM tire.

Now go back to the factory and get them to:

1. Make the tires last longer than 12 - 15k miles
2. Make the tires track less (less wander)
3. Make the tires perform better in the wet
4. Drop the price a little bet to close the gap

I know GY can do it, they just don't want to do it, as they wrongly and
arrogantly believe that their product is better than the FSWO (or any
other tire for that matter).

The price delta for the GS2's is at least $500 per set, they may be a
better tire than the SC tire, I have no exposure to them.

 

I am glad that i am not there yet with this decision !

 

I've had the Firestones for two weeks now. I like them better than the Goodyears mostly because they are quieter. With respect to the availability issue I was told by a Tire Rack rep to order the Firestones in order to get in line. Much to my surprise the tires were shipped to my dealer for installation within 2-3 weeks (not months). It was much quicker than I was led to believe. Based on my experience I would suggest that those who want to go with the Firestone runflats place your order now. You may be surprised with the time frame.

 

Right, the others weren't the low bidder for the OEM contract.

 

I'm at 22,000 on my SC's and am ready to replace them. I read another thread about wear on the inside edge of the front tires. So I checked and even though there is still 4/32's left the inside edge is bald. I will be replacing with OE tires. I've had no problems with the GY's and after spending $55,000 for a new car, not really interested in trying to save $300 on a set of tires. I think later down the road you'll find you get what you pay for.

 

While at Bloomington Gold, I visted the large GoodYear display. I went over to talk to them and asked what made their product better than the Firestone's, which cost about $500 less. Honestly, they had absolutely no answer. When I pushed the point, the best I could get out of them was "well, these are GoodYears."

 

Better to ask the guy who designed them (me), not the marketing folks whoe were most likely there (do you recall the name of the Goodyear person).
Im not up on the new Firestone tires, when did they become available?
The breakaway on the SC tires was one thing GM wanted and liked about them. What you are probably not used to is the limit is much higher, and yes, of course, when they do break away, you are in a more extreme situation than a tire with lesser grip. We call it progressiveness.
Im not claiming because the tire is OE it is the best tire or the correct tire, thats not a simple assumption. Im saying in that meeting an OE spec, particularly a GM one which is one of if not the most thorough in the industry, results in a good tire cause the challenge is meeting all the necessary requirements and excelling at all of them, in more ways than a replacement tire such as the others considered here.

 

(1) New tires, be they GY or FS, will be much quieter than worn out tires. That's not a fair comparison. (2) All-purpose base tires, be they GY GS2s or FSWOs, will last longer than designed-for-track-max-dry traction GY Supercars, so that's not a fair comparison either. (3) If you plan to sell your car before replacing the tires, some people/dealers will discount the value for non-OEM tires. (4) Comparing apples to apples, FSWOs are less expensive than GY GS2's and until more owners actually wear out a few sets, appear for now to be comparable in noise, traction, ride, etc. I like to keep my car mostly OEM, but I'll probably put GS2s on my daily driver Z51 when the factory set of Supercars wear out for longer life.

 

If you want some long term opinions, go visit the C5 section and ask them their opinions of the FS vs GY tire. I suspect the FS will still garner much more favorable comments even after years of service and multiple purchases.

And having the FSWO's on my 03 Z06 had ZERO affect on how much I got or how fast I sold my 03 Z back in Jan 06. Take a look if you don't belive me:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1277287

My thread was started on 9 Jan 2006 and the car was SOLD on 21 Jan for EXACTLY what I asked for.

I believe you'll find the assurances you seek by asking C5 owners what their years of ownership experiences have proven. They are a great alternative that performs as well as the OEM for about 30% less of our hard earned $$$$

Tom