Alrighty... so I'm at a loss on this one. All the "usual" suspects are iout on this one so I'm turning to you fine folks for suggestions.
1988 Corvette, 275/40/17's. What tires? 285/40/17's are also on the table.
I've narrowed it down to 3 possible contenders, but only know 1 of them personally. Toyo's R1R's are very reasonably priced, but IIRC they aren't happy on a heavy car (3100lbs + fat driver) and lack braking grip at the edge. Nitto has the NT-05 but I know NOTHING about that tire. And the new Falken RT-615K.
Car will be an auto-x car that will see a few track days here and there and lots of street time. Tires will not be shaved. Car is mostly stock, and runs the Z51 suspension with a set of special Koni's soon....
Suggestions? THoughts? Somethign I missed?
We have the RIRs on my wife's Miata -- I love the tires, but then again, the car is much lighter than a C4. The Falkens may be a better bet. I think the Kumho XS also comes in a size that is Corvette friendly.
mndsm
Dork
10/1/10 9:05 a.m.
No re-11's or AD08's or Star Specs?
I'd written the XS off because of the terrible wet weather characteristics. Since this will be a true driver, I need something that I'm not afraid will put me into the wall on the highway in a sudden rain shower.
Sadly, none of the "good tires" are available in my size. If I was made of money I could step up to some 18" wheels and get me some RS-3's in 285/35....
But then I likely wouldn't spend much time on a forum such as this!
I've been running a set of NT05s for 2 years now on my 350Z (3300 + driver), but I don't have a whole lot to compare them to. I can't compare them back to back with the OEM tires, because there was about a 3-4 week gap between driving one and the other (and they're much differently sized too).
I'm not scared to drive them in the rain, but it can get a little squirrelly when it's cool (< 45 degrees) and rainy. They were cheaper than most of the other tires in the size (275/40R18).
I've AutoX'ed them, but have only AutoX'ed on those. (Not a lot of experience) They seem to like a little bit of warmth in them. I haven't driven them on really hot days, but on hot-lapping (5 runs), they seemed to warm up quickly and be more consistent than I am. This morning (~45 degrees), I had to drive on it for 4-5 minutes before full throttling it. Earlier this week I drove it, and accidentally did a dorifto coming out of my neighborhood. 5 minutes later, and it would've just hooked up.
hOW Are they in braking and power-on situations? This C4 has a ton of torque all the time (345ft-lbs stock) and the big 13" brakes have a lot of "whoa" power.... something I need the tires to handle a little bette than the SPT's I have now. 
