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Yea OK I know... not another tire recommendation thread….
Have an 06 with manual trans running an E-Force S/C. Has a few other go fast parts and it puts out a decent amount of power. Currently running Nitto INVO’s but they are creeping up on 8 years old. Tire size’s are (front) 275/35/R18 and (rear) 325/30/325/R19.
They have been good tires but light up a little to easy when stomping the go pedal. I’m a little uneasy doing any high speed driving on 8 year old tires? Might be fine but sure wouldn’t want any sudden blowouts running at speed. Twice a football season I drive out to attend a Nebraska football game in Lincoln. Want to avoid a tire issue on my 3000 mile round trip drives. Nitto’s are pretty pricey (what isn’t) but especially for that rear size. I’m looking for recommendations on tires that others are running and like. Any help or suggestions will be most appreciated.
I have the Michelin All Season Zero Pressure (run flat) on my 2010 GS. Unless your going to track the car, these are all you need IMO. They grip better on wet roads which is great and they ride softer. They also last a lot longer than Summer Sport compounds. I love these tires!
I've run the hankook v12s on my C6 GS. No issues. Yeah they age out, but all tires do. They just get a little harder with a little less grip, they're not grenades, ya know?
Next time around, I'll probably go with the Firestone Indy 500s.
I have the Michelin All Season Zero Pressure (run flat) on my 2010 GS. Unless your going to track the car, these are all you need IMO. They grip better on wet roads which is great and they ride softer. They also last a lot longer than Summer Sport compounds. I love these tires!
Mike F.
I’ve also got those on my 2011 GS, and for the reasons you mention. They were great when new. Now that they are 6 years old, they’re starting to lose their grip a bit. Still plenty of tread, but I’m getting a bit of wheel spin when I’m on the throttle especially when the pavement is hot, that I wasn’t getting a few years ago. They might be noisier too, but it’s hard to tell with my hearing. This might be their last season.
OEM Goodyears believe it or not. When they were new, they stuck pretty well. Later on, not so much. RF tech is much improved today vs 16 yrs ago.
Nitto NT 05: Great in the dry, not recommended in the wet. Lots of grip, a different level than street tires.
Michelin Super Sport: (now replaced by Pilot Sport 4s) Excellent all puropose street tire wet or dry. Almost as grippy as more single purpose tires, Good tread life too.
Toyo R888R: Great tire, what I'm using currently. LOTS of grip. Not recommended in rain, tread ware not so good, but that's no surprise.
It really depends what you do with your car ( vs what you think you might do ) If you want to drive anywhere, anytime, road trips etc., get an all weather street tire, If you do canyon carving and HPDEs, get a racy tire with a little tread on it. And if you want the best straight line performance, get a drag radial.
Good luck, let us know what you end up with and how you like them.
OEM Goodyears believe it or not. When they were new, they stuck pretty well. Later on, not so much. RF tech is much improved today vs 16 yrs ago.
Nitto NT 05: Great in the dry, not recommended in the wet. Lots of grip, a different level than street tires.
Michelin Super Sport: (now replaced by Pilot Sport 4s) Excellent all puropose street tire wet or dry. Almost as grippy as more single purpose tires, Good tread life too.
Toyo R888R: Great tire, what I'm using currently. LOTS of grip. Not recommended in rain, tread ware not so good, but that's no surprise.
It really depends what you do with your car ( vs what you think you might do ) If you want to drive anywhere, anytime, road trips etc., get an all weather street tire, If you do canyon carving and HPDEs, get a racy tire with a little tread on it. And if you want the best straight line performance, get a drag radial.
Good luck, let us know what you end up with and how you like them.
Thanks for the excellent input and something for me to really consider before buying new tires. I’m only running about 580 hp dyno measured which is nothing compared to the1000 hp monster vettes out there now. I honestly wouldn't want anymore power than I have right now. I’m sure tire technology has greatly improved over the past 8 years. My car is garaged all winter and has never seen snow and ice so an all weather tire probably isn’t for me. I do not want run-flats either! However I would however like more grip because it's way too easy to light them up. I’ll make sure I do enough DUE DILIGENCE before buying new ones..... Thanks again for your input....
I got tired of spinning and added a set of NT555R2's to the rear of my narrow body Vette with 500 hp at the wheels. The Michelin PS4's had no chance anywhere in 1st gear or even the top of 2nd. Those Nitto's are a drag radial, but they do have stiff side walls so you can actually go around a curve without thinking you're about to die. If you want the best of both worlds, get you a set of run flats on all four corners for trips and a set DR's on the rear for everything else. The tire that does everything perfectly hasn't been invented yet.
I'm very partial to Continentals. I have them on all my cars including my Vette. I know a lot of people love Michelins, I'm not one of them. They ride hard. They came on my Lincoln new and I couldn't get rid of them fast enough. Switched to Continentals and the car rides like a dream. The Vette handles great and rides nice.
My pickup came with Continental. tires and I left them at the dealership. Wouldn't use those on a golf cart, much less a Corvette or any performance car for that matter. But of course, opinions are like...well, you know. And internet tire discussions can be worse than wax or oil discussions. Tale it all with a big grain of salt.
Pick your poison,since R888R's would be a good summer street tire to get more grip, but a nightmare in the wet (same as super cups), and tend to make more noise on track like your over driving the car into ever corner.
The second is take a good look at the amount of miles your driving the car in 5 years (and how/what conditions), so no reason to buy a tire that is going to have high tread life/less traction, only to have them age out as well, and still have plenty of tread left on them in the end. Hence super sports are descent dry (nothing to write home about), decent in the wet that you don't have to pull over and wait for the tarmac to dry back out, and have a 10K wear warrenty on them (Half of normal, since fronts can not be rotated to back), so you get about 9K out of the rears, have them swapped under tread life warrenty, front get about 20K, and so about 20K out of a set for the initial price you have to pay up front every 6 years before they age out. .
My 2012 Grand Sport 6 speed manual came with brand new Michelin PS4S AS ZPs (Treadwear=540) and was completely stock. It now has a mild cam and a few other performance mods and the AS ZPs had no chance in 1st, 2nd and sometimes would kick out on a redline 3rd upshift. I have replaced the rear tires (325/30ZR19, tread width 12.2") with the Max Performance Summer Michelin PS 4S (Treadwear=300) and grip has greatly improved. I had considered trying a Treadwear=200 DR, but i wanted to try the PS4S first, so far very satisfied.
My 2012 Grand Sport 6 speed manual came with brand new Michelin PS4S AS ZPs (Treadwear=540) and was completely stock. It now has a mild cam and a few other performance mods and the AS ZPs had no chance in 1st, 2nd and sometimes would kick out on a redline 3rd upshift. I have replaced the rear tires (325/30ZR19, tread width 12.2") with the Max Performance Summer Michelin PS 4S (Treadwear=300) and grip has greatly improved. I had considered trying a Treadwear=200 DR, but i wanted to try the PS4S first, so far very satisfied.
Thanks... very helpful comments. I’ve actually been looking, pricing and considering the same tire. Sounds like a tire I could live with and also not sweat bullets getting caught in the rain? My Nitto’s aren’t getting it done anymore because they are almost 8 years old and the compound is harder now. I have the same issue as yours in 1st, 2nd and 3rd which rather defeats the fun of having about 600 hp. Also you DO NOT want to be driving in any rain with my current tires! Thanks for the input....
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