Hello,
This is my first post. I have a 2005 Z51 which came with the goodyear supercar run flats. I now have 22000 miles and need new tires. The 2 that I am going in between are the goodyear non-supercar runflats and the Firestone runflats. The firestone tires are much cheaper. Does anyone know if there is a big difference between the two?
Thanks
Steve

 

You will be giving up dry, warm weather performance. I would stay with the GY Supercar tire.

 

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...post1563488558

Hope that helps

 

I would also recommend that you stick with the Supercar tires if you can swing it. I went with the standard C6 tires on my second set of wheels, and I regret it. The car handles better with the Supercars, it holds tighter in the corners and tire slip at the edge is much more controllable.

The other tires are a good option if you're using the car as a daily driver that racks up lots of miles, but not if the car is a performance toy. It just depends on what you're looking for.

 

with everbody else the supercars are great

 

I shopped all options for my '06 vert w/ z51 suspension and ended up at Tire Rack, in late Nov I got the f1 gs2's - rear for $240 each, fronts were $350 each ( I bought 4 rears at that price).

I drive aggresively here around Lake Tahoe and northern NV with lots of mountain curves so with almost 14K miles, I am about ready for the new ones.

Tire Rack has a referral program with shops in your area.

good luck!

 

I've noticed that with the GY supercar RF's the fronts are considerably more expensive than the rears!!! I don't get it

 

I just replaced my 2005 F1 Supercar tires with 13,000 miles with the Firestone Wide Oval Runflats. They are significantly cheaper. I only have about 20 miles on them as of today, so I really can't comment. The rear Super Car tires were completely worn out and would spin very easy.

The reasons I chose the Firestones was:

1. Performance. I don't race may car, so probably never feel the difference anyway.
2. Life. The Goodyear Super car tread life was horrible. Worn out 13,000 miles is ridiculous.
3. Cost. The Firestone's are about $1100 including road hazard warranty from the Tire Rack. This is almost half the cost of the Supercar tires.
4. Run flat. I did consider the Michelin PS but cost and non-run flat was a no-go for me.
5. Past experience. I have always had good luck with Firestone tires. I had a set of SZ50 on a Thunderbird SC and the grip wet/dry was fabulous. I had a 1998 Ford Explorer that had Firestone from the factory that Ford replaced with Goodyear's due to the recall. The GY were horrible wet or dry so I replaced them very quickly with Michelin Cross Terrain and the difference in performance was night and day.
6. Look. The Firestone tread pattern looks good. This is a personal thing.
7. Tire Rack Reviews. The reviews and ratings posted by the Tire Rack show the Firestone's were liked by more people than the OEM Goodyear. However, in defense of the Goodyear tires, most of the people that bought the Firestone's were replacing worn out Goodyear's which grip goes away when they reach end of life like most tires. So in my opinion, the negative ratings on the Goodyear's are probably not totally fair.

A couple additional thoughts:

I have a theory why Corvettes continue to have Goodyear tires from the Factory.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

First, Goodyear works very closely with the Corvette engineers to develop a tire specifically for the Corvette. They always seem to create a new tire every time a new Corvette is released.

Second, Goodyear probably sells these tires to GM at below cost just to make sure they are on "America's Sports Car". Can you imagine if Michelin or Firestone got selected over Goodyear? Goodyear would never let that happen.

Third, Goodyear makes up for no margin sale by selling replacement tires at a very high margin so on average, they are OK. Firestone probably makes little or no margin on the Wide Oval Run-Flat model just to take the Corvette replacement business away from Goodyear. They want to show they have a high performance tire, too. And Goodyear can't or won't cut the Super Car price for replacement tires because they are not making any margin on the sale to GM.

This is just a theory on my part.....

 

My GYSCs are holding up pretty good with only 11k on them. After doing a lot of reading, when it's time I will most likely stick with the GYSC or look into the new Michelin Pilot runflats coming out. Most with the Z51 say to stick with the SCs.