cvp33

I believe I've posted in this thread before but I'll chime in with what I have experience with:

1) Michelin Pilot ZP's are junk. They're not particularly sticky, the ride like crap and I suspect they have more to do with rims bending than GM would admit to. I got 6K miles out of the rears, 8K miles out of the fronts. Unacceptable IMHO.

2) Michelin Pilot SS's, non-run-flats. Simply an awesome tire. They're not bricks with no traction like the SC2's in cold weather and actually help the Z06 ride better with no "give up" in handling. What I didn't expect. 325.25.20's are actually wider than the stock ZP's. I ran 21K miles on the rears and 19K on the fronts. Judging from the treadwear, the SS's will easily exceed their 30K mile warranty. $1,100 price tag versus the runflats at over $2,200 doesn't hurt either.

3) TOYO R888R's great when you absolutely want/need maximum grip. I know some run these tires on the street. I don't know that I could put up with the "THRUM" at highway speeds that these tires throw off, but they are incredibly sticky when warm and nothing short of a slick can keep up with them on a track. Also no temperature penalty as these tires can get good and sticky in 35* weather. ZP and SC2's not so much. Great tire to drive to and from the track though and again, would you rather chew up $2,000 sets of tires or $1,000 sets of tires?

Toddiesel

@cvp33 you're right about the road noise on the R888Rs. They're pretty noisy, but the car is already noisy. They don't overwhelm with sound, but you can hear them. I don't think they add to the overall road noise volume, just add another note, like a 2nd guitar in a song (not that road noise is music to my ears or anything). Basically you just have to turn the volume up on your bluetooth call a couple more notches.

cvp33

@Toddiesel I'd agree with that versus SC2's and ZP's. Once I switched to MPSS non-run-flats I realized how quiet the Z06 could be. I had no idea why people were buying those noise-blockers for behind their seats. Again, once you notice how quiet the car can be with MPSS's the Toyo's will seem way louder. But you're right, they are just a a dB's louder than the run-flats. I have no problem driving on them to/from VIR which is a little over an hour from my house in NC. Don't want them as a daily driver though. Plus they pick up too much road debris when warm. Kinda like a weed-wacker hitting your car. Not good.

Toddiesel

That's for sure! Getting a clear bra put on next week for that exact reason!

pkincy

Thanks for the reminder. I ran the SS non ZPs on my C6Z06. They have softer sidewalls, ride better as a result, handle better, are cheaper and also come with quite a bit more tread than the ZPs. Some month or year soon I will need to replace the oem ZPs and need to remember the non ZPs as a good choice.

cvp33

Not sure, but I believe Michelin is phasing the "old school" MPSS non-runflats out in favor of the new 4S . I found some good date codes on ebay and paid less than $1,000 per set. 295/30/19 front, 325/25/20 rear. I bought 2 extra sets thinking that they might wear out faster than the 30K miles. They didn't. I still have a set left so I'm good for at least another year. You can score a set from Simple Tire using a Befrugal link through and 5% coupon code (pops up when you visit the site) to net down to $1,085 for me. Not bad, but I'd bet you could do better on ebay. Just remember to ask for the date code.

RegnaR

what size tire did you run with the R888Rs? I didn't think that they came in stock sizes either.

cvp33

Sorry, that's my road racing setup. 315/30/18F and 335/30/18R on Deity Signature wheels. That's what I hit 2:07 with at VIR.

centennialGS

Those look nice and meaty on your car. For mostly street driving in chicago, they might be overkill for me though.

centennialGS

I almost bought the non-runflat PSS's from Discount Tire but Im afraid of the cracking some people say that happens on cold weather. I will sometimes take it out of the garage in winter, and dont want my $1000+ tires to get destroyed. I hear the PS4s wont crack because its a better compound.

Im glad to know the non-runflats in 325/25 are wider then the ZP 335's. They will look much better then my Continentals which look wayyyy too stretched.

cvp33

You're thinking of the Michelin SC2's. Those are the tires that crack in the winter. There is no issue with the Michelin Pilot SuperSport non-runflats. They have no issue with the cold, have plenty of grip, actually ride nice because the don't have brick sidewalls and you'll get 30K miles easy out of them. Last time we had this conversation people talked about the "dangers" of using non-runflats and getting stranded with a flat. I've been driving for 40 years and I've never been stranded with a flat. In fact, it's never happened to my wife in 40 years, my sons, not in my company cars, nothing ever.

Toddiesel

Man you're SUPER lucky! I've been driving half that time and I've gotten more flats than I can count! Hell not even that long ago I got a flat on my stingray on some pirellis and had to ride like 5 miles home on a flat and it destroyed a brand new tire so I was out $500. There's definitely value in the runflat concept. Hell in my 2013 Mustang where I had the spare pulled out to equip some stereo equipment, I put in a can of fix-a-flat and THAT saved me from being stranded cuz I picked up a nail on a brand new PSS and put the fix a flat in it to get me to the tire shop to get a patch. I don't know where you're driving, but if you've never gotten a flat in 40 years, I STRONGLY suggest you play the power ball. You may never have to worry about a flat again because you'll be able to just buy a teleporter with the money you'll win

cvp33

Yeah, I've picked up nails and screws over the years but nothing that left me stranded with a flat. Lucky I guess.

Toddiesel

OK, how have you gotten a flat, but it didn't leave you stranded if you didn't have a spare? If you had a spare and changed it, you MUST realize that counts as "being stranded" in a corvette since they don't have spare tires.

cvp33

Never had a flat in the Corvette. I've picked up nails in screws in some of our vehicles. These cause slow leaks that are easy to repair when you get home. Here's a kit from Amazon that's very similar to the one I have.

Toddiesel

Ok, well for us normal people, flats happen. Often. Run flats are quite helpful. Granted I obviously don't think it's important enough to run them in exchange for the performance of the R888Rs, but you can bet your sweet *** that if the R888R came in a run flat, or ZP or whatever you want to call it, I'd buy it in a skinny minute.

The T-man

got a pic of these installed?

cvp33

cvp33

Like I said, guess I'm lucky. That must suck getting a flat tire and getting stranded. Honestly never happened to me or any of my family members. Pretty expensive as well for a Vette owner. Can you repair a run flat. I honestly don't even know.

Bill Dearborn

I just don't find any issues with the tires that come on the cars stock. I had Cup2s on mine and even used them for several track days but when they wore down close to 2/32 I knew they wouldn't be as good in the rain as they were when brand new (they were excellent when new) so I purchased some used PSS ZPs off a forum member and sold the Cup2s to a friend who got a fair amount of track miles out of them. The PSS ZPs are great in the rain and I drive around in temps as low as 25 degrees with no traction issues. However, I never had issues with any of the run flats that came on my 97 C5 or the 08 Z06. Even those GY EMTs would run 75-80 mph through a pouring rain with minimal tread.

Bill