This is similar to another thread asking about what tires to buy for a GS and I asked this question on that thread but I want to take it a bit further.

I have the OEM GY RF (about 12,000 miles) and I absolutely hate the jerky, chatter when making a slow speed tight turn. Please don't tell me not to make tight turns or that it's the nature of the beast because I am so sick of this I'm thinking of selling my '12 GS. It really, really annoys me. Is there any tire out there that doesn't do this or are these tires particularly susceptible to this? I realize these tires are done and maybe that's part of the problem but they've done it as long as I've owned this car (two years). I don't race on a track and for the most part sure don't race on the road so high performing tires are not a high priority for me. In the past I've been told that wide tires do this on the Vette but I can't believe that most drivers simply accept this. I am not an aggressive driver, so I was wondering if I could put narrower tires on this car or would that affect the performance too much. OEM tire size is 275/35-18 on the front and 325/30-19 on the rear.

Thanks for you help guys, I love my Vette but I hate that chatter and if I can't get rid of that I'm getting rid of the car!!

PS: I'm leaning towarsd non RF's.

 

Mine's a base so the tires are not as wide, but I only get the chatter when the weather is cold (I have Michelin Pilot Super Sport). Summer tires and cold temps don't mix. Maybe you could go down to the base size ... I have no idea. I don't necessarily think it's so much the width of the tire as it is the rubber compound. Perhaps some all season tires in the stock size would solve the problem.

 

Tire scrubbing is normal for these wide tires on slow tight turns. Guess you'll be selling your car then.

 

Guess so.

 

I have to agree, mine scrub on my base C6 245's..... Think you should get a prius I hear they don't scrub,,,, LOL JK,,,,

When your ready to sell let me know .. im in the market for a GS

 

OK, make me an offer. It's a 2012 GS, 12,000 miles, all black, 4LT, manual transmission, mild to wild exhaust, convertible with Wind Restrictor, Chevrolet 100th anniversary edition. Make it quick, the Prius I want won't be there forever. The local Chev dealer also has a Spark in a pretty colour that I'm interested in.

 

Not my color combo or I might....but you won't solve the problem with other tires.

It's a matter of front suspension geometry, size of tires, tire condition, alignment, etc. Changing tires and having everything right up to spec still won't eliminate it imo.

Depending how severe it is, however, since GS's don't have great success with long tire life esp. with GY's, I might consider changing the tires to another brand such as Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s, or Super Sports. It depends on your own financial situation, and truly, the condition or tread life remaining on your tires. It's up to you.

If it were me, I'd do everything I could to "save" the car, including the above and not cranking lock-to-lock so much, or at all.

 

WOW..... id be more worried about ruining the front of that beauty with that license plate, then the tire chatter in the front....

 

As previously stated, all tires will have scrubbing on tight turns. The Good Year RF tires are the worse for doing it.
Probably Michelins RF's will be less noticeable, and Non RF's will be way less again.
My GY RF tires scrubbed on tight turns when cold, but on the Firestone Non Run Flats, in the cold on tight turns, I don't notice it.
My car is a base coupe, so the tires are not as wide as a GS so that would make a difference in turning radius.

 

Switching to a different tire than the GY's generally will improve the ride quality, but won't stop the wheel hopping and scrubbing. It's called the Ackermann effect (google it) and to engineer it out, the turning radius would be increased. So if you like how easy the Vette is to manoeuver when parking, the trade off is the hopping/scrubbing tire. To most, its a minor annoyance.

 

Really? My front license plate? In the Province of Ontario we are required to have a front plate, what would you suggest I do with it?

 

That is a beautiful black car. We don't care for the chatter either. For us, however, the car has other virtues that atone.

We trudge on.

 

First of all, thanks to all you guys that have given me some helpful advice. If I can minimize the 'scrubbing' with different tires ie: the Michelin SS, I could live with that and give up my life long dream of owning a Prius Unfortunately, there is a shortage of those tires for the rear. At the risk of sounding stupid, would it be a problem if I replaced just the front tires for now and leave the OEM tires on the rear?

You've probably gathered that I am not a car guy, motorcycles have always been my passion but driving this Vette is almost as enjoyable as riding.

 

I would not personally mix tire brands, but I doubt if it would hurt anything for a short time. All I know is that GY tires suck a big one as far as rough ride, noisy, and gets dangerous (lose traction) at about 4/32" thread depth on wet roads.
Worse case is I would replace the front tires this year, and for sure change out the rear OEM's next year.
BTW, nice looking ride.

 

Thanks LV2TOUR, I appreciate your input. I've taken the plunge and ordered all four Michelin SS tires but the rear won't be in for another two weeks. I'll report back when I have them installed.

 

The "problem" is not really a problem, it is a characteristic. In very tight parking lot turns, the two front tires are not pointing in the same direction. The design of the suspension causes this and it is purposeful. If two tires are firmly connected to the car and yet are not pointed in the same direction...well, something has to give. The part that gives is doing the scrubbing on the pavement. In addition to this, wider tires display this characteristic even more. Picture a wide tire and its' path on the ground as it does a tight turn. The path that the inside edge of the tire takes is considerably shorter than the path that the outside edge of the tire takes. As before, those two edges are connected together because they are both part of the same tire...so something has to give. This "give" is exhibited as scrubbing of the tire on the pavement. A good tire that has lots of grip will make the scrubbing more apparent because it will try to hold on to its' grip longer and then release it in one larger and more noticeable movement. The Prius, with its' narrower and less grippy tires will allow the scrubbing to be done in a more continuous and smooth manner, so that the driver will not feel it as much. But understand that the geometry of a tire making a turn on pavement mean that this effect will be there to some extent, no matter how wide or narrow the tire is.
To me, it is not very important what the car feels like when turning sharply in a parking lot because it is such a small and unimportant part of the total time that I am driving the car. I'm much more interested in the way the car feels at 80 mph, and this is where the car shines. If we define "better" tires as tires that are more grippy, then "better" tires should exhibit more of this scrubbing behavior than tires with less grip. New tires always have less grip until they are broken in, so the new tires may scrub less at first, but they will exhibit more of this behavior once they are broken in...assuming that they have more grip than the tires that they are replacing.

 

Others have posted the whys so I'll just say; I have nearly new (700 miles) Michelin Pilot Sport ZPs on my GS and they do the exact same thing that the GY's did. Usually only when cold and only on full lock turns (leaving my driveway). If it really is making you that upset there are other high performance vehicles you could consider. Trust me, life is too short to let something like this ruin your driving experience. Test drive some other cars and find what pleases you most then buy it. I remember the first time it happened to me. I thought the front end was falling off and I had spent a fortune on a lemon. Your issue has merit but I doubt that tire changes are going to make you happy. Good luck with what ever you decide to do.

Scott

 

I have a base model with Michelin PS A/S 3's and they scrub on the tightest turn. I back off slightly and the scrubbing will go away. I have learned to turn the wheel and if I hit the lock I back off a little. If I absolutely have to turn that tight I just let it go, one time.

Few places I need to turn the wheel that tight so it's rare that I get that far. Sometimes I think to myself, to let it chatter or to just turn off traction control and spin it around

 

As cclive eluded....what percentage of your drive time is representative of the characteristic that you so abhor? To base your desire of ownership on such a beautiful car on a minor deficit is silly. There's millions of people driving pickup trucks that have horrendous rides due to harsh suspensions, but all realize that there's a trade off because of the nature of the vehicle. The same applies to the Vette. There are endless examples in the auto industry, but I'll spare the bandwidth.

 

Yeah here in the great state of California as in many other states we are required to have them as well.....But most don't run them and ruin the front bumper.....there are other ways to attach the front plate with out having to ruin the front bumper....



Glad your not selling the car and you picked up some good shoes for it..I would also get a new alignment as the factory alignment is crap.....