You're exaggerating what Juechter may have said.
It is true that, in the C7 tire contract "shootout", done by GM, Michelin and Goodyear during late-2010-to-early-2011, the Michelin submission tire performed better than did the Goodyear, but it's an exaggeration to say it was "much better." GM subjected Michelin's and Goodyear's submission tires to 16 different tests. Half of them tested performance and the other half tested "non-performance" characteristics such as tread life, ride and noise. GM has been unwilling to disclose the actual scores in the 16 tests, however, in April of '13, when I interviewed Jim Mero, the GM develoment engineer who conducted most of the tests, he said that if Michelin was a 10, Goodyear was an 8. While Michelin was noticeably better, it's an exaggeration to say Michelin was "much better".
You weren't part of what was discussed so let's leave what you think someone may have said out of this. Shoot-out ? Now there's an exaggeration. These tire companies like all other suppliers are supplying a product with performance spec at a price. There are far better tires for tracking and all around use but there is a balance to what the spec dictates vs the market they were trying to hit. In the end it doesn't matter much what the engineers may chose if marketing has other marketing motives in mind. Along those same lines it was GY these folks thought were great tires for corvettes on prior models. The GY are may be for performance and but don't have any kind of acceptable life span and are the nosiest tires on the market After 13 new corvettes i can agree with what Tadge told me, the michelin were a far better tire for their choice. I have switch to Michelin every time after the OEM just failed to perform. So much for engineers shoot-out concepts.
That statement is inaccurate.
C7 wheels are the same width as C6 base wheels but are more narrow than C6 GS wheels. The reason C7 base/Z51 wheels are more narrow then C6 GS wheels has nothing to do with available tire widths.
This issue came up when another owner asked me how I handled the rim problem with AS tires on A GS not any other car. The z06, ZR1 and GS all cannot have AS ZP tires on their rear wheels by any manufacturer we explored.
In fact, the new, Michelin Pilot Supersport ZP in P245/40ZR18s and P285/35ZR19 (base) and P245/35R19s and P285/30R20s (Z51) was engineered specifically for the 2014 Corvettes and, in fact are...."a whole new tire design just for the C7."
that's a stretch to say the tires are just for the C7. They clearly aren't and are available to any car or rim they will fit. Sure tire tread design and make-up are constantly being re-visited with each manufacturers needs which is how the Manufacturers meet that performance spec that engineering dictates. The PS2 now the PS3 is a good example. Did Jim mention why they went from a wider better gripping 12" to a narrower tire on a faster car? I asked that question and it was once again marketing who decides what gets ultimately chosen. The engineers are only a piece of a puzzle to what gets built. If they had they're way none of us could afford the vette. The high end vettes are not what GM is going after when it comes to the C7 even though the C7 is quite a fast car at any price. I'm a great example of that according to my conversation. The corvette with GY's cannot be driven in colder climates below 45 degrees without major problems with traction and there is NO option for me to buy any any cost to get a AS ZP tire for my car.
All pre-c7 vettes have summer tire only on them. Talk about limiting the market to only warmer climates for DD's. The C7 is trying to break the poor sales showings of recent years and has to reach out to every segment of the country, hot, warm, cold etc. They had to make changes and the smaller rear rims allowed the AS ZP being available by Michelin as an option for me to use my C7 as a DD and not sit in the garage until a sunny warm day shows up. That's not the only reason but was one mentioned once I got into the whole tire design problem for colder climates.
You can't buy car that way, but you can buy Michelin, all-season tires, in the C7 sizes on an aftermarket basis. Also, according to Michelin, the recommended all-season tire for C7 is the new Pilot Supersport A/S 3 and not the Pilot Sport 2.
