84-87: What are you doing for tires?

[Hib Halverson]

The choices in good tires for the early C4s have been dwindling...for some time now.

I'm thinking about testing a set of Dunlop SP Sport 8000s in 255/50ZR16.

Anyone here used that tire? If so, what were your experiences?

 

[gmhowe]

I just dumped the Dunlops on my 96, I didn't like the way they handled or ride, I have TA's on my 85 and they are great. Put Kumho's on my 96 and I love them
Gordon

 

[Hib Halverson]

What about the Dunlops' handling was not to your liking?

 

[tcolyer]

I use the Yokahoma AVID V4, very little weight needed to balance (shows me a good quality manufacture) get good mileage and ride / handling is good.

 

[gmhowe]

They didn't seem to hold the road well, and after multilple balancings still had vibration and slight bumping ( like they were still not balanced ). My brother had similiar problems with Dunlops on his 66 mustang

 

[rrubel]

We had Yokohama Avid H4's on another vehicle (same tire, different compound) and while they were great for about the first 10k miles, after that they became REALLY slick in the wet. My wife had a pretty major accident that we're attributing to the tires letting go without warning on a wet on-ramp even with 80% tread left. I also had some scary moments with them myself.

On the Vette I've got Kumho Ecsta Supras, which replaced a set of Yoko V4's that had the same issue as the H4's (ie, slight damp and you're going sideways). I've got about 15k miles on the Kumhos including a full track day and some dragstrip runs and the tread is getting bare in back (gee... go figure) but they still stick better in the wet than the Yokos did with three times the depth.

Both the Yoko tire sets were in 16", while the Kumhos are in 17" (different wheels, obviously).

[RICHR]

 

[G Winter]

I have the Kumho ECSTA's on my vette and I am very happy with them.On the caravan trip from Indianapolis to Bowling Green going to cruisefest we had heavy rain. Many people were having issues with the water running at 65 mph. I had no problems at all, the tires stuck like glue. They were new at the time, but since then have had no problem on wet roads.I did get caught in 3 in of wet snow last fall which was not pleasant . The tread wear seems to be doing ok.

Glenn

 

[John Robinson]

Tire thoughts

Hib

I have been running the Kumho Ecstra Supra 712 on my 93 for over three years now here are my impressions.

As stated before they are good summer tires and work well in rain or dry.

When I first got the tires they were very sticky and I now have 25K on them.

When corning the tire will get about half way around a corner (30 MPH corner above 70 MPH) and the back end will set out about a foot. The first time this happened to me I thought I had lost it but the car held well the rest of the way around the corner. Since this is the only set of tires I have had on my corvette I do not know if this is normal for the car or just a the nature of the tire.

After the car has sat for awhile the tires take a set and will run rough for about 2 miles until they get heated up. This brings up another thing I have noticed about these tires. They are deffinately temperature sensitive until you drive a few miles and bring them up to temperature. When it is 50 degrees or below they will cool off enough at train crossing stops or long red lights to become cold. I have done 360's in the middle of intersections on dry pavement.

I do feel as if these tires hold well up to a point but would not give any feed back on when they approach total break away.

 

[jsinga]

I have to replace the long past there prime SZ50's on my 87.
I'm going with a set of TA's from Tirerack. I've decided they
are the bang for the buck. The tirerack user reviews are reasonable.
The tire store manager where I get alignments done has them
on his miata. (I know, not much in common) but he could
get about anything he wants.
The Dunlops are the oldest design, and much more expensive
than the TA's or Kumho's

JS

 

[Hib Halverson]

I appreciate all the input from owners or 88-up cars but those comments are irrlevant because 88-up uses different sized tires than 84-87.

Has anyone found street tires in 255/50ZR16 from other than Dunlop, Goodrich, Sumitomo or Yokohama?

 

[ZumZum]

Check out Falken Tires. The Ziex-ZE512 comes in the proper 16" size

Pretty good performance tire.

http://www.falkentire.com/#/Home/

 

[Hib Halverson]

I was not aware Falken had that size.
Thanks.

 

[douglas foster]

father & son

really like the Falken's, had them on a couple years now, no problems

 

[SoLow]

I appreciate all the input from owners or 88-up cars but those comments are irrlevant because 88-up uses different sized tires than 84-87.

Has anyone found street tires in 255/50ZR16 from other than Dunlop, Goodrich, Sumitomo or Yokohama?

I have the Goodyear HP's 255/50ZR16 Mounted on a set of BBS RS's , They are directional tread and they look good .My local GY dealer had to round them up from 3 other dealers to get a complete set. I have had them for about 3 years and put only about 5 miles...Yes, only 5 miles as I have been de-bubbafing a basket case 87 Greenwood .:W

 

[Hib Halverson]

Goodyear exited the market in 255/50ZR16 more than a year ago.

Since, I bought some tires but I'm going to start a new thread about this.

See: http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105637