Am I being silly expecting a new car to come equipped with tires that don't crack at 40 degrees and can be driven on rainy days?
I understand the Corvette can be a race car but my guess is 90% are driven street only.

Maybe I should just cancel my order, rather than by replacement tires that probably SHOULD have come on the car to begin with.

I was not aware of the issue until after I ordered and started reading the forum. Shouldn't GM have had some disclaimer about the tires?

Am I the only person that thinks this is a problem. Or like my wife suggests, just drive whats on the car.

What am I missing?

 

There are Corvettes available with more forgiving tires. Chevy assumed Z06 buyers would want dry grip above things like durability and wet handling. Just order some tires from Tire Rack and sell your OEM tires, or if cracked, get GM to buy you some new ones and then sell them for more forgiving tires.

The new Z06 is monster, not a cruiser, at least that is my take....

 

Not to be rude, but it's a street legal racecar not a grocery getter. To cancel your order just because you are weary of cracking tires is a little ridiculous. Regardless, if your tires are cracked upon delivery, they will be replaced.

 

Grocery's no. Big difference between groceries and the track. If I stay with OEM tires they WILL crack and become unsafe to drive. And again, cant drive in the rain. Can I afford to make the switch, sure, that's not the issue. Why build a car with OEM tires for 10% of the owners. Put it on a trailer and take it to the track to drive it. Not what I had in mind.

 

I think its retarded that they don't tell people up front.
Of course I also think its stupid to buy a car and only drive it on perfect days with 0% chance of rain or high humidity but lots of folks here think that's the ideal situation If you can't drive your car when you want then whats the point of having it??????

 

I'm not sure what your issues are. Unless you are buying a Z06 with the Z07 "Track package", the treaded Cups that come on the stage 1 and stage 2 Z's are perfectly fine in the rain. No one has said that the tires crack below 40 degrees only that you shouldn't drive or move the car in 20 degree or less temps. If you want to drive in snow and in freezing temps (remember even winter tires slide on black ice) then yes, you should either opt to have all weather tires mounted or drive another vehicle with the proper tires. I drove my Z home from Bowling Green to California with tires that would equal the stage 1&2 Michelins, through torrential down pours, snow/slush, and even on that black ice. The black ice did get a little loose. Dozens of vehicles including Police cars were on the side of the roads having spun out and lost control in those elements. We made it through just fine. Would I recommend a Z06 as a all weather car? Hell no. But I wouldn't be afraid to drive one if the skys opened up on me while I was out and about. The only really wet tire issue is with the Z07's Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2's. They are basicly a racing slick tire, designed to do just that, race. If you really are still nervous about the Z, buy a Z51 Stingray to use in the adverse conditions you expect to drive. Or, and this is the big one, maybe a Corvette is not the right car for you. Just sayin'.

 

I am not too sure why you cant drive in the rain. I just drove my Z07 on Cup 2's from Dallas to Houston this past weekend, in the rain... The car does have a "Weather" mode for instances like that. The car handles just fine, even in the torrential down pour that hit me hard a few times.

 

Thats Right a ZO6 is not for everyone.buy something else!

 

I think the fact that they crack in my garage if it gets below 20 in there (we had some -10 degree days up here in MA) so that I have to put the car on blocks and save the tires somewhere warm is pretty annoying.

This bothers me much more than any overheating because I immediately have to buy a set of all seasons and find somewhere warm to store 4 tires for 2 months of the year. Would have been nice for them to give me an option that doesn't necessitate a second set of tires from the factory.

 

I'm with you. I thinks it's absurd that Michelin put a tire into production that cracks when it's cold. It's even more absurd that GM bought it. I bet even GM is a little disappointed with Michelin right now. I'm sure there will be a tire coming out soon that will be little more forgiving.

I'm going to wait until they crack, then see if I can get warranty. If they won't warranty them next year, or the year after that, then I'll just buy a replacement non-Michelin tires and move on. It sucks, but I wouldn't cancel your order because of the crap tires.

 

Glad to hear I'm not alone. Yes it would have been nice to be able to select other tires. But now its too late. If I had known, I would not have ordered the car. And I am upset with myself that I didn't do a better job of due diligence.
If you read the disclaimer on the tire rack site. about the cup tires, which I understand come on all Z06's (not just the Z07 option), the tire has very limited use for those that live in cold and wet conditions.
No I don't drive it in the winter (not intended for my DD).

 

If you can't afford to change the tires, the car is too expensive for you.

I have the Z07 package and I am changing the tires to the regular Z06 tire, not the track tire as I would prefer to not be caught in a thunderstorm with the track tires. That is just me....I know my limitations and that is one of them.

I plan on selling the track tires since they are essentially new with only 7 miles on them and they do not look scuffed up. If you came to this forum to seek pity you won't find any. Just watch Lawdoggs videos with the PDR or watch Carlos Largo video from Motor Trend as he takes the car through the figure 8.

Those videos are why I bought this car with the Z07 package.....I am 59 and just retired and this was my retirement gift to myself. I want to take this beauty to the track and strip, why? Because I can! I don't want to look back a short 11 years from now when I am 70 and say " if only I had bought that Z06/Z07".......

 

Cup tires do not come on the base Z06. I drove mine home day one in a Fl. Monsoon with not one bit of an issue. Actually you would probably be better off with another vehicle as not knowing what comes on the car Stage 1,2, or three makes me think this late in the game you have not ordered anything other than the desire to attract attention!

 

I have the non Z07 sport cups on my Z06. There have been many nights this winter between 15 and 20 below zero, the coldest night being 26 below and I have no cracks in my tires. It sits in a non heated or insulated garage, so yes maybe it is 5 degrees warmer than outside but it is still very cold. The car has not been moved since the 7th of January when I brought it home. Now maybe the tires will crack when I start moving it after it warms up, I don't know. But I don't think they will. What I take from the service bulletin is don't move them below 20 degrees and warm them slowly if exposed to very cold temperatures. Just my 2 cents.

 

I think the z06-07 is for people that understand what they're buying. It's an ultra high performance vehicle with tires to match. The standard stingray has tires suitable for every day driving in all weather. That's not what this car is about. If you're not going to need the high performance tires you'd probably be better off with the base stingray and not the race prepared version. All tires make compromises, get a vehicle that matches your driving style. There is a price to be paid for pushing the performance envelope and these tires are part of that price. You can always buy different tires if you're just buying the car so you can say you have a z06.

 

hey, take it easy on us 70+ years guys. i have my 2010 zr1 and new z06 on order, and drive the hell out of them....i have a harley soft-tail that i regularly drive flat out 100+. so go for it now at 60 and then when you turn 70. i hope to still be going like hell at 80. better to burn out rather than rust out.....have fun.

 

If that was the case then they should just skip making it street legal and let it be a dedicated track car. Why have air conditioning or an available navigation at all if it's an "ultra high performance vehicle"?

You too want it to be usable off of the track as well as on the track and people in climates where it can hit 10 degrees in October through April would want a tire option that allows them to use the car off of the track too.

Aside from that, even if I ONLY use it at the track, my garage get's down to 0 degrees. Why should I have to buy a second set of tires or put it on blocks just so that the tires don't break?

 

These are all compromises that everyone that buys this vehicle will have to make. The tires are an easy fix, just replace them if they're not what you want. I'm sure GM would catch a lot more grief by putting tires on this car that wouldn't match the performance of the rest of the vehicle. Tires are a consumable, they wear out. If you push the car they wear out fast. If you buy this car that's a fact of life. If the only thing you don't like about it is the tires then buy a new set it's a small percentage of the total cost of ownership.

 

I don't think Chevrolet counted on these tires necessitating that they always be kept over 20 degrees. Even in TX it get's down to 5 to 10 degrees during the winter sometimes so the majority of people in who buy these in the US will require a second set of tires.

They make compromises on performance to give you power seats, air conditioning, etc, if they want a no compromises race car, go all out, skip those, and skip letting it be street legal but don't make a street car that can't be driven on the streets or stored in your garage. Make a summer tire OPTION that can withstand normal winter garage temps so that people don't have to find a cozy warm location for their tires during the winter.

I'll have to buy a second set of tires for 2 grand and try and find somewhere to store 4 tires all winter and I'll do it but I shouldn't have to. I should have been able to check a box and get a set of tires that don't necessitate that I buy a second pair and store the stock ones somewhere. They offer creature comfort options like power seats and I think usable tires is a fair ask for an option.

My guess is that Chevy isn't happy with this and that they either drop these tires next year or have an option. If they can't even ship them to you without cracks they are losing a ton of money and are probably more frustrated about it than any of us are.

 

Good to hear!