On Tuesday in the pouring rain I tried to drive on the freeway but the car was sliding all over the place above 45 mph.

I've only put 12,000 miles since I bought them last summer. I only drive it to church on Sundays, and sometimes to the store to buy more wax.

I don't know if this is related, but the back of the car often smokes quite a bit and smells very bad, and the car also accumulates little black bits all over the fenders that makes it difficult to keep clean.

What do you guys think? Maybe tire pressure related? My friend Billy says its because I didn't put nitrogen in them. I need to get this figured out as its getting expensive buying new tires every year.

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You need to get them to install a more traditional Christmas tree in the church parking lot ;-)

What type of tires are you running. Ultra soft, sticky compounds will do this. Hell, Performance summer Tires, specifically the Goodyear EMT's are shot by 12-14K Miles and their not really that soft of a compound. Your wear pattern looks ok from the pictures. How does the car ride? Have you thought of the obvious, maybe a wheel alignment?

Looks to me like you need to give up! Your never going to be able to compete with me....

[IMG]http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r97/BG528/corvette036.jpg[/IMG]

DG

Wow, it gets foggy in New York too.

They are Bridgestone RE050A pole position. Treadwear rating is 140. What's interesting, is their RE01R tires have a higher 180 rating, yet that's supposed to be their street/track tire.

Car rides like shit actually with the flat spots on them. I'm glad to get rid of em, but am replacing with the same. They stick like glue though otherwise. Only 300 miles of that was on the race track. Hopefully there will be more this year. Now I'm seeing why it's not worth it to run soft tires on the street.

I'm no expert on tires, but I can tell you 140 is an extremely low tread rating. I know you like to drive the twisties, but I don't think in such a warm weather climate as CA that you need such a sticky tire. I've had tires that have been of alot harder compound; after driving for 2-3 hours at a sustained 85MPH, would leave a nice noticable tire tread reside on my rear quarters. When I first got my vette, I also learned the hard way that super soft tires are more prone to flat spots, which is going to make them rumble and ride harsh after a while. Since I have learned the golden rule. Tires are all about compromise. You don't get something for nothing. If their tacky on the road, stick and handle ubsurdly well, chances are they are going to make a mess and wear quickly. And if they are Mickey Thompson, sportsman hard, or Walmart Douglass hard, you will have longevity, but you will drastically lose performance. My advice would be to look for a different tire with at least a 220 rating. I would also take note of the tread depth to start. Many of the manufacturers that were turning out tires with 11/32's tread depth are now turning out tires NEW with no more than 8-9/32's tread depth. Those new tires are already used in my opinion, even though their actually new.

DG

Hey Central,

Just as an example, the tires on my C6; they are the Goodyear EMT's. They have a 220 Tread Rating, and after 14K miles they look worse than yours. If you take a look at the customer reviews on tire rack, and some of the complaints on DC, most people are finding themselves in the same boat. Just around 14-15K, your all out of tread, and the tires won't even hold the road.

DG

Ok, I didn't think you guys would actually take this post seriously. You really should know better.



Check out the sidewall flex on this one:

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hm. You need a set of these:

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You know,... you had me scratching my head the entire time I was reading this post. I know you and bogus are like the elite gurus of the site, and yet your asking such a basic question. But for all the help you have given me over the years I figured I would just go along with it and answer the question.

I know you drive twisty roads and what not, I've seen the pictures. But I still can't believe your running such a soft tire on the street.

I gave the GS-D3 a try, which I am guessing is just about as soft,... for the added grip its not worth the price, cold weather hassle, gravel kicking up on my rear quarters, or the tire dust all over the rear of the car.

Ok, ya got me this time central... but you don't Fuc*up a set of tires like a pro.... I could teach you a thing or two about shreading tires!

DG

Do you even go to church?

DG

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The stinky smoke and little bits of rubber was a definite clue. For longer tire life stuck your left foot under the accelerator before you stick your right foot on top of it.

I had tires once.

Tires are like beers, when they're gone, you always want more.

I have a car that uses up a set of tires in 125 miles.

Yup, wear looks totally even.

But 12k? Hmmm. One things IS for sure tho'; 300 track miles is not the same as 300 street miles.

In fact, I'd venture that it equates to at LEAST 305 street miles

Our President-elect may have a tire pressure gauge or two left. Maybe you should check into that.

I really don't see though, why everyone is running such sticky tires out on the street these days. Its not like every time you pull up to a light your going to race someone. My Chevelle used to hookup hard out on the street with a quick spin off, and a set of BFGoodrich Radial T/A's. I rarely had traction issues with my 396 unless they were self-induced.

I got recommeded the GS-D3's because I wanted a better riding tire. When its warm, they really do "dig" into the road. But my car makes 250HP.... and judging my the tread wear in the past 500 miles, I can't see them lasting long then 10-15K. On my Monte, I can do that in 2 months.

Better to have a set of drag radials on shit rims, in my opinion then to run ridiculous tires out on the street. Did I mention the gravel being thrown into the wheel wells is driving me nuts.

DG

If I track the car a few times per year, plus street driving, and get 2 years out of a set, that's $500/year on tire expenses.

A set of wheels and race tires would run about $750 and $1000, respectively. I could then go back to harder street tires at $600 per set, and get 4 years out of em, that's $150 per year.

I save $350 per year on street tires, but race tires will cost about $350 per year if they last 3 years with light usage. So for a one-time expense on wheels, I'm running on race tires and have the same operating expenses. And I don't even race that much.

So if you run at least 3-4 events per year, a 2nd set of wheels/tires is absolutely worth it.

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Some of us were smart enough to stay out of it...

i think its simply cause yer runnin mn. cold winter air n fergot ta change ta summer air...sumtimes jus new clean air is good too..sun n git wax yea n im a fuggan anglish teacher too

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