Dwindling Availability of Tires

[MY96COLLECTOR]

Looking for new set of tires for my '96 Collector. I was surprised at the dwindling amount of tires left available for the C4's. 5 Years ago when I bought my Vette Tire Rack had about 8 or 9 brands. Now there are only 3 brands with matching availability.

BFGoodrich no longer produces the rear tires 285/40z R17. Many tire shops cannot get rear tires from Goodyear. These are back ordered sometimes 3 or 4 months. One tire shop said Continental is discontinuing the rear tire size in their ExtremeContact DW line.

Has anyone else run into this problem. If this continues, in 5 years will we be able to get tires for our Vettes?

 

[6 Shooter]

WOW - 1st post, welcome to the CAC...

...good luck with ur tires!

​

 

[John Mekisich]

Looking for new set of tires for my '96 Collector. I was surprised at the dwindling amount of tires left available for the C4's. 5 Years ago when I bought my Vette Tire Rack had about 8 or 9 brands. Now there are only 3 brands with matching availability.

BFGoodrich no longer produces the rear tires 285/40z R17. Many tire shops cannot get rear tires from Goodyear. These are back ordered sometimes 3 or 4 months. One tire shop said Continental is discontinuing the rear tire size in their ExtremeContact DW line.

Has anyone else run into this problem. If this continues, in 5 years will we be able to get tires for our Vettes?

Absolutely true that tire selection is limited and availability can be a problem. You will find that many current performance tires are not even offered in 17 inch sizes. Demand driving all this without question. Tires degrade over time so manufacturers will only make enough to satisfy demand and when the tipping point is reached where demand is insufficent to warrant continuing to make the tire due to production costs, they will be discontinued. Regarding your question of availability in 5 years, it is safe to assume selection will dwindle. Our only choice down the road may be to increase wheel size which is a very expensive proposition. Another concern today and moving forward will be cost, I recently bought a set of Conti Extreme DW's for my 96 LT4. These tires reviewed well and were half the price of Michelin Pilots. As previously mentioned, the Goodyears were on extended backorder. As an aside, it is also getting difficult to find a tire shop with an experienced tech to properly align a C4.

 

[MY96COLLECTOR]

Absolutely true that tire selection is limited and availability can be a problem. You will find that many current performance tires are not even offered in 17 inch sizes. Demand driving all this without question. Tires degrade over time so manufacturers will only make enough to satisfy demand and when the tipping point is reached where demand is insufficent to warrant continuing to make the tire due to production costs, they will be discontinued. Regarding your question of availability in 5 years, it is safe to assume selection will dwindle. Our only choice down the road may be to increase wheel size which is a very expensive proposition. Another concern today and moving forward will be cost, I recently bought a set of Conti Extreme DW's for my 96 LT4. These tires reviewed well and were half the price of Michelin Pilots. As previously mentioned, the Goodyears were on extended backorder. As an aside, it is also getting difficult to find a tire shop with an experienced tech to properly align a C4.

Thanks John Mekisich for responding. The Conti Extreme DW's are probably the ones I will go with. They seem to get the best reviews. How do you find the wear and handling? I can't find any stock around Vancouver B.C. without a minimum of 1 month to order them in. I can get from the states in about 3 - 5 days.

As far as future availability, changing up to 18" rims may be the only option. I guess time will tell. Makes it difficult for those of us that like to keep our cars as stock as possible.

 

[John Mekisich]

Thanks John Mekisich for responding. The Conti Extreme DW's are probably the ones I will go with. They seem to get the best reviews. How do you find the wear and handling? I can't find any stock around Vancouver B.C. without a minimum of 1 month to order them in. I can get from the states in about 3 - 5 days.

As far as future availability, changing up to 18" rims may be the only option. I guess time will tell. Makes it difficult for those of us that like to keep our cars as stock as possible.

Handling is very good to excellent. When you consider the pricing in my mind the Conti's are the best buy out there. In the 12 years I have owned this car I have always run Goodyears, had they been available I am not sure they would be worth the additional cost. Many will say the Michelin Pilots are the best of all the available performance tires but once again cost rears its head. Recently installed these tires so i have no input regarding wear but given we are talking Corvettes I don't believe any of the available tires will wear overly well.

 

[Wegone]

A lot of guys are also going to Nitto's, I am currently running a set on my 93 275 & 315 and so far I like them. They just don't have as wide of a tread patch as the GY.

 

[MY96COLLECTOR]

Just used a tire conversion website to see what my options are in a 18" tire. If the conversions are correct there is defiantly more options available in an 18" tire. But as you said adding the cost of wheels to accommodate the larger tires gets to be a very expensive proposition. But that's thinking a number years in the future. For now I think I'll get the 17" tires.

The Contis look real good. As 'Wegone' mentioned above, the Nitto's are worth a look as well. The Nitto's apparently are very sticky to the road, great handling but the Conti's are better in rain.

 

[spotya1]

i ran a set of NITTO's on my 68 corvette and loved them. Problem i see is there are not many options out there for even a nice 18 wheel to fit these cars. I like to take the stock wheels and tires off to help preserve them in case i ever sell the car(which is usually 10 years later lol). I have been looking for wheel options since i purchased the car last week and haven't found much

 

[Tuna]

You don't even want to look at the tire availability for the C6 ZR1 (ZO6/Z07, 427 Vert) then. Only one tire brand (Michelin) and only 2 styles - PS2 or Cup.

 

[B17Crew]

Completely agree, the selection is not what it used to be. I’m on the backorder list for GY GS-D3s at all four corners, 96 LT4 stock wheel configuration (Nitto's are my plan B). Holding out for the GYs for their wet weather capability and their aesthetically "beefy" appearance. Purely subjective, but I prefer the look of the GYs compared to the other brands. The one nice thing about the wait is that the tires will be freshly minted.

B17Crew

 

[stang-etr96]

Completely agree, the selection is not what it used to be. I’m on the backorder list for GY GS-D3s at all four corners, 96 LT4 stock wheel configuration (Nitto's are my plan B). Holding out for the GYs for their wet weather capability and their aesthetically "beefy" appearance. Purely subjective, but I prefer the look of the GYs compared to the other brands. The one nice thing about the wait is that the tires will be freshly minted.

B17Crew

well seeing 96 LT4's or any C4 for that matter, tire size is based on the suspension option you have and not the engine you have the selection is eased.
in 96 z51 susp. have 275"s on all 4 corners. 285's are suitable to fit on the rims if ya want a the ssame wider patch of the same GY GSC. FE1 & F45 susp. use the staggered 255/285. I use stock C5 thin spokes on one of my C4's with great results. The off set of the c5 rims are slightly inset but work fine or you can space out. C5 rim can be had cheap on the C5 forums verses going to expensive after market.

 

[hcbph]

Tire/Wheel option

I was reading some of the tire threads and it caught my interest. I bought an 86 convertible last year and it had smaller tires than OEM on it when bought (245/50vr16's).
I was looking at availability of 255/50vr16's, it's really limited. I don't need tires now but I'm sure I will sometime in the future.
I then tried to figure out what larger tire/rim could be interchanged without having to use wheel spacers or adapters, I'm having a hard time figuring out what larger tires and rims would fit the same as the oem's without using some wheel adapters or spacers and fit the wheelwells the same as the originals and not rub on something. Wish there was some place that could be used as a reference.
I'm afraid this will not be a pretty situation in the future to figure out when the time comes. Maybe some other company will start making them to keep us in tires.

 

[xfirez51]

Have u looked at Vredersteins?

 

[hcbph]

Tires

Have u looked at Vredersteins?

never heard of them and didn't find any 255/50vr16's when I checked.

 

[93Rubie]

No offense but the only guys that have to worry is the 16" size. Those are hard to find. 17" sizes are plentiful. Even if your running the 255/285 setup a set should last quite a while. I highly doubt anyone is running that setup at a road course or a auto-x so its not like your buying new tires every year.

275/40/17's have a very good selection of all types of tires.

Honestly for street use, anything will do. Your having trouble finding the tire you WANT in 17" not what you need or will work just fine. There is a difference. IMHO!!!

18"s you do get a bit more. If your like me and you actually drive the car like a sports car and burn up a set every year and want the best rubber Dunlap ZII, Hankook RS3, BFG Rivals are the ONLY options in 17" and ONLY come as wide as 255/40/17.

I'll be (hopefully) going to 18's next year and either 275/35/18 RS3's or 285/30/18 ZII's.

FYI, those 255/40/17 ZII's will wipe the floor with ANY 275/40/17 with a tread wear of 180 or higher. They are that good. I'm running them at all fours. Pretty good in the rain (with sufficient tread depth) and cool conditions as well.

Also FYI, THE rain tire in auto-x right now is the Continental Extreme Contact DW's. NO ONE is clamoring for the old Goodyear GS-D3's. Tire technology has moved on. Pretty sure driving at the limit in the rain needs more traction than tooling down the road.

Not trying to be condescending just putting things in perspective street versus track use and the demands of each. In my case street AND track use.

 

[WhalePirot]

No dunlops !!!

Without question, the Dunlops I have purchased were the WORST tires I have ever tried; this on a Corvette and on a bike. One set were not even round and shook the car, the other wore weirdly and formed cups, shaking the vehicle. Nice...... not.

Fool me once.... after years, fooled me twice. Never again!

My Corvette did okay on BFGs, but I liked all sets of Goodyears, including the original 16", replaced with same Gatorbacks. Both delivered over 34000 miles. (No, I don't drive like an old lady, unless she's from Pasadena) The current 17" GS-D3s were more $$, but the ride, quiet and handling are very good, with known quality and worth the extra. I don't get the inner well rubbing with these 285s, like I did with the 315s. The 'stick' difference is indistinguishable.

 

[B17Crew]

well seeing 96 LT4's or any C4 for that matter, tire size is based on the suspension option you have and not the engine you have the selection is eased.
in 96 z51 susp. have 275"s on all 4 corners. 285's are suitable to fit on the rims if ya want a the ssame wider patch of the same GY GSC. FE1 & F45 susp. use the staggered 255/285. I use stock C5 thin spokes on one of my C4's with great results. The off set of the c5 rims are slightly inset but work fine or you can space out. C5 rim can be had cheap on the C5 forums verses going to expensive after market.

Thanks for the specs stang-etr. I should have clarified that I have the FE1 setup.
That is great info on the C5 rims, I've seen a few C4s with C5 rims and they look pretty good.

B17Crew

 

[B17Crew]

Also FYI, THE rain tire in auto-x right now is the Continental Extreme Contact DW's. NO ONE is clamoring for the old Goodyear GS-D3's. Tire technology has moved on. Pretty sure driving at the limit in the rain needs more traction than tooling down the road.

Hi, 93Rubie.
I took a look at the Continental Extreme Contact DW’s and read several reviews, I liked what read. Would you happen to know if the Conti’s fill out the C4s wheel wells as well as the old GSCs did? I have seen C4s that have replacement tires on stock sawblades and they just didn’t seem to be proportioned as well the old GSCs were. Would you happen to have any photos of how the Conti’s look from behind? Did a search and could not find any images to compare them by.

Another example to help with my question. Was at a car show and was looking at a ’96 GS that had Goodyear GS-D3's, they looked great and seemed to “fit the C4 proportionally”. I just don’t want to end up with one of the narrow appearing replacement tires. The Conti’s look promising, thanks for the info.

B17Crew