I have 66,000 miles on my SS with original Michelin tires. I have no complaints and they are still going strong with plenty of tread left, but will need to be replaced soon. What do you recommend?

 

The Pilots on my SS are wearing fine too because they are so hard and have so little grip that they can't wear.

These are one of the worse Pilots anyone could have as they are bad in the dry and worse in the wet.

All things being equal I would opt for the new Goodyear F1 All Season that just came out as it is one of the latest models on the market with great traction dry and wet but with good wear due the latest compounding.

If money was no object and my SS not a daily driver I would go for the Eagle F1 Supercar.

Now cost being a factor and the best tire for the money I may opt for the new Eagle GT.

We had them on the wife car last year before we sold it and for a low end performce tire it was a good deal. Yes it could have been better in all areas but nothing else for the price paid would come close.

 

I had Michelins on my car as original tires. Hated them! I now have these.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....s+V12+evo+K110

Nice tire. Lots of grip. Modest price.

 

If you got that kind of mileage and enjoyed the tires, go back with them! Why chance NOT getting that same performance?

 

I'm at 63K with my originals, and the term "performance" is used only loosely with these tires. They last a long time because they are hard, which also makes them loud. Their grip is not great, either, though they seemed a bit better when really hot. They aren't good in wet or snow conditions, either. There are better choices.

 

90% of most OE tires are crap. Most are older models or just cheap tires. Auto MFG do not want to pay anything for tires and often will take the cheapest thing they can get.

Many of the major Tire MFG are getting out of the OE market as it is a money loser unless they are supply a spec tire for specific cars. These are the ones where the MFG do make money. Goodyear dumped most of the market accept for the models they make money on. Cars that are now coming with the Assuance Fuel Max are getting them because they work. For example on the Volt they are worth 7 miles in electric charge alone and are one of the best fuel savings tires on the market so MFG are willing to pay for the extra MPG.

Also on many high end cars like the ZR1 they will pay for the better tires.

But today many of the Hankooks and other lower grade tires are on the cars todays car because they are cheap and imported.

The Pilots on the SS are an older model and are pretty outdated when it comes to compounding. Every MFG has these tires they whore out. Many of the new Pilots are still good tires. The same goes for Tires like the Eagle RSA and some of the Comp TA tires. The new model Eagles, TA's are some of the leading tires but the old ones that are near the end of their lives are pretty bad. It is like car models the newer the model the better even if it shares a name.

Newer tires in the last 5 years have really come a long way with the companies who invested greatly in compounding. It adds miles and it still gives great grip in dry or wet.

 

Thanks for all the input..

 

OEM may be crap, but you sure can't tell by the pilots price. You pay for speed rating

 

Oh yes you do.

The extra work and testing for a higher speed tires add much to the cost to built. They are all tested and X rayed for quailty. Also they use more expensive materials. Finally any found with a minor defect are trashed.

MFG can not afford any kind of failure with speed ratings as the law suits would be crazy.

This is why some powerful cars come with speed limiters. The auto makers are trying to limit the liabilitand also still be able to use a cheaper non speed rated tire.

To be honest I am suprised GM did not limit the SS for speed. It is not the kind of car many of us will run to 150 MPH. I did note they did run a Regal S with 270 HP to 162 MPH the other day.

 

I have had 5 different tires on the SS, the Gmax 03 is the best overall, especially the ride comfort. 255x 40, fits great.