Found some Dunlops..

Stingraynut · August 26, 2003, 11:49:05 PM

Thanks Vette Obsessed, appreciate any info you can give me on the shipping.

Also for passing on my Hi to Doug, hope he's going well. I really appreciated the info from you and the contacts you gave me. I had no Qld C4 contacts until after I bought my 88.

ddd · October 22, 2003, 11:04:29 PM

Latecomer to this post (and forum).
Ihave Sumitomo road tyres (about $400 each; 275/40/17), which I recently used in a sprint meeting at phillip Island in the wet On the road they seem pretty good in the wet; on a very wet track they were pretty ordinary, but heaps better than an old set of Goodyears (and much much better than my Hoosier dry track DOT radials.
One of the other guys with a C5 runs Michelin pilots, and was fasteat round the island in the very wet conditions. He blew me away.

Vette Obsessed · October 23, 2003, 03:04:21 PM

QuoteOriginally posted by dd
He blew me away.

That's the first time I've heard of that happening to you dd. :22

Andrew

ddd · October 23, 2003, 05:28:27 PM

On the power circuits (Sandown and Calder) the C5s are knocking me off in the dry! And we haven't had a dry Island yet this year.

Stingraynut · December 03, 2003, 11:14:55 PM

Here's a final update on my tyre research - another old thread being resurrected, but hey, it's Christmas.

275x40x14 is a fairly rare size in Aus. There's not much choice.

I decided the best tyre was the Goodyear GS D3 - US$187 at www.tirerack.com

Goodyear Australia advised me they would import four for me with their next shipment but I had to order through my local store - three months later, after much too'ing and froo'ing the Cairns store advised me that these tyres were not available. !!!!

I considered importing them myself, especially as the Aus$ v US $ looks good, but I don't know enough about importing and what I do know looks like a hassle - getting them shipped from Brisbane to Cairns would add to the cost plus having to pay GST DUTY SHIPPING ETC.

I only need to replace 2 as the front Falkens were new in May. The Khumo Ecsta MX is not available here but they do have the 712. Enough people on the Corvette Forum told me they were OK and only 1 person said they suck. I was quoted $350 each fitted in Cairns.

I decided to give them a go because my rear tyres are just about done. We might get a wet season this year so as well as staying legal, I'll need some roadholding to keep the powerful beast pointing forwards.

I asked QuickFit for their 'best price' and made it clear I was about to order.

Their reply was $305 each, so I was very pleased. It gets me out of trouble, I can see for myself whether the tyres are any good in the wet and now have a couple of years to plan the importing of some good wet weather tyres - if they exist for an 11 inch wide tyre.

On the down side the tread looks very average and similar to my Falkens which I discover have been replaced with a better looking tread.

On the up side, apart from being $95 cheaper each than the Falkens, I discovered that wet weather roadholding in the 10kph to 70kph speed range is more to do with the compound than the tread. The Kumho's are known to 'flat spot' if the car isn't driven for a few days - suggesting a very soft compound - which will be good for wet roadholding.

S'nut

FastBlackZ28 · December 18, 2003, 11:37:31 PM

About a month ago I wrote off my 280ZX (actually some woman in a Ford station wagon who can't give way did it).. So obviously it was time to buy a new car..
I was going to go with the obvious (Commodore SS) until I happened to see a rather slick lookin' Convertible 4th-Gen Camaro Z28. Brought back fond memories of every other Camaro or Firebird I owned back in Canada.. So I bought it..
I probably should have done a bit more research into all the problems of owning a relatively new American car over here, but I didn't. I checked out everything else on the car though - except the tires that is.. Normally the very first time I even look at a car on a lot I kick the tires, pull out a penny (or since I'm in Oz now, a 5-cent coin) and check if the treads cover the Queen's head. But I was so concerned about everything else that I didn't even think about it.
Only after two weeks, when a mate pointed out my American Racing wheels and made a joke about how much tires were going to cost me for this thing (P275/40ZR17) did I notice the tread wear!
The rear tires are Falken Ziex's (and I have to agree.. They suck! I even lose traction coming off the on-ramp to the freeway at 45km/h) but they at least have 85-90% of the tread left. The front's on the other hand are some tire designed by Giugiaro (the exact make I can't remember and it's too dark outsie to go and check) and they probably don't even have 10% left. I don't even know how it passed a roadworthy.

From what I'm hearing I'm oing to have to spend over $2000 on tires pretty soon.. Which I'm not happy about..
I'm going to go back to the dealer and give him sh*t and hopefully I can get a new set out of him. Doubtful though.
I'm going to have to get at least two to replace those front ones.

I'm just not sure which ones to buy, and whether or not to put them on the front, or move the Falken's to the front and put the new ones on the back.
Melbourne doesn't get that wet, but when it does it can get very wet, and you never know when you need it, so I'm really looking for a tire that performs well on the street and in the wet. I'll probably never take her on the track, except maybe to drag, so I'm not too worried about that sort of performance.
Any thoughts? I'd appreciate any advice.

Also, if anyone knows of a good mechanice in Vic who knows LT1's and preferable Camaro's, could you let me know? I haven't found a mechanic yet (and I pray I don't need one for anything other than regular service)..

I'm starting to miss the Datto..
(But I forget all about it every time I get behind the wheel of the Camaro..)

Cheers!

MJ355 · December 19, 2003, 04:18:02 PM

hey how u going i have a camaro aswell if u need any info on camaro's try the www.camaro-firebird.org club i am also a memeber just go into it and join the forum and they will help u out with any thing u need to know or parts for camaros dont worry its still easy to get parts over here for 4th gen camaros

FastBlackZ28 · December 23, 2003, 12:36:15 AM

Well I took a punt and went into a Beaurepaires in Hawthorn (Vic) to ask about 275/40R17's and I got a call back today sying that they actually have Dunlops in that size! They're from Japan aparantly, and I didn't catch the model name over the phone, but according to him they're good (but you can't trust a tire salesman).. They don't have them in stock in the store, but can have them within 1-2 days.
Fully installed and balanced, $350 AUD each. At that price you can't go too wrong, and they've got to be better than the Falken's, but I'll try to check out what model they are and do some research on them.
I'll post what I find.

MJ355 - thanks.. I just joined CF.org. What kind of Camaro do you have?

Cheers!

MJ355 · December 23, 2003, 10:28:51 PM

hey how u going i have a 91 model camaro z28 convertiable its white my alias is OZ Z28 talk to u on the forum

Stingraynut · December 24, 2003, 10:40:28 AM

Hi Fast Black, re tyres for your car, just thought you should know, during my research I discovered that different sizes of the same brand can have different qualities - the WRX mob have several posts relating to that. So an xxx brand 16" tyre may be top gear but the 17" a dog.

I'd recommend finding some info from other owners.

Personally I can't see even a bald 275 wide tyre being a problem in the dry - so I've focussed on wet weather handling - The new Kumho's I bought haven't been tested in the wet yet - BTW, I only require the same handling I had on my Fairlane ! I'm not trying to get Formula one handling.