Tire recommendations

[GTOger]

The wife and I are planning a road trip (Dallas -> Las Vegas -> Dallas) in the spring. We're prepping the ZR-1 for the trip. One area I'd like to think about are the tires and wonder about recommendations from the group here. Here are my considerations:

• The GSC's on the car are older. They don't show any signs of rot, but I've been down the old tire blowout road before, and I'm not anxious to do it again. I'll be most comfortable with new shoes.
• Our Z will spend most of its time on the road. Maybe once or twice a year to a track event. So priority is overall comfort over max performance. These GSC's seem awfully noisy and if there's something quieter out there, it's worth a look.
• Money is an object.

I understand the Goodyear Eagle F1's are pretty popular, and Kumho seems to make a good ZR-1 tire.

Tire Rack is selling something called the Sumitomo HTR Z for $490/set (as in, all 4 tires). Being that's less than what I paid for new meats on my pickup truck, I'm both interested and skeptical, but it's almost worth it just as a test.

Thoughts and input welcome.

[USAFPILOT]

Id sterr away from the Sumitumos...I had them on my Z28 years ago and they didn't grip at all. Try to find some Veredesteins or the Nitto NT05 (street track) or the Nitto 555 (street). I think most people are happy with those. If you have alot of $ the Goodyear GSD3 is a favorite of many.

[Aurora40]

GS-D3's would be great for a road trip, because they are excellent in bad weather. They are back in production now in 315 sizes. They were quieter than the GS-C's I took off my car. But the car is hardly quiet.

[Gary Yarbrough]

I put Sumitomo HTR Zs on my 90 a couple of months ago. The things said in other threads about these tires were very accurate. They don't grip as well as the factory tire, but they ride much better. As for driving in bad weather, I don't think either tire is all that great. But, we have terrible roads where I live (very uneven, lots of large puddles to hydroplane in...), so no tire does all that great here in heavy rain. All things considered, I feel like I made the right decision. But, if the price were closer or if I didn't have other projects demanding my $$$, I would have went with the factory replacement for the grip.

[tomtom72]

well I guess you know where my vote is.......the GSC's may look okay & be safe but the tread rubber is past it's useful life. Save them for the NCRS thing if that's a consideration down the road. You need to think about what is important for you in a tire, and how do you use your car.

Where I live the roads are a bit beat up & not glass-level so if there is water the ponding is a real hazard so I use the D3. It also seems when ever I decide to attend the Gathering I have to drive thru rain for at least 4 hrs....so I like the D3. Oh, they are noisy on cement, and asphalt too, but really noisy on cement. I don't make it a habit to drive in the rain, but if I'm out and it rains we don't cut our cruise's short. We just roll with it, most of the 5's & 6's I cruise with are on PS2's or Nitto Invo's, and some were on the OEM run-flats. I'm the only 4 in the crowd usually so I'm the only one on G/Yr's. I have no trouble keeping up and feeling in control of the wheels. Oh, I should mention that even at 30,000 miles the wet grip was tremendous, the wear bars were about 1/8" shy of the tread block's surface. That ain't too shabby in my book.

In the dry, the D3 needs heat to work. They don't have that "instant" response to input either. They slide a bit at normal operating temps, the more they're worn the more heat you need to get velcro. However, if you get them past normal temps they have a very wide band of "Hot, but not greasy"....you can smell them inside the car, they're ready. At that point the initial input is still not instant, but the now velcro like behavior makes up for it. I've never ran thru the useful Hot band... I guess I'm just chicken. I stress that be careful at normal temps as any sudden input and / or pushing of the limits of the chassis can result in that sliding feeling. Again, I've never had them break loose when I have encountered the sliding feeling....I just roll out slooooowly or keep the same input if I didn't mess up too badly. They will warn you as you can feel the limit clearly thru the butt dyno in a turn, specially a down hill off camber one....it's a little unnerving the first time it happens, but you have plenty of warning as you can feel the chassis twist in a C4 and the back feels like it's unloading. I suppose at that point if you insist upon keeping / or applying more power the back will come around on you? Again, I'm chicken so I'm not sure....but if you hold power constant and or roll out a bit she will hold the line. On a flat corner, and or a correctly cambered one the slide is very gradual and you know & feel it and it's in enough time that you can have time to think about your reaction. They are not abrupt at either end of the spectrum. All of this in the wet will blow your socks off as they are truly excellent.....but pricey. It is almost as if you are on dry pavement. I got 5 yrs & 32k miles out of my first set and I'm on my second set and I will be a buyer as long as they are made.

Oh, another negative. When they are at normal temp they pick up everything so buy mud flaps...and when they're Hot it's worse! Also, mind what G/Yr says about the operating limits for ambient temperature! These are not cold weather tires. They take about 30 mins. to get to temp at say 45*- 50*. Below 40* they take forever & don't seem to be able to hold the heat? It's not that they're dangerous. It's just if you want to push you don't have grip for that kind of driving. I think that applies to all of the summer performance tires though?

long winded, I know!


Tom

[Jagdpanzer]

A lot of us run the GY Eagle F1 GS-D3.
Like Bob said they are a good all around tire in dry or wet conditions.
You can get a set at Tire Rack
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....Model=Corvette ZR1&autoModClar=
I see GY is offering a $80 mail in rebate per set if purchased before February 5, 2011.

The Kumho Ecsta XS also come in 275/40ZR17 front and 315/35ZR17 rear ZR-1 stock sizes. These have not been around as long but I have not heard any negative reports about them as of yet. Maybe someone here who has experience with these tires can chime in.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....1&autoModClar=


On the high end you can also consider Michelin PS2s.
They come in same 275/40ZR17 front size and a bit wider 335/35ZR17 for the rear which are no problem to fit on ZR-1 11" rear wheels. These are one of the best performing tires around but not as affordable as the others.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSe...chelin&tab=All

[Jagdpanzer]

Just wanted to add, whatever tire you decide to go with be sure to have them road force balanced. A couple of years back I replaced the original GSCs that were on my 94 Z with a new set GY Eagle F1 GS-D3s and was never very happy with the way they road compared to a set of Michelin Pilots I had on a second set of chrome A-molds. In the meantime heard a lot of good things about road force balancing so I found a local shop with a Hunter GSP9700 balancing machine and the difference was night and day. Now the D3s ride as good as the Michelins ever did.
Here is a link to Hunter with further info about road force balancing and a list shops with thier GSP9700 machines:

http://www.gsp9700.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efhgM2TcQpI

[key_on]

Last fall I removed a set of Sumitomos that had been on the car for 2 1/2 years, but less than 1000 miles. They never felt like they were properly balanced. When I finally had them road force balanced, all four failed. Very, very poor quality.

I replaced them with Michelin PS2s. They look great, but feel very stiff, resulting in a pretty firm ride. However, they feel very well balanced and that is what I was after.

Like others have posted, go with a name brand tire that comes with high recommendations.

On the plus side of my story, Sumitomo did refund the full purchase price of my tires.

[GTOger]

Good input everybody.

One thing I've never even heard of is the force balancing. Interestingly enough, looks like the last couple sets of tires I've bought at my local Discount Tire have been done that way. I recognize the machine and they're listed on Hunter's site. I just never realized it was anything "special." Huh. Learned something new today.

I'll let you know which way I go. The GS3's seem a popular choice here. I've heard good things about the Nitto's elsewhere. Looks like I'll be wise to not save SO many pennies on the Sumitomos. Based on reviews here and elsewhere the experience is hit or miss. I'll pay a bit more for the "no miss insurance."

But first... tomorrow is new stereo day. Tunes before shoes just happened to work due to scheduling. Soon I'll have an Alpine XM radio and sub box up for sale...

[4-cam]

I had the Sumitomo tires on my 91 when I bought it a year ago. The tires were in very good shape but the traction was unpredictable and the seemed to wander all over the road. I recently had the Nitto 555 installed an so far love them. The are quiet, seem good in wet, and ride better than the sumitomo. No wandering and The are also a bit larger as the sumi tends to run small. $725 installed at Discount tire. It took less than a week to get them from another warehouse out of state . Sold the old ones on Craigslist the first day I had them listed.