Trainman-2

I can't believe how quiet they are!

You all know about the Railroad Vette...



It is my Daily Driver and I drive it in the rain (it doesn't melt) in snow and on ice (it doesn't freeze) and on the railroad tracks and through old railroad yards and in heavy southern thunderstorms and on dirt and gravel roads and on the beach at Daytona Beach and at high speed on the Interstate Highways and even tow a trailer with it.

I decided I wanted to buy run flats and after some thought and a lot of free advise I decided on Michelin Sport AS-ZP All Season Tires. Michelin calls them "Zero Pressure" tires.

My shop ordered them in and I looked at the tread pattern and had then installed and balanced today. My original Good Year tires lasted a bit over 38,000 miles but both front tires were badly worn on the inside. The shop put the Vette on the 4 wheel alignment machine and with the new tires it was within the factory specs. But the guys said that they could fine tune the settings to avoid the wear I had on the inside so I had them do that.

But get this! These tires are QUIET! All of a sudden the Vette is as quiet as TrainMom's Subaru. I can not believe how quiet these tires are. And they are Run Flats!

Here are the photos. But note how the tires mount on the wheels...



And a close up...



The tire actually extends outside the rim a bit.



In this close up you can see that the tire has a built up section that extends outside of the rim by about 1/4". It looks like I could not rub my rims against a curb if I tried to.



Maybe these tires will get noisier as they wear but somehow I don't think so. Any, I am impressed with them. Near total silence at both city and highway speeds.

But as I left the tire shop, Disaster Almost Struck!

It turns out that they cracked a windshield several years ago so they always unlatch the removable tops to allow the car to "twist" on the machine. Anyway, they forgot to re-latch them. I drove a few blocks from the shop to the interstate and as I accelerated up the ramp, the front of the top lifted off the top of the windshield. Thank god the rear latch was still latched and I was able to jam on the brakes, pull to the side, stop and re-latch the front latches without actually launching the roof into space.

When I got home I called the shop and told them that they needed to improve their procedures for loosening and re-latching removable tops.

I can't believe that I almost joined the Flying Roof Club!

The tire details are:

Michelin Sport AS-ZP 245/45R17 - $268 each installed & ballanced.

Michelin Sport AS-ZP 275/40R18 - $368 each installed & ballanced.

Happy Motoring Gang!

I Love My New Quiet Tires!

RTSVET

I have 2 sets of the Mich. pilot sport a/s tires one set is stock size on my stock chrome thin spokes and the other set is on my EVOs which are 275/35/18 front and 285/30/20 rear.
They are without a dout the best tires i have ever had on my vert and i will by them again.
I didnt get the zp because they were backordered for 6 weeks so i got the other and just carry a small jack and plug kit but i have never had to use it mich also gave me roadside assistance when i got mine.

navy99vert

Good Tire!

barkingowl

Who installed them Jim?

vetterlatethannever

Have to keep those tires in mind for next time!

Stangkiller

Sweet! i'm running a set of Pilot Sports too! but, mine are 335's They're great in the rain and on cornering!

AlanN

I have heard the Mich's are not as wide as the OEM run flats. You wouldn't have a pic of the rears would you? I am starting to look at tires and was considering these.

Trainman-2

B & B Tires in Rock Hill

hunt4cleanair

Trainman:

My 00 is looking at 32k miles and while I have a few miles left I've begun to look. I like your report on these...I've got a convertible and its noisey as hell. I'll welcome some decibel reduction.

Did you get the OEM replacement size or did you deviate from stock?

RocketDawg

I bought the same Michelins in late summer, and like them pretty well. I agree that they're quieter and don't "groove track", compared to the stock Goodyears ... but the Michelins are new and the Goodyears were worn out ... only time will tell if the Michelins retain their qualities as they wear.

To me, the Michelins look narrower than the Goodyears ... but I assume it's only an illusion since they both have the same tread width (245 and 275 mm, in my case ... stock sizes). Not only that, the Goodyears seemed to have a lower profile. I liked the way they looked much better.

AlanN ... I'm off work today, so I'll see if I can get a good picture of the rears and post it for you.

Trainman-2

My love for my fellow Corvette drivers was not strong enough this morning to go out into the rain and lay in a puddle to shoot some more photos. But here are two taken while laying on the cold garage floor this morning.

YES! I know the garage needs to be cleaned.

Left Front Tire



Left Rear tire



The tread pattern is identical on all of the tires. Later this morning I am going to try them out in the rain.

Happy Motoring...

Z0SLIK

Heard a lot of good things about this tire!!

c5BlackBeauty

Thanks for the heads up

StuzVette

Michelin definitely makes a great tire!

istsme98

Thanks for the info

miamivette02

I'm in the same boat. Just last week, I had my OEM runcraps replaced with the Michelin PS AS ZP's and I noticed the difference as soon as I pulled out of the parking lot of the shop. Smooth and quieter ride, for sure.

Another side note: someone commented on the fact that the OEMs look better due to their low-profile look. I tend to agree. However, I noticed that the reason the Michelins look rounder is that the treadblocks extend from the rolling surface to the upper portion of the sidewall (sorta reminds me of the Mickey Thompson off-road tires). I guess they probably do that so that tread blocks will contact the road in a runflat situation, and under hard cornering.

Either way, I've gotten used to the looks and like the improved ride.

JeepTJ

Sweet !!! Your car already ran like it was on tracks.Wait a Min. You are on tracks.

0Vette Stripes

Don't try it to early because they are still brand new tires so they will not perform as great as after 500 miles or so.

Mich. tires are great!

-Mie

Trainman-2

As far as I know they are replacement size.

BiggieBoy

Thanks for the info. Looks like Michelin make one hell of a good runflat.