Any suggestions on a non-runflat tire for a C5?
I'm not thrilled with the feel and sound of the Goodyear runflats and would like to change. I hear some good reports about the performance of the Michelin's, but every Michelin I have owned has died of fatigue (sidewall cracking) before the tread wore out. There must be something about Michelin's rubber and UV's.
For anyone who has made this switch, do you pack an emergency "flat kit" like the Z06 has, or deal with the towtruck?
Brian
The Michelins feel a lot better than the Goodyears. The tread isn't as aggressive so you can cut sharp turns without the car skipping sideways. (Backing out of driveways, parallel parking, etc) The inflator kits are nice but I haven't had much luck getting a good connection from the compressor to the valve stem. Maybe other compressors would attach better, but the one I had from Sears was a P.O.S. Reminded me of my younger days when I was trying to inflate bike tires and couldn't attach to the valve stem with out a leak. At the time I felt it was operator malfunction, I know better now.
I put a set of Continental ContiExtremeContact on my 98 and then moved them to the 04. Great tire, smooth, quiet, fair in water, good in snow, wore smoothly, and didn't cup like the EMTs did. Did I mention quiet? Set mounted was right at $600 at the time. Still have them on forged 2001 polished rims with the new sensors. Did I mention quiet? Ride was outstanding and did I mention quiet? Set for sale if you're close to OH-IN-MI intersection I'll help deliver them. $1,500, rims, sensors, and tires.
I replaed my run-flats with Continental Extreme Contact All Weather. Looks like I should get over 30K miles out of them. They are far quieter and have much better traction than the run flats.
Jason
2001 Pewter Coupe
So....are they quiet? I checked the Continental's out on Tire Rack, and they seem to be rated well and priced fairly. Thanks for the input, it's much appreciated.
Brian
So....are they quiet? I checked the Continental's out on Tire Rack, and they seem to be rated well and priced fairly. Thanks for the input, it's much appreciated.
Brian
Not just quiet, they are ghostly. One drawback, if they sit very long they will take a set. Takes a couple of miles for them to smooth out. Not hard to get used to when you look at how great they make the car feel. One other note, you're not running the stiff sidewall that the EMT's have so your tire pressure has to go up to 34/35 PSI or they feel mushy. If you have any misgivings about the tire at the current price you can throw them away in a year and still make out. Also take a look at the cars they come on as new equipment. My next set for the 05 will be Continentals, although the Supercar EMTs are better the old EMTs they are starting to get noisy at
11,000.I agree completely. My Continentals are very quiet, even after 15K miles. They are not showing significant wear. I also experience some setting after not driving the car for a while, but it goes away after a few minutes.
Jason
2001 Pewter Coupe
How are the Continentals after they have sat for a long period? Will they take a permanent set after a winter in the garage? I had a set of Goodrich tires on my '65 take a set after storing it for a summer in FL. It felt like I was riding on a set of square blocks. Needless to say, those tires are permanently reserved for storage use only and the road tires are stored on the rack.
Brian
I generally don't sore the car for winter. I drive the car all year long, even here in New Hamphire. The Continentals have good traction on snow-plowed roads, certainly better than the run-flats.
Jason
What's a long period of time? The most mine sit was 3 to 7 days and they were ok after a couple of miles. Once I turned Bruce loose within 2 miles and they bounced like they were out of balance, smoothed out in another 2 miles. If you need to store it take the load off the tire, not the suspension. If you looked at the Continentals you can see they were all season, that's one of the reasons why I got them so I could drive mine all year round.
The C5 will sit for 5 months in the winter. Not because I won't drive it, but because I can't drive it. During those five months I'm driving my 65 in Florida. It's a snowbird thing, you can't be in two places at one time. I've yet to lift the C5 off the ground. When I get the new tires, I'll look into storing it on it's suspension.
Brian
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