new tires

[Sledgehammer]

hey guys its time for some new tires. what can you guys recommend for good tires that wont brake the bank. i also want to here from the guys that went without run flats and how the ride feels. what do you do if you get a flat? do you carry a repair kit with you, whats in the kit you have?

[Sneaks]

Summitomo and Nankang actually make decent tires. I ditched the run flats first thing. The ride is un-comparable. As far as a flat, that's what Allstate roadside assistance is for.
If you prefer to carry a kit, you'll need a simple plug kit and compressor. This will get you back up and running most times. So long as it isn't a catastrophic failure.

[LisaJohn]

BFG tires. AAA. Jacking pucks, low profile jack, patch kit, and the fix a flat stuff for emergency all in the vette.

[Y2Kvert4me]

I put about 60k miles on mine over the course of 10 years without runflat tires...Never had a problem

I kept a tire plug kit and a small air compressor in one of the small side compartments in the hatch. I also kept a can of fix-a-flat, but that would have only been used for an "all else failed" situation.
A jack isn't quite as necessary (you don't really need one to plug a tire), but many of the screw type scissors jacks that come included in other cars (that have a spare tire) collapse thin enough to fit under a lowered C5. They are compact, not hard to find (junkyard), and cheap. I also carried a basic tool kit in my car, as I have in all my cars. If you don't, at the very least pack a set of pliers with the plug kit.

If you are looking for cheap tires, I can't help. I'm sure there are some that are fine that will meet your needs, I just have no experience with them. If you want a really great tire, I loved the Michelin Pilot Super Sports I had on mine. But although they are twice the price of some of the bargain brands, they are still cheaper than the OE runflats.

But definitely ditch the runflats, they are truly awful tires.

[darnold]

Although I'm not the OP I want to say thank you for the great advice. My vette has nearly new Micheline Pilot AS EMT's. Since this is my first vette and I have only had it for 2.5 weeks I really have no other experience running without the EMT's. From what I can tell at least the Micheline EMT's are "better" than the Goodyear EMT's (according to Tire Rack's testing), but I'm not sure how much of a difference that really matters when comparing EMT's to non-EMT's. LOL!

From the advice here I would postulate that any EMT is worst in ride quality compared to a non-EMT; my question would be how are they inferior? Are they more harsh over bumps? Do they have noticeably less lateral grip? Do they degrade the car's balance and alter or mute its' turn-in characteristics? Or are they simply worst over surface irregularities and broken pavement, making the car "dance" around (This is something that I've noticed but I thought it was just due to the vette's stiffer suspension)? Just curious is all as it may be worth selling my EMT's and putting something else on this summer depending on some of the answers. One last question: since my vette is a daily driver how do A/S tires tend to compare to Max traction tires during normal driving...you know, fast off-ramp and on-ramp driving but sedate suburban driving?
Thanks in advance.

[RonC5]

On my 3rd set of Nitto 555's on my stock Coupe. Got nearly 50K on the last set. Excellent ride, good grip both wet and dry, quiet. Very reasonable at around $700 per set.

[motclark]

The Conti DW is good summer tire as well. These tires have a good grip on wet roads also and wears well.

[par4you]

Nitto's are great..... what size ????

[Aerovette]

Been running these for years

[RonC5]

Originally Posted by par4you

Nitto's are great..... what size ????

P245/45ZR-17
P275/40ZR-18

[Aerovette]

Originally Posted by Sledgehammer

hey guys its time for some new tires. what can you guys recommend for good tires that wont brake the bank. i also want to here from the guys that went without run flats and how the ride feels. what do you do if you get a flat? do you carry a repair kit with you, whats in the kit you have?

You definitely don't want to stop the bank.

[majorreno]

i just removed the run flats and purchased a set of hankooks for about $750 out the door, and they ride better that the runflats. they even look nice.

[Mike.Sheetz]

I just replaced some Hankook Ventus V12 tires. They were meager at best. Held well up until you started to really find the limit then they went completely away. Terrible for truly driving hard. I replaced them with some Firestone Firehawk Indy 500. They were less money than Michelin Pilot Sport and had similar reviews. My neighbor highly recommended them, and I know he drives hard. So far with only 5000 miles on them they have exceeded expectations for the price point. They were less than $800. Astonishing for the performance.

[A/E]

Don't Laugh - Cooper RSA series is perfect for a C5

Performance - quality - price - tread life - compound - All Tops

Shelby Mustangs come with them as OEM tire.

Check 'em out

[Goodtogo32]

Bought a set of continentals "Extreme contact" and I'm really impressed with their dry weather performance. Don't know about wet, we don't go there LOL.

[MadInNc]

Originally Posted by Goodtogo32

Bought a set of continentals "Extreme contact" and I'm really impressed with their dry weather performance. Don't know about wet, we don't go there LOL.

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