New Tires - Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus ZP - Run Flat
09-05-2011, 02:16 PM
#21
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A/S tires are nice but in Florida, well... Snow is not an issue. I'm amenable to another brand other than GY but I don't need A/S type of tires.
Anything for the it's usually kick a$$ and top down weather here and don't need no snow tires, tire guys?
Anything for the it's usually kick a$$ and top down weather here and don't need no snow tires, tire guys?
09-05-2011, 03:18 PM
#22
Burning Brakes
Look seriously at the Bridgestone RFT. Excellent tire.
09-05-2011, 03:56 PM
#23
Race Director
They should come from the factory with the Michelins. I just replaced the stock Goodyears on my 07 coupe last week and have put about 500 miles on the Michelins. Don't just think about doing it, buy them and never look back. The Goodyears are like steel wagon wheels compared to the Michelins.
09-05-2011, 05:01 PM
#25
Burning Brakes
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So lets correct some of the missunderstanding. First, they are not snow tires. Second, they are quieter than the GY's that are on your car. Less hum on the hways then you are experiencing now. A slitely softer ride. Plus a fantastic mileage warranty. A lower price.
If you are not tracking your car, these tires are about 90% of the performance of the PS2, and will save you big bucks over time.
By the way, it was a Michelin rep in South Florida that talked me into this set and I have never looked back.
09-05-2011, 08:25 PM
#27
Safety Car
It may not snow in Florida or get rigidly cold.. but it does rain alot. I can tell you with 1st hand knowledge that these tires perform absolutely excellent in the rain. Of course if you never drive your car in the rain, thats not a concern.. but if you find yourself getting caught in rain storms, especially rain storms with heavy amounts of water on the street.. then the AS+ are still an excellent choice.
As I said earlier.. for any type of driving you are doing on a public street.. they will provide more than adequate grip to handle the job. For someone who is driving on the street only.. there is no drawback to the Michelin AS+ that I can think of, except maybe looks.
Last edited by Daekwan06; 09-05-2011 at 08:27 PM.
09-05-2011, 08:51 PM
#28
A/S stands for All Season. M+S stands for Mud and Snow. Dont confuse an All Season tire with a Mud & Snow tire. All season means the tire is formulated to grip and perform well in pretty much all temperatures and all driving conditions.. especially the wet.
It may not snow in Florida or get rigidly cold.. but it does rain alot. I can tell you with 1st hand knowledge that these tires perform absolutely excellent in the rain. Of course if you never drive your car in the rain, thats not a concern.. but if you find yourself getting caught in rain storms, especially rain storms with heavy amounts of water on the street.. then the AS+ are still an excellent choice.
As I said earlier.. for any type of driving you are doing on a public street.. they will provide more than adequate grip to handle the job. For someone who is driving on the street only.. there is no drawback to the Michelin AS+ that I can think of, except maybe looks.
It may not snow in Florida or get rigidly cold.. but it does rain alot. I can tell you with 1st hand knowledge that these tires perform absolutely excellent in the rain. Of course if you never drive your car in the rain, thats not a concern.. but if you find yourself getting caught in rain storms, especially rain storms with heavy amounts of water on the street.. then the AS+ are still an excellent choice.
As I said earlier.. for any type of driving you are doing on a public street.. they will provide more than adequate grip to handle the job. For someone who is driving on the street only.. there is no drawback to the Michelin AS+ that I can think of, except maybe looks.
09-05-2011, 09:08 PM
#29
Safety Car
Looks = lots of small treads & rounded shoulders. The "max" performance tires for the Vette have alot less tread.. and the treads channels are much wider. The "max" performance tires also have wider, more squared shoulders. The reason why the "max" performance tires have less tread and more square shoulders is simple = more rubber on the road, more dry traction. Its the same reason why the tire with the absolute maximum dry traction is always "slick" tire with no tread whatsoever.
Its something you would only notice if you looked underneath the car. Luckily I took plenty of pics when getting my exhaust installed 2 weeks ago at Carlisle and you can see exactly what I mean. The "max" performance tire on the left is a GY F1, the AS "high" performance tire on the right is the Michelin AS+.
Its a little hard to see in that picture. But the Michelin AS+ has LOTS of smaller cuts & grooves in the rubber.. to allow additional water to channel clear of the contact patch & to provide more bite (grip) on snow & ice. You can see it much more clearly here in the zoomed in pictures from TireRack.com of both tires:
GY F1
Michelin AS+
Lastly.. some people have also recommended going a size wider on the Michelin AS+ so that the shoulder of the tire has much less rounded profile.. and more of a square one. I believe factory sizes are 245 front, 285 rear. So going a size wider would be like 265 front, 305 rear. If you are interested in doing that.. be sure to do some searches/inquiries on the forum first as I have no 1st hand knowledge of how good it looks or how well the car rides with the 265/305 setup.
Its something you would only notice if you looked underneath the car. Luckily I took plenty of pics when getting my exhaust installed 2 weeks ago at Carlisle and you can see exactly what I mean. The "max" performance tire on the left is a GY F1, the AS "high" performance tire on the right is the Michelin AS+.
Its a little hard to see in that picture. But the Michelin AS+ has LOTS of smaller cuts & grooves in the rubber.. to allow additional water to channel clear of the contact patch & to provide more bite (grip) on snow & ice. You can see it much more clearly here in the zoomed in pictures from TireRack.com of both tires:
GY F1
Michelin AS+
Lastly.. some people have also recommended going a size wider on the Michelin AS+ so that the shoulder of the tire has much less rounded profile.. and more of a square one. I believe factory sizes are 245 front, 285 rear. So going a size wider would be like 265 front, 305 rear. If you are interested in doing that.. be sure to do some searches/inquiries on the forum first as I have no 1st hand knowledge of how good it looks or how well the car rides with the 265/305 setup.
Last edited by Daekwan06; 09-05-2011 at 09:13 PM.
09-05-2011, 09:12 PM
#30
Looks = lots of small treads & rounded shoulders. The "max" performance tires for the Vette have alot less tread.. and the treads channels are much wider. The "max" performance tires also have wider, more squared shoulders. The reason why the "max" performance tires have less tread and more square shoulders is simple = more rubber on the road, more dry traction. Its the same reason why the tire with the absolute maximum dry traction is always "slick" tire with no tread whatsoever.
Its something you would only notice if you looked underneath the car. Luckily I took plenty of pics when getting my exhaust installed 2 weeks ago at Carlisle and you can see exactly what I mean. The "max" performance tire on the left is a GY F1, the AS "high" performance tire on the right is the Michelin AS+.Some people have also recommended going a size wider on the Michelin AS+ so that the shoulder of the tire has much less rounded profile.. and more of a square one.
Its something you would only notice if you looked underneath the car. Luckily I took plenty of pics when getting my exhaust installed 2 weeks ago at Carlisle and you can see exactly what I mean. The "max" performance tire on the left is a GY F1, the AS "high" performance tire on the right is the Michelin AS+.Some people have also recommended going a size wider on the Michelin AS+ so that the shoulder of the tire has much less rounded profile.. and more of a square one.
So why do you have one of each?
09-05-2011, 09:20 PM
#31
Safety Car
To answer your other question. My car (bought used) came with 3 Michelin AS+ and 1 GY F1 rear. I'm guessing the previous owner replaced the factory tires with 4 brand new AS+ on the car.. and eventually had a flat. Rather than spend $350 to replace the flat AS+, they used one of the original GY F1's as a temp replacement.
My plan is to eventually replace that single GY F1 with a new (or preferably used) AS+. Since the other 3 AS+ tires on the car are already used.. there's no need spending alot of money for a single new tire to complete the set. I've also thought about getting a 2nd set of wheels & some "ultra high" performance track rubber. That way when I hit the track, I can use my maximum stick tires. But on the street I can continue to use the more refined, high mileage, all season grip of the AS+.
09-05-2011, 09:29 PM
#32
Be sure to read my last edit to my previous: Lastly.. some people have also recommended going a size wider on the Michelin AS+ so that the shoulder of the tire has much less rounded profile.. and more of a square one. I believe factory sizes are 245 front, 285 rear. So going a size wider would be like 265 front, 305 rear. If you are interested in doing that.. be sure to do some searches/inquiries on the forum first as I have no 1st hand knowledge of how good it looks or how well the car rides with the 265/305 setup.
To answer your other question. My car (bought used) came with 3 Michelin AS+ and 1 GY F1 rear. I'm guessing the previous owner replaced the factory tires with 4 brand new AS+ on the car.. and eventually had a flat. Rather than spend $350 to replace the flat AS+, they used one of the original GY F1's as a temp replacement.
My plan is to eventually replace that single GY F1 with a new (or preferably used) AS+. Since the other 3 AS+ tires on the car are already used.. there's no need spending alot of money for a single new tire to complete the set. I've also thought about getting a 2nd set of wheels & some "ultra high" performance track rubber. That way when I hit the track, I can use my maximum stick tires. But on the street I can continue to use the more refined, high mileage, all season grip of the AS+.
To answer your other question. My car (bought used) came with 3 Michelin AS+ and 1 GY F1 rear. I'm guessing the previous owner replaced the factory tires with 4 brand new AS+ on the car.. and eventually had a flat. Rather than spend $350 to replace the flat AS+, they used one of the original GY F1's as a temp replacement.
My plan is to eventually replace that single GY F1 with a new (or preferably used) AS+. Since the other 3 AS+ tires on the car are already used.. there's no need spending alot of money for a single new tire to complete the set. I've also thought about getting a 2nd set of wheels & some "ultra high" performance track rubber. That way when I hit the track, I can use my maximum stick tires. But on the street I can continue to use the more refined, high mileage, all season grip of the AS+.
09-05-2011, 09:32 PM
#33
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z51 switched to michelin ps2 zp.
imo good switch from goodyear. kept run flats because I had a blow out at 70mph on the freeway, and drove home with the old run flats.
imo good switch from goodyear. kept run flats because I had a blow out at 70mph on the freeway, and drove home with the old run flats.
Last edited by beachfrontvette; 09-05-2011 at 09:35 PM.
09-05-2011, 09:44 PM
#34
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I have been a lifetime Goodyear tire customer (40 years). But, when my factory-installed Goodyears on my 2010 GS were bald at 8k miles, I looked for another brand. I got four Michelin PS2 ZP for about $2,300 at Discount Tire. They are quieter on the highway, much less harsh over sharp bumps, and they stick better than the Goodyears. -Clark
09-05-2011, 10:04 PM
#35
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I have been a lifetime Goodyear tire customer (40 years). But, when my factory-installed Goodyears on my 2010 GS were bald at 8k miles, I looked for another brand. I got four Michelin PS2 ZP for about $2,300 at Discount Tire. They are quieter on the highway, much less harsh over sharp bumps, and they stick better than the Goodyears. -Clark
Now they have about 2500 miles on em. I notice that the rear is more prone to laying rubber than the old goodyears and break lose from the start easier. Handling seems better. Overall, good switch to michelin. As for wear, will get back after another 10k.
09-05-2011, 10:18 PM
#36
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St. Jude Donor '13
We have the Michelin A/S runflats on one set of wheels, and the PS2 runflats on another set of wheels.
The A/S are a great touring tire all year-round, and work well in cold and light snow. We use them to drive to Florida from Chicago in January, use the car as a DD for three months down there, and then come back north in April. Work great, quieter and smoother than either the Supercar or base tires we previously had on our Z51 coupe.
The PS runflats only make sense if you want absolute maximum summer grip and are willing to pay for it. Roughly 10 cents/mile compared to 5 cents/mile for the A/S.
The A/S are a great touring tire all year-round, and work well in cold and light snow. We use them to drive to Florida from Chicago in January, use the car as a DD for three months down there, and then come back north in April. Work great, quieter and smoother than either the Supercar or base tires we previously had on our Z51 coupe.
The PS runflats only make sense if you want absolute maximum summer grip and are willing to pay for it. Roughly 10 cents/mile compared to 5 cents/mile for the A/S.
09-05-2011, 10:29 PM
#37
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I put a set of the A/S Plus tires on my C6 in April. They are much quieter than the Goodyears and so far seem to be wearing nicely. I am very happy with them.
One thing I'll mention that I hadn't read previously, the Goodyears on my car had a tendency to grab onto and follow ruts in the road, I didn't think this was tire related, but this hasn't happened once since the tire swap.
One thing I'll mention that I hadn't read previously, the Goodyears on my car had a tendency to grab onto and follow ruts in the road, I didn't think this was tire related, but this hasn't happened once since the tire swap.
09-05-2011, 11:05 PM
#38
Race Director
On my 08 Coupe I had stock OEM Goodyears and the Mich A/S ZP. While I agree that the Mich A/S ZP is an excellent tire I noticed a big difference my first trip into the mountains. I also noticed about a 5-10% drop in gas mileage (pre ethanol mandatory crap). My C6 was constantly getting about 5-10% less mileage than my friend's C6s on a cruise.
A/S tires also give in hard cornering (around .80g). The tires feel like they are folding over. They do have better cold weather grip though.
A lot of people get the wear warranty wrong. It is 45k miles but only on cars with 4 tires that are the same size. Since the C6 has different size tires the rears warranty is reduced 50% or 22.5k miles.
I WOULD buy the A/S if your mostly cruise with your Vette including staying below about .85g in corners or if you drive a lot in wet weather including light snow. Remember wet weather traction has a lot to do with tread depth so A/S tires are not that great when they are around 4-5 32ds or less.
I would NOT buy the A/S if you like to push your Corvette or drive somewhat quick in the mountains or curvy roads. Don't even think pushing them on a track.
Also don't compare worn out crappy Goodyear tires to new any brand tires. New tires WILL be quieter. The question is how would you think about them later on when they are also worn. I put around 3k miles on my A/S ZPs. While they are extremely quiet (especially compared to the Goodyears), the noise level at 3k was more than brand new. You also tend to hear other noises more clear such as squeaks/rattles/etc.
I agree on the looks don't look quite right especially from the rear, not when compared to PS2 ZPs at least.
A/S tires also give in hard cornering (around .80g). The tires feel like they are folding over. They do have better cold weather grip though.
A lot of people get the wear warranty wrong. It is 45k miles but only on cars with 4 tires that are the same size. Since the C6 has different size tires the rears warranty is reduced 50% or 22.5k miles.
I WOULD buy the A/S if your mostly cruise with your Vette including staying below about .85g in corners or if you drive a lot in wet weather including light snow. Remember wet weather traction has a lot to do with tread depth so A/S tires are not that great when they are around 4-5 32ds or less.
I would NOT buy the A/S if you like to push your Corvette or drive somewhat quick in the mountains or curvy roads. Don't even think pushing them on a track.
Also don't compare worn out crappy Goodyear tires to new any brand tires. New tires WILL be quieter. The question is how would you think about them later on when they are also worn. I put around 3k miles on my A/S ZPs. While they are extremely quiet (especially compared to the Goodyears), the noise level at 3k was more than brand new. You also tend to hear other noises more clear such as squeaks/rattles/etc.
I agree on the looks don't look quite right especially from the rear, not when compared to PS2 ZPs at least.
09-05-2011, 11:58 PM
#39
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Lastly.. some people have also recommended going a size wider on the Michelin AS+ so that the shoulder of the tire has much less rounded profile.. and more of a square one. I believe factory sizes are 245 front, 285 rear. So going a size wider would be like 265 front, 305 rear. If you are interested in doing that.. be sure to do some searches/inquiries on the forum first as I have no 1st hand knowledge of how good it looks or how well the car rides with the 265/305 setup.
Unfortunately, the only make the tire in the exact replacement size. There is no 265 or 305 size tire in a run flat and no 305 size in a non run flat for the rear. And even if they did, the size difference would be miniscule.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....ling%20Package
Unfortunately, the only make the tire in the exact replacement size. There is no 265 or 305 size tire in a run flat and no 305 size in a non run flat for the rear. And even if they did, the size difference would be miniscule.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....ling%20Package
09-06-2011, 02:23 AM
#40
Burning Brakes
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We have the Michelin A/S runflats on one set of wheels, and the PS2 runflats on another set of wheels.
The A/S are a great touring tire all year-round, and work well in cold and light snow. We use them to drive to Florida from Chicago in January, use the car as a DD for three months down there, and then come back north in April. Work great, quieter and smoother than either the Supercar or base tires we previously had on our Z51 coupe.
The PS runflats only make sense if you want absolute maximum summer grip and are willing to pay for it. Roughly 10 cents/mile compared to 5 cents/mile for the A/S.
The A/S are a great touring tire all year-round, and work well in cold and light snow. We use them to drive to Florida from Chicago in January, use the car as a DD for three months down there, and then come back north in April. Work great, quieter and smoother than either the Supercar or base tires we previously had on our Z51 coupe.
The PS runflats only make sense if you want absolute maximum summer grip and are willing to pay for it. Roughly 10 cents/mile compared to 5 cents/mile for the A/S.
PS are about .20 per mile ($2200 for about 10K miles) on average.
AS are about .05 per mile ($1400 for about 25K miles) on average.
Ok, I know some of you will tell me you get more miles than I stated on super tires, but others are getting less. If the talked about expectation of the A/S turns out to be half as good. The pennies do add up.