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Tires for everyday driving in Chicago weather?

Greetings all,

I need a new set of tires for my 96 LT1. Currently, it's my 2nd car and it has under 16k miles on it. I was going to trade it in on a new vehicle, but I'm hesitant to do that because of the abysmal amount they'd give me for it (despite the fact that I bought it new and, therefore, am the only owner of it).

I got to thinking, and thought I might investigate the possibility of driving it year round if my current vehicle should crap out on me (I tend to drive my everyday vehicles into the ground and then sell them to the bone yard. My Corvette was a purchase based on emotions in stark contrast to the, "basic transportation" that I usually go with.)

The only problem is that I can't imagine that any tire manufacturer makes a set of tires that will perform even reasonably in wet or snowy conditions. When I've driven my Corvette on wet streets in the past, it seems very unsafe due to the huge factory tires and traction control seemingly always kicking in. I can only imagine how risky it would be to drive this car in wintery weather!

I certainly can't blame the design engineers of the car or tires since a vette is clearly not meant to be driven in such conditions, but I know people do drive vettes all year long so I wondered what tires they use and what their experience is like using them.

I'm 41 years old so I can imagine that I'd do a bit of, shall we say, "spirited" driving during the nice, dry summer months, but I wondered if there was any hope for driving my beast year round.

MANY thanks for any helpful suggestions!!

Regards,

Rick

Reply to
Rick 96 LT1
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and plug in winter tires for you Corvette. All season will not be bold enough tread to drive in winter. That will mean that they will be very noisy in the summer. If you truly want to drive it year round get another set of wheels and run the proper tires for the weather conditions. Sorry, with the width of Corvette tires there is no in-between. I've driven a Corvette year round since 1957 without an accident yet but then I've had a second car since '92 and you truly need to drive it as if you want to survive.

Reply to
Dad

look at bfg kdws. the dws means dry/wet/snow. i get them at costco for the cheapest prices i've found in my area, even better than tirerack.

regards, charlie cave creek, az

94 copper 96 yellow
Reply to
charlie

Many thanks for this! I'll seriously consider a setup that involves a set of winter wheels/tires and another for summer.

Thanks again.

Regards,

Rick

Reply to
Rick 96 LT1

Ah! Never even thought of Costco. And a new one just opened up by me. Thanks!

And I'll be sure to checkout the Goodrich kdws's.

Thanks!

Regards,

Rick

Reply to
Rick 96 LT1

This country has gotten soft, lax, or whatever, but growing up, this was a non-issue. When it came time for snow, you put the snow tires on. When you were sure the snow was not returning, you put the regular tires on.

Of course, we didn't really have the all-season, m+s, and so on tires like today, but then we also got real snows. If you weren't dealing with 6 inches or more, then you almost considered it a "dusting". Until this year, I think most people have not seen enough snow to warrant buying their kid a cheap plastic saucer sled, let alone an extra set of wheels and snow tires.

Of course, if you look at the expense of having your car stranded because it got stuck, and the possible damage that goes with that, it is well worth the cost of real snow tires and extra wheels to avoid that. But finding real snow tires for a passenger car is a bit rough. The old real snow tires were not only more aggressive in tread, they were a softer compound. You drive them in the dry in the summer and they wore out quickly. I haven't looked for any in so long, I doubt there are any, or if so, not a very wide assortment in brand or size. So you may have to just shop some of the more aggressive off-road treads until you find one in the size you can live with, not necessarily the size that is your perfect match. Having an aggressive tread on the side of the upper shoulder is important as some of the snow tire effectiveness was acting like a paddlewheel in deep snow.

Good luck

Reply to
Tom in Missouri

Hey Rick! Once you find a good tire, I wouldn't worry about driving your car in any weather, save for the absolute worst. Your car has traction control and ABS. It will take care of you. Congrats on having the car since new. Don't trade the 96 just yet as the prices of C4's are just now starting to creep back up. Still the best bang for the buck out there.

Jim

Reply to
1990ZR1

Drove my '86 in the snow "once". I don't even take it out of the garage in the rain but took it to work one day and it snowed for the trip home. Every time I hit the gas the rear tires would spin out. I drove real slow,took wide careful turns,put it in the garage and will make sure to check the weather report more carefully next time : ) I had fairly new Kumho ecsta tires but they are obviosly not made for snow! I see plenty of Vettes for all year driving. I imagine the C5 is better for slick roads. Just my 2

Joe

Reply to
joevett

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