Rear Tires 315/35ZR17?

[grndspt]

I was wondering if any one has had a comparison of the stock 315/35ZR17 Goodyear GSC and the Goodyear F1 GS-D3. Or any other recommendation(brand in that size).
I need to change my rears this spring, and am doing a little research as to what I should install.
I was happy with the GSC, driven mainly in the dry with aggressive on/off ramp driving,and a little tire spinnage .

 

[Vettelt193]

the GSC is pretty old tire technology... came out in the early 90's. You will be better off with the F1's, or just about any other tire on the market for that matter.

 

[74bigblock]

Ditto to the above. I am particularly fond of BFG G-Force KD's They make a 315/35/17... very sticky tire... most last ~20K if you don't roach them.

 

[Hib Halverson]

See: http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com...lverson&csid=8803754582ca8d16f5ec19b29ded6873

 

[siller]

I was wondering if any one has had a comparison of the stock 315/35ZR17 Goodyear GSC and the Goodyear F1 GS-D3. Or any other recommendation(brand in that size).
I need to change my rears this spring, and am doing a little research as to what I should install.
I was happy with the GSC, driven mainly in the dry with aggressive on/off ramp driving,and a little tire spinnage .

Although I don't yet have 315s on my 96, I do have the F1 GS-D3 on the rear stock 285s and I love them. I use to have the GSCs and liked them too, despite their negative rep I see all over many of the forums. They were much better the Nitto 555s several people once persuaded me to buy, which squealed around corners all of the time, and spun out constantly.

It is my opinion that the F1 GS-D3 is noticeable quieter than both of the other tires, handles better than both, and looks a heck of a lot cooler, especially from the rear. And the wider the tire, the cooler it looks. I saw the D3 on a Jetta with narrower tires (obviously), and the tires still looked good, but not as good as the 285s. 315s would look even better. It seems like I spin the tires less often than before, and I don't go around trying to spin them, as I have gotten 35K miles on a couple of different sets of GCS EMT rear tires. I have about 10K on these D3s and they still look nearly new.

For me, I ultimately went with the D3s over the BFG G-Force T/A KDw-2 or the GY F1 Super Car tires because of the looks of the D3s and all of the reviews I could find contained nothing but raves. I also could not find a lot of info on the new KDW-2, while I liked its appearance, too. While I would like to get into the autocross events sometime in the future, currentlyu my car is just a daily driver, and a dry daily one at that, so I probably don't need the extra performance that it sounds like the F1 super car tires add to the car - see below.

FYI - Another tire you may wish to research is the GY F1 Super Car tire, check out the thread in the CAC ZR-1 forum at: http://corvetteactioncenter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11954

Hib Halverson added the last entry in that thread which includes the following link of a road test of that tire:
http://www.idavette.net/hib/gyst/index.htm

Sounds like that might be a good candidate also... Good luck with your search and enjoy the result.

 

[froggy47]

Kumho Ecsta MX - for street

 

[Tuna]

If I was buying new tires soon for mine - I'd go with the F1 D3.

I'm running Michelin Pilot Sports at the moment and they are great - pricy but great.

If I didn't use my car as a daily driver, I'd also consider the F1 SC - they are pricy also but great traction.

 

[novafink]

are there any problems mounting the 315's on stock wheels?

 

[Tuna]

are there any problems mounting the 315's on stock wheels?

There could be. Check the minimum recommended wheel width for the tire you want to buy. The stock wheel width is 9.5" for the 275 or 285 tire and 8.5" for the 255 tire.

Too narrow or too wide a wheel will allow for side wall flex or rigidity that is not intended or desired. This can cause unwanted heat build up and early tire failure, poor wear and who knows what else.

The GY F1 D3 in 315/35/17 comes with a recommended rim width of 10.5 to 12.5. When you think about the fact that the tire is the only thing between you and control of you car, you might want to pay attention to the recommended wheel widths and stay with a wheel/tire combination that is appropriate.

That doesn't mean you can't mount a 315 on a 'stock' wheel and that doesn't mean it's going to kill you the day after you do. I just don't recommend it.

 

[grndspt]

Thanks for all your input. I'd love to put the F1 SC tires on but they are a bit more money than the GS-D3 and have a 200 treadwear. The GSC's were 220 treadwear. The GS-D3 are 280 treadwear.
I got about 23,000 miles on the original rear tires and they are almost down to wear ribs.
If I knew the F1 SC could go that distance I would probably spring for them because wet traction does not concern me.
But longer tread life would be nice

 

[novafink]

Thanks Tuna

 

[Tuna]

Thanks for all your input. I'd love to put the F1 SC tires on but they are a bit more money than the GS-D3 and have a 200 treadwear. The GSC's were 220 treadwear. The GS-D3 are 280 treadwear.
I got about 23,000 miles on the original rear tires and they are almost down to wear ribs.
If I knew the F1 SC could go that distance I would probably spring for them because wet traction does not concern me.
But longer tread life would be nice

23,000 out of rears on a GS - that's pretty good tire life from my experience. I'm closing in on 20K on my Pilot Sports and they have a 200 treadwear number and they still have 1/3 of the tread left.
I've only got 4500 on my F1 SC on the "V" and they look half worn out already. That's probably because it's so much fun to run the "V" up throught the gears and dust some poor, unsuspecting schmuck.
Depending on my driving, I managed 30K out of GSC and 25k out of F1 EMTs and as low as 18K on a set. So, if I get 20K+ out of a set of rear tires on a Vette, I feel like I got my money's worth.

 

[wx briefer]

Well Sir; at 91k on mine, I have had Michelin Pilot Sports (cupped badly with street driving only - taken off car with half tread life left - michelin made me eat them as they would not compensate), original GSC's - noisy, bad wear, and could be break traction fairly easily, Goodyear GS-D3's - love 'em. I took the brand new D3's to the Nashville Superspeedway for a road coarse track day and was impressed. Although one can break them loose without too much trouble and they can be made to squeal louder than any other tire out there (albeit while pushing their limit of traction to the edge), they did NOT cup. They were as smooth as ever on the interstate afterwards. I like 'em!