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High performance tire selection dwindling for the C5 Corvettes.

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Old Sep 22, 2010 | 01:10 PM
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Default High performance tire selection dwindling for the C5 Corvettes.

What happened to the great choices in tires for C5 Corvettes? All of the tires that are topping the reviews now are not available in stock sizes. The Continental Contisport 3 and its successor the 5P or whatever won most of the tests, but wont' fit a C5. The P-Zero won't work. The Michelin Pilot Sport PS3 is a no-go, and even the Goodyear that replaced the GS-D3, called the F1 Assimetric, won't fit. I ordered 2 sets of GS-D3s that I found on ebay in the hopes that by the time I wear them out, the market will have found an improvement in the right size for me.
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Old Sep 22, 2010 | 01:13 PM
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what size tire and wheel size are you referring to? There were lots of choices between '97 models (some came with 245s in the front, i believe) up until 2004.

Surely tires are not hard to come by. Where are you getting your info from?
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Old Sep 22, 2010 | 02:55 PM
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What tire qualities constitute as a "great choice" for you? Do the tires need to be able to handle snow?
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Old Sep 22, 2010 | 03:27 PM
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Well, here is an example of the contisport 3s on the website I'm using. It seems that the website is an awesome resource that uses various magazine reviews from all over the world and compiles the results for each tire. Then if you prefer, you can get a synopsis of each magazine's review showing how each tire was rated, etc. It was a very informative site: http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Co...-Contact-3.htm

The kind of tire I'm looking for is a high performance summer only tire that does very well in both dry weather and wet weather. I've got a beater for the snowy months.
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Old Sep 22, 2010 | 03:28 PM
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Oh, and after looking at all the comparisons and coming up with a short list of the top tires, I couldn't find any of them in the right size, which led me to post about it. I wanted to see what others are doing, lately.
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Old Sep 22, 2010 | 03:39 PM
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What sizes are you looking at? Are you determining your selection completely on the reviews? They still make the GS-D3 as far as I know. The BFG KDW2 is another high performance wet/dry tire. That's what I just got on my SS with my new wheels...reviews say they're "loud", but I haven't noticed them being any noisier than the old KDW design. There is also the Nitto NT05 they just came out with that is a high performance summer tire. Bridgestone has a couple of options I believe. There are many tire choices...
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Old Sep 22, 2010 | 03:51 PM
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If you post sizes, I can then help.

Go to tire rack, input your tire size (not your car) and then do reviews based on that size.
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Old Sep 22, 2010 | 04:10 PM
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Well, so long as the ebay purchase works out, I should be all set. I just threw this out there for conversation. In any case, stock sized tires for a '97 are 275/40-18 rears, which is all I was looking for at the moment. The fronts are relatively common 245/45/17s, which I assume will still have plenty of sporty tires.
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Old Sep 23, 2010 | 11:19 AM
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Tire Rack list 21 sets of matching tires in that configuration, as doe Discount Tire Direct. They have some overlap, but there are a lot of choices. Michelin Pilots PS2, Goodyear F1, Kumho Ecsta MX, Nitto Invo, Nitto NT-01, Bridgestone RE-11, and so forth.
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Old Sep 23, 2010 | 02:59 PM
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I guess your right. Still, it is disappointing that I can't find the best of the new tires out there in the right size. I'd bet money that most of them fit the new corvettes, though.
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Old Sep 23, 2010 | 04:14 PM
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Originally Posted by Chris Arnold
I guess your right. Still, it is disappointing that I can't find the best of the new tires out there in the right size. I'd bet money that most of them fit the new corvettes, though.
Are you looking at run-flats or non run flats?
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Old Sep 23, 2010 | 06:19 PM
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non..
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Old Sep 23, 2010 | 09:08 PM
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c5s should be running on 19/20s. TONS of tires available in those sizes !
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Old Sep 23, 2010 | 11:16 PM
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Puke... Stock looks and handles great, IMO.
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Old Sep 24, 2010 | 06:15 AM
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Originally Posted by Nastyc4
c5s should be running on 19/20s. TONS of tires available in those sizes !
I realize that everyone has their opinions, and that is the beauty of a free (so far) society. Having said that, I think the current crop of insanely large diameter wheels combined with 'o-ring' tires looks too cartoonish....but that's just my opinion.




secondly, the short sidewalls of a 19-20" tire ride way too stiff, at least on the rough roads where I live...
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Old Sep 24, 2010 | 12:19 PM
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Originally Posted by Chris Arnold
I guess your right. Still, it is disappointing that I can't find the best of the new tires out there in the right size. I'd bet money that most of them fit the new corvettes, though.
Most of the tires I listed are reasonably new to the market. INVO, NT-01, RE-11, PS-2 are all reasonably new designs. Pirelli is hard to find for most vehicles when it comes to higher end tires. You must be after a specific tire because ther are tons of great one out there for your car.
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Old Sep 24, 2010 | 01:24 PM
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I was after a specific tire, the GS-D3, but it is out of production, now. So I went to the site I listed and then looked for the top tires I researched. As I mentioned in my first post:

The P-Zero won't work. The Michelin Pilot Sport PS3 is a no-go, and even the Goodyear that replaced the GS-D3, called the F1 Assymetric, won't fit.
I definitely looked up more than that, but it never worked out. So, I found some left-over rear-sized GS-D3s on Ebay for about 1/2 the original price and scooped 4 of them up.

I'll admit that the RE11s look like they have good potential, but I haven't seen any good comparison tests on them, yet.
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Old Sep 24, 2010 | 02:10 PM
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you should try to find tires for 15" wheels wider than 225s and taller than 40 series

aside from drag radials there are NO performance tires. zero.
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Old Sep 25, 2010 | 09:40 AM
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It happens as car models get older . The 245/45/17 is a staple BMW 3 series size tire, it should be available with anything . 275/40/18 is a much less commonly used size to where a 275/35/18 is still used on the current Z06 as a front tire . So your probably gonna find a 275/35 in the brands and models you have mentioned .
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Old Sep 25, 2010 | 12:25 PM
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I'm really afraid of that switch. I wonder how it would affect the computer with the wheel speed sensors. Thanks for the advice. I'm all set for a while now, though. 2 sets of GS-D3s are going to last me a couple of years, especially considering that I have a 1 year deployment to Afghanistan in a couple of months.

Chris
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