OK, I'm in the market for new tires, and I've seen
lots of discussion here on best gripping/hooking
tires.

Sacreligious as this may seem, I do not drive my
Z28 hard at all. I usually keep within 5-10mph
of the speed limit. I'm not into racing, so traction
at take off is not as important. What I'm looking
for is a tire with looks, reliability, and life.

What tires would you recommend for me?

-brian

 

Gee, I never thought about that before. F1's maybe.

 

go for the goodyear gsc's. you can get them as take-offs from slp for $99.00. They are an option for the z28 when you buy them new.

 

Consider this though, even though you may not want max traction for cornering or acceleration, good sticky tires will reduce your stopping distance through increased grip and improve your ability to make an emergency avoidance manuever. Higher mileaged rated tires generally have harder compounds and higher stopping distances. I even put 60 series tires on my mommy van for better stopping. 10 feet of stopping distance can be the difference between bending a lot of sheetmetal and just a close call. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" />

I like Firestone SZ 50s

 

2002z28 is giving good info'. Dollar for dollar the SLP take offs are about the best thing going. The GSC's really do handle well and have decent tread life. I was in similar process myself and talking to the Goodyear people was informative. They said that the GSC tire is going away in their lineup as it is an inventory headache. The tires cannot be used on either side of the car. That makes all inventory at all Goodyear locations stock rights and lefts and there is an interesting sideline here. Checking nationwide inventory has shown more right side tires get damaged so there is a comparative shortage of righthand side tires. The Goodyear guy says that the GSC line is being replaced with the Goodyear HP Ultra Plus. One benefit here is that it is made in an upsize. 255-50-16 that actually has been designed to have the same tread width in a 16" tire as the GSC 275-40-17. If you check out tirerack.com on this you can see what he was saying. We went with the HP Ultra Plus in the plus size figuring that we get the contact patch width, taller sidewall to help the tire survive bad roads-pot holes etc. and still keep the "softer" ride. Other goals were also to keep the car more "sleeper" in apearance as we can use DR's on the stock 16" without drawing attention. Also if day in day out driving or traveling and a tire disintegrates then I figure that the HP Ultra Plus may be more available as time goes on and the GSC's are phased out.

Another side note that I mentioned in another post on a different board was this. As I understand the SLP offering of the 16" GSC "take off",I thought I understood that the "take off" status was that the 16" tire/wheel was put on the F-body at GM as a "roller" only for during transport to SLP facilities to be then replaced with the various other 17" setups. My thought then is that the 16" "take offs" are going to be drying up since no more F-bodies are headed for SLP. I punctuated this thought by asking if that isn't where the "take off's" come from then how is it that SLP offers them. I have not been able to any certainty one way or the other on this. I mention this only 'cause replacing one specific GSC may become a real issue sometime in the near future.

Man, did this get long winded !!!!

<small>[ August 19, 2002, 04:17 PM: Message edited by: P&DZs ]</small>

 

Thanks for the replies, even if some were a bit on
the long side <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" />

I've got a few more weeks at least till I need to
buy tires, so I'm starting my search now, just to
find the best tire at the best price for me.

Thanks again. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" />

-brian