It is time (especially now that the rains have started here in Idaho) to replace the front tires on my C5. (It is actually perhaps past time to do so.) I have never been thrilled with the noise level of the stock Goodyears, and I see a lot o reviews at TireRack.com praising the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S (their all-weather runflat). I would very much like to hear from other C5 owners who have replaced the Goodyear F1 Eagle EMTs with the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S. Did it make a big difference on tire noise? (Yes, I'm aware that most of the tire noise is coming from the rear, but those don't need replacement yet.) Do you have any regrets about the change?
I replaced the Goodyear F1's with Pilot Sport A/S ZP (Zero pressure) tires about 10K miles ago. There is another version of the A/S without the ZP that is not a runflat. I wanted runflats.
Much more quiet than F1's and the big thing for me is that the pulling of the steering wheel on roads with ruts is almost non-existent. My sister and her hubby live in CDA and a couple of months ago, we were over there. A good place to test the handling was over on the backside of the lake on the twisties. My brother-in-law was really impressed with the overall handling. Compared to other C5's he had ridden in, he remarked about the smoothness and quiet of the Michelin's.
I would make the same choice all over again. - Bill
I replaced my OEM run flats with Continental Exteme Contact about 15K miles ago. They are not runflats. I have been extremely pleased with them. They are far quieter that the Goodyears, handle better and have much better wet traction. I live in New Hampshire and drive the car year round.
These tires are quite a bit less expensive than the Michelins but are rated nearly as well on TireRack.
Replaced the stock Goodyears on my 2001 with the Pilot Sport A/S at
16,000 mi. Fronts worn on inside but over 1/2 the tread left on rears. What a difference! They were very quiet, gripped the pavement in rough corners (no sideways hop), were cheaper than a new set of Goodyears and looked better when mounted. Tread pattern very similar to the new base C6 Goodyears.
Drove from Cooke City to Red Lodge on the Beartooth last August and got in a huge blizzard on the top. Cars and trucks stopped along the road but we kept going and made it. They closed the road just as we arrived in Red Lodge. I would have never made it over without these tires. They are definately an all season tire!
I did notice a drop of about 1 mpg after the change which maybe due to a softer compound, the tread pattern, or the small difference in height. They are just a bit taller tire even though they are the same size.
I recommend these to anyone. Got mine through Tire Rack. Get your front camber set to 0 degrees.
Dave WI
Clayt> It is time (especially now that the rains have started here in Idaho) to
I've been watching this thread and can't help but wonder how many people notice how nice the car runs down the road with a new set of tires? Not any particular brand, just new. Then there comes the time that they are nearing replacement, hard, slippery, and rough riding?
After 30 years of using the best radial tire I could find I've come to the conclusion that I was wrong again, it happens. I've run more sets of Michelin and Goodyear than I care to admit but by doing so I think I learned a few things. First off the best set of tires I every had were Uniroyal, can't explain that, and Goodyear was both good and bad, Michelin were great for awhile, always getting hard and slippery as they aged. Then I decided to try the Continental ContiExtremeContact and what a surprise.
I had a set on a 98 Corvette coupe and then on an 04 Corvette coupe, they are hard to beat. Looking forward to getting a set of Continentals on my 06. My thoughts at the time that if I didn't like them I'd just toss them. The set mounted and balanced then was just over $600 and are almost ghostly as far as ride and noise go. Stick pretty good in water and snow, yea, I drive it in the winter and when ever else I want to. Now take the Michelin at a mere $1,100, are they better? Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Infiniti, Audi, Volvo, Acura and so on don't think so. They seem to use them interchanably and at almost 100% cost difference I wonder how they determine which they will use.
Not even suggesting that you should buy Continental tires, but hey, what is $500 good for anymore, a tank of gas?
In my C4, I've hauled 50+ pounds of excess weight for years. I haven't had a flat on any performance tire ever (been driving speed rated tires since 1970). Last flat on a passenger car tire was in a parking lot in
1999. Last road failure on a highway was 1971 -- an old bias ply. In 'vettes I've been towed because of alternator (C4--failed at night), fuel pump ('61), & VATS (rest-stop failure). Never a tire.
Took a rental C5, without runflats, up I-15 to Vegas last year. Thought once, didn't have to think twice. Also arrived at Jason's approach -- go bare and keep a cell phone handy.
Calling an auto club went through my mind as an option when we were making a decision on the last set of tires. For quiet, I wanted non-runflats but was concerned about having to leave the car if we had a flat and couldn't contact someone. I have a tri-mode cellular phone and many places we travel do not have any cellular service (digital or analog). So we chose runflats.
Do the same thing GM does on the Z06, it ships with a small air compressor and a seal kit. The Z06 Supercar tire was not a runflat so their answer to that problem was tire inflation kit, also there is one available from Tirerack,
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at about 1/4 the cost. I carry a compressor and a plug kit, don't like the sealers as well as the plug. Then I have it plugged and patched on the inside for long term driving.
Ditto for me. My new house is off of a road with no cell phone for about ten miles--I do not want to try to walking in a pouring rainstorm to the nearest phone.
The Goodyears came off the front were distinctly more worn on the inside. The tire store of course suggested an all wheel alignment for $90. The wear was definitely uneven across the tire, but both front tires had the same level of wear, in the same inside portion. It sounds like you had the same experience about inside wear. (I at least got
30,000 miles.)
Should the inside wear make me worry about alignment, or this typical?
I had the fronts wear on the inside prematurely on both my '98 and '01 even though the 4 wheel alignment was done. Trouble is the factory alignment specs are set to favor good cornering (negative camber). Since most of my (and many others) driving is straight down the highway on trips and not autocrossing, the inside of the fronts tend to wear. This is magnified by the hard tread compound and the stiff sidewalls of the stock Goodyears. Had the camber set to 0 degrees ever since and that stopped the abnormal wear with no adverse handling issues.
Interestingly, when I picked up my '05 from my dealer who sells many Corvettes, he mentioned that as part of the dealer prep they now check alignment and set the camber to 0 degrees on all their cars unless the customer specifies not to.
If you have an alignment done, I would specify 0 degrees for the front camber with all the other settings remaining at factory specs. Check to see when the last time the shops' alignment rack had been calibrated and if it uses the latest laser hardware. Make sure they give you the before and after printout from their rack.
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