Tire prices

[Coralkong]

Don't ever buy a performance car then.

Uh, I own a Jaguar that takes speed rated tires (V+ perhaps? I forget.....). Anyway, the tires for that aren't nearly that expensive. Now, they're not cheap, but not $1700 for 4. That's $425 a tire!!!!!

What model Corvette do you have?

 

[reverend1]

Uh, I own a Jaguar that takes speed rated tires (V+ perhaps? I forget.....). Anyway, the tires for that aren't nearly that expensive. Now, they're not cheap, but not $1700 for 4. That's $425 a tire!!!!!

What model Corvette do you have?

I would call a Jag a performance car. They deffinatly don't take z rated tires, and they are not nearly as wide or as low a profile as a tire for a Z06. The wheels on a Z06 could be 18-20".

Jags, BMW's etc are limited in most cases to 155 mph to avoid the requirement of z rated tires to preserve ride quality.

 

[Coralkong]

Yep, 155mph is about as fast as I need to go.....lol

So, you own a Z06?

Do you ever take it to the track?

(oh, and comparing a Jaguar to a BMW is a big no-no, lol......the owners are mutually condescending towards the other brands, lol.....)

 

[nuke_diver]

OP never said what kind of tires he was buying. Those big tires for vettes or SUV's get pretty pricey quick. Fortunately for me I have a Integra with 15" tires so I can get some reasonably priced ones but when I was driving the coastal mountains everyday I got good ones and even though it was back in around 1999 they still cost over $120 a tire. Good ones or lots of rubber and you're going to be paying big time. Last ones I got were Falkens and I got a buy 3 get 4 deal so I was about 380 out the door which was good. The tires are decent but I no longer need the wet performance that I did when driving the hill so I can get cheaper. Which is good cause I go through tires pretty fast. I typically get less that 30,000 no matter what they are rated at.

 

[reverend1]

Yep, 155mph is about as fast as I need to go.....lol

So, you own a Z06?

Do you ever take it to the track?

(oh, and comparing a Jaguar to a BMW is a big no-no, lol......the owners are mutually condescending towards the other brands, lol.....)

Speed racer has a Z06. I've never owned a Corvette. I have owned two 911's. I have raced 911's, RX7's, and Dodge Neons.

 

[bsman]

Speed racer has a Z06. I've never owned a Corvette. I have owned two 911's. I have raced 911's, RX7's, and Dodge Neons.

 

[Lerxst]

Dodge Neons.

Found one for you

http://forums.subdriven.com/showthr...n.-quot-TO-MUCH-STUFF-TO-LIST-quot&p=82483279

 

[Johnny N.]

Yeah, Costco is a good deal. But during our family travels across the west, we have utilized the services of Les Schwab more than once to keep us going. Their western service network can be a life saver as they are in most larger towns out here. Worth the few bucks difference to me, especially when you consider I have to drive an hour and a half down to Twin Falls for Costco. And Les Schwab comes pretty darned close anyway.

Makes sense. I think Tiltsa and I are probably 10 minutes from the same Costco so it is definitely convenient. I also got free lifetime rotation so that is nice since most oil change places are charging and extra $20 to rotate. I went back to changing my own oil and having Costco rotate my tires. I'm not familiare with Les Schwab but I always agree that great service is worth extra, within reason.

 

[TomcatMF]

Uh, I own a Jaguar that takes speed rated tires (V+ perhaps? I forget.....). Anyway, the tires for that aren't nearly that expensive. Now, they're not cheap, but not $1700 for 4. That's $425 a tire!!!!!

What model Corvette do you have?

I own a C6 Z06. It's the size of the tires that limits my choices. The Michelin PS2 that I got were the least expensive available because they are not run flat tires. If I went run flat on anything the price goes over $2K. The nice thing is the tires I got have a tremendous amount of grip (and with 505 HP on tap I need it) and the ride is much better than that of the run flat Goodyears I had before.

 

[TomcatMF]

Not bad for Michelin pilots I'm assuming. Great tire too.

Yep, PS2 to be precise, and they are awesome. Grip for days.

 

[reverend1]

Yep, PS2 to be precise, and they are awesome. Grip for days.

Nice, I have to say I'm surprised that they ship that car withGoodyears. Every set of GY's I've had in the last ten years were garbage. Minimal grip, poor longevity, and a terrible ride.

 

[Lerxst]

Nice, I have to say I'm surprised that they ship that car withGoodyears. Every set of GY's I've had in the last ten years were garbage. Minimal grip, poor longevity, and a terrible ride.

The c7 tires are custom designed Michelins

 

[TomcatMF]

The c7 tires are custom designed Michelins

They started shipping C6 Z06's with Michelin's in 2012. Almost everyone on the Corvette Forums gets off the GY tires as soon as they can. Michelin is the most popular, but Nitto and Bridgestones are common choices as well.

 

[reverend1]

They started shipping C6 Z06's with Michelin's in 2012. Almost everyone on the Corvette Forums gets off the GY tires as soon as they can. Michelin is the most popular, but Nitto and Bridgestones are common choices as well.

Glad to hear they dropped them. I've never had a bad Michelin, and I really like Bridgestone's.

 

[Steverino]

OP never said what kind of tires he was buying. Those big tires for vettes or SUV's get pretty pricey quick. Fortunately for me I have a Integra with 15" tires so I can get some reasonably priced ones but when I was driving the coastal mountains everyday I got good ones and even though it was back in around 1999 they still cost over $120 a tire. Good ones or lots of rubber and you're going to be paying big time. Last ones I got were Falkens and I got a buy 3 get 4 deal so I was about 380 out the door which was good. The tires are decent but I no longer need the wet performance that I did when driving the hill so I can get cheaper. Which is good cause I go through tires pretty fast. I typically get less that 30,000 no matter what they are rated at.

An old 2002 S10 truck. I could put anything on it, but the guy at the local tire joint quoted me right at $600 for the Michelin Pilots out the door. 245/50R16s. The truck does have a pretty decent suspension for what it is so I don't want to put crap tires on it. I live in this vehicle for 2 hours a day and I do like a nice handling car and ride, within my budget of course, which isn't much.

No Ed Schwabs around here, isn't that an investment banking firm anyway?

 

[OGG]

Tires aren't expensive.

They are the only source of contact between your car and the road. They are all that allow you meander down a country lane on a warm sunny day without ending up in a fiery heap against a tree or at the bottom of a canyon.

For all that we ask of our tires, performance, longevity, comfort, safety etc... they are remarkably cheap.

It sucks spending money on neccessaties, but in the case of a good tire it is money well spent.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[Steverino]

It sucks spending money on neccessaties, but in the case of a good tire it is money well spent.

I hear ya. I gotta have my beer and cigs first, then maybe I'll think about tires.


But seriously..

I've been buying tires for a "fleet" of vehicles in the past 10 years or so. I've been the local tire marts no less than 6-7 times for full sets since the girls have been driving along with mine and the wife's car(s), and thank God the girls are on their own now for the most part. My post was more of an observation of climbing tire prices in the past several years.

I was going to post a link or two about it, but just Google "rising rubber prices" if you'd like and pick one, or a dozen.

 

[Tig]

It is all based on supply and demand, or specifically, the huge increase in China's demand for rubber and tires upon the existing world market.

I try to replace tires 2 at a time.

 

[nuke_diver]

Glad to hear they dropped them. I've never had a bad Michelin, and I really like Bridgestone's.

I have. The original Michelins that came on the GSR were horrid particularly in the rain and hydroplaned all over the place. Driving a mountain road was frightening at times I couldn't wait to get rid of them. When I got my Dunlop SP's it was like there wasn't any water on the road...but they did wear fast

 

[OGG]

I hear ya. I gotta have my beer and cigs first, then maybe I'll think about tires.


But seriously..

I've been buying tires for a "fleet" of vehicles in the past 10 years or so. I've been the local tire marts no less than 6-7 times for full sets since the girls have been driving along with mine and the wife's car(s), and thank God the girls are on their own now for the most part. My post was more of an observation of climbing tire prices in the past several years.

I was going to post a link or two about it, but just Google "rising rubber prices" if you'd like and pick one, or a dozen.

Rising rubber prices are only a small part of tire costs. In fact, tire prices have not really risen in relation to inflation as much as other products. The price of tires today has a lot more to do with a series of other factors. In the good ol' days, you had a very limited range of tire sizes and performance options. if you drove a big American Sedan, it used an FR78-15, just like all of the other big American Sedans.

Today's cars come with a HUGE variety of tire sizes, performance levels and construction materials. Many newer tires have very little actual "rubber" in them, but are instead made up of compound cocktails that are downright exotic. Tire manufacturers have to tool for a crazy array of different products in their line these days compared to in years past. All of those exotic compounds and molds cost money, money to design and research, money to procure, money to build.

The profit margin on tires today is at an all time low, both for the builder, and for the retailer. The end consumer is actually a HUGE winner in all of this. They end up with a product that is light years better than what was available in years past, at a cost that is relatively low in comparison to historical standard. Even the entry level, off brand tires on the US market today are of a much higher quality than the top tier tires of the big names of the not too distant past.

It still sucks spending the money, but that money goes further than ever before.

BTW, I just priced a set of tires for my car... $1,896.20 at Discount tire...

If I'm lucky, I could maybe get 13K miles out of them.

And I am 100% Ok with that fact.