Tires

[Schnell]

I am looking for a new set of tires this spring that I hope might help with the handling of my LT4. It had Bridgestone Potenza RE730s on it when I bought it last year on stock rims/sizes. My main complaint is that the car has felt floaty when I enter a turn or change lanes. I am hoping that a different set of tires will help but am not sure if this is normal for a Corvette, since this is my first one. My car is in good shape, so I feel pretty comfortable about ruling out any mechanical problems. I need a tire thats good in the rain since I live in Germany and am currently looking at the Firestone Firehawk for its wet weather grip. Anyone tried these tires or had good results with another brand?

thanks,
Mike

 

[Fastvette86]

I live in Western Washington state where it rains a lot too - just enough to keep the Californians home.

A year ago I installed a set of Michellan Pilot Mxxx3's that are really sticky and fairly quite. They're great dry and pretty good in the wet. Ocasionally in the rain they will set off my ABS when I brake real hard at a left turn light and one tire is on the slick rubber cross walk stripe. Other than that, I love them. I've got 10,000 miles on them and a few autocross's and they are still really stable at speed and have great grip.

 

[Schnell]

Thanks for the info. I have heard other good reports about the MX3s, but I don't think those tires are available anymore and have been replaced by the Pilot Sports. How have the MX3s held up? I am not so excited about the Pilot Sports because I don't think they will last long, especially at autobahn speeds.

 

[Fastvette86]

I just looked at mine and they are Pilot SX Mxx3's. I hope that they are still available. They are holding up very well, considering how hard I drive. I modified my engine and got a bit more horsepower. After that, the Goodyear GSC's that were on it just wouldn't hook up any more. The Pilot's hook much better, but I still have to feather the throttle from a standing start at first to control wheel spin and let up just a bit at the one-two shift or they'll lite up again. The GSC's would just spin anywhere over 3/4 throttle.

I drive it every day and I am very satisfied with them.

Dennis

 

[jjones]

Play it backwards

Mike - you might want to flip back to a thread called "Found some tires" on page 3 or so. I bought the Firehawks and am very impressed with them. Good luck. jj

 

[Schnell]

Hey JJ,

thanks for the tip. Pulled a rookie move there and didn't see the different pages on the bottom.

Have you noticed any kind of floating in your handling and any difference in the handling of your Vette with the Firehawks on? Is it more precise? Or firm or something?

thanks,
Mike