Before my car arrived at the dealership, I placed an order for Continental ExtremeContactDWS (dry, wet, snow) tires based on the warnings about not driving the stock Z51 tires in temperatures below 40 degrees. While my drive home from the dealership proved that the PSS tires do in fact function in cold temps and even snow, I think it's still prudent to run with some tires actually rated for all-season driving.

I've only driven about 50 good-weather miles on them, but they seem quite up to the task of spirited driving about town and on the local back roads. I took some right-angle corners at a good clip, and made some decent accelerations, and they stick pretty good. They are quieter than the PSS, but are not as responsive. But I can now drive when it's quite cold, which is important because there are quite a few very cold winter days here that are otherwise good for driving.

They are not run flats, so I bought an emergency compressor and repair kit that sits in the back, velcroed quite well to the carpet. I hope I never have to use it.

 

Wise move. Enjoy it even more!!! Then when the weather gets nice again, BRAND NEW summer performance tires ready to go

 

I have a set of those on my S2000 as my daily tires and they really are fantastic all around tires. They are especially good in the rain

 

I put these tires on my wife's car, and am very happy with them. If you don't mind me asking, what do they cost for the C7? And, did you get them through a place like Tire Rack and have them installed locally or get them from a local dealer?

 

I don't know if you have actually ever tried to repair a flat tire when the car is sitting on the shoulder of the highway with only 3-4 inches of clearance to get your hands where they can actually push a plug into the tire, but it's not for the faint at heart, especially if the shoulder is mud(snow or sleet, etc in the winter) and only two feet wide(like on a back road).

if you have on nice clothes, having a plastic tarp on the round can save you some cleaning bills including not getting back into the car with mud covered pants after wallowing around on the ground.

Much easier to remove the tire from the car and then do the repair and reinstall. Because of this, I carry a 6"x8"x18" $10 duffel bag in my C6 that has an aluminum jack that weighs 3 pounds, collapses to under 3"(especially important since a non run flat tire will complete fold the side wall severely reducing the amount of room under the rocker to slide a jack under), an extendable lug wrench, a torque wrench a 19mm socket with short extension, a 4'X6' plastic tarp, jacking pucks, old towel and a can of hand cleaner).

The duffel bag is secured in the rear compartment by two elastic straps connected to the attachment points on the rear bulkhead that GM supplied for the mesh cargo net. The whole mess weighs about 20 pounds and be removed from the car and placed next to where you are working.

 

Very good idea.

I'm thinking of getting some of those too. Did you have the stock tires removed and mount them on the stock wheels or get a second set of wheels to mount them?

 

I tried to get them from the local tire shop, but they couldn't get the rear tires at all for some reason, and their cost was higher than Discount Tire's retail price. So I ordered them from DT, and had them installed at the local shop. The tires were just over $1000 plus tax, and installation was $120.

Not bad for high performance all-season tires, but I would have rather avoided the expense by ordering them on the car to begin with. I think GM should offer an A/S option.

They are on the stock wheels.

 

Had them on my C6... the best tire for DD use!

 

But on the positive side, come springtime you will be able to give us an excellent all season versus summer performance tire review

 

Nice set of all weather tires

 

Probably a good move if you're going to drive it all year around or at least when temps drop down below 40*.

 

I finally got around to switching back to the stock Z51 tires. Part of the delay was that I decided to get another set of wheels so that I wouldn't have to deal with having the tires swapped. Now I'm able to just switch easily when the seasons change.

Good news is that after about 5500 miles, the Continentals show very little wear, and there are no abnormal wear patterns. These are going to last a good while, I think.

The Michelins are definitely more performance oriented than they are comfort oriented. The ride is harsher, and quite jarring on sharp bumps. Unfortunately, the streets around here get thrashed in the winter, and there are a lot of bad stretches all over. Ride comfort definitely goes to the Continentals. And the Continentals are quieter.

The Michelins are much stickier, though. Mine have about 600 miles on them, so are still like new. They grip like crazy. It's fairly easy to break the Continentals loose, and I have to be careful to not get on the gas too much. The Michelins are much better in this respect. But the Michelins also pick up all the little bits of sand and gravel and fling it into the wheel wells. I never realized just how much stuff is on the road. It often sounds like it's hailing. I'm hoping this diminishes as the tires wear a bit.

The Michelins track the road much more than the Continentals. It's a bit annoying. My car is perfectly aligned, but with these tires, it sometimes pulls to the left or right, depending on the road.

I have a lot invested in these, so I will use them, but if I had to do it over again, I would have simply sold the Michelins and stayed with the Continentals full time, even though they are non-runflats. They provide a good balance between performance and comfort. The Michelins are heavy on the performance side at the cost of comfort.

 

Are you selling your Michelins?

I would buy them.

 

I should have a set of brand new Michelins for sale later this year, hopefully by May.

 

The Michelins have a tread life warranty. I've had no trouble getting the tire dealer to adjust them per the warranty. 11,000 miles on the fronts and two new tires cost $230 total. They cost more up front, but grip great and the warranty is a big gift.