GOOD NEWS!

"Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen" (sportwagen) 01/05/2015 at 21:44 • Filed to: None

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Tires are on the car!

Today I bought two used (albeit newish) tires from Brown's Tire and Custom Wheel in Wichita. The guy who helped me look at the tires found one that looked brand new and I asked if he could find a match so I would have a pair. He found another one exactly like it! What are the odds? Oh, and did I mention these were $45 each, including mounting and balancing? Yeah.

The new tires are Continental ContiProContact all seasons in 205/55R16 with one being 89H load rating and the other 91H, but that doesn't really matter.

The old tires are BFGoodrich Touring TAs in the same size 91H... they grip great but wear SOOOO fast. Anyways, on to the pictures of the tires!!!

One tire at the tire shop.

New tire on the left, old tire on the right. (Unless you click expand, then flip it around)

New tire's tread.

Old tires tread (worn down to the wear bars in 30k miles? ridiculous IMO)

In fact, the tires I bought were so new, one still even had the little things on the side of the tire! WOW.

SCORE!!!

deekster_caddy > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 01/05/2015 at 21:48

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I'm never alarmed by 30K from a set of tires if you drive hard.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > deekster_caddy 01/05/2015 at 21:50

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80% of my driving is on country/highway... so straightline at between 60 and 75MPH...

I don't drive hard (beside the occasional "drop the hammer" moment while doing 50 or 60) so I don't even know how this happened

Axial > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 01/05/2015 at 21:50

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Tires being on a car is always a good thing. Hate it when I have to drive without them.

Biased Plies > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 01/05/2015 at 21:52

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In your profile picture you look like you are autocrossing the sportwagen. That'll do it.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Axial 01/05/2015 at 21:52

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Exactly! Makes for a bumpy ride!

Axial > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 01/05/2015 at 21:53

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Now, if somebody tried that on me they'd be in for a rude surprise because my car came with locking lugs! :D

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Biased Plies 01/05/2015 at 21:54

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Except that I autocrossed it twice and the tires were done for before then... they were pretty much dead by 75k miles (at that point the tires had 23k miles on them)

The front set is fine, they have almost as much tread as the new tires... maybe they weren't rotated when the tire shop (Sam's Club, don't flame me) said they did...

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Axial 01/05/2015 at 21:56

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LOL I had mine taken off because I was stuck without being able to rotate my tires for 14k miles when I lost the special key :(

I just used the special plastic nut covers that'll strip out if you don't have the right tool :P

Biased Plies > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 01/05/2015 at 21:59

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The front set is fine? That's odd. You'd expect the driven wheels to be the worn set. Unless they were never rotated before and only recently found their way to the back. If the worn pair spent most of those 30k miles on the driven axles, it's not too surprising that they're worn out and in that case with proper rotation I expect they'd have lasted 45-50k miles.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Biased Plies 01/05/2015 at 22:00

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Actually that is exactly what happened (damn wheel locks and lost keys!)

The worn pair spent about 20k miles on the front axle... 236tq might have something to do with it too lol

Axial > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 01/05/2015 at 22:06

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I can't rotate my tires anyway. Directionality, staggered sizes, and all that jazz. :p

The real pain in the butt is how much tread is left on the fronts when the rears are shot. I'm thinking I'll just replace the rears independent of the fronts, though that might mean different tire brands all around. Goodyear doesn't manufacture GSCs anymore, I don't think, and I know they don't make them in 315/35/17.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Axial 01/05/2015 at 22:07

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WTF kind of car do you drive?

Biased Plies > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 01/05/2015 at 22:08

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Yep, there's the culprit. Keep the wheel lock key in the glove box or under the spare tire as I do, or ditch them altogether. Unless the wheels are flashy or otherwise special it's pretty damn unlikely anyone is going to try and steal them anyway.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Biased Plies 01/05/2015 at 22:14

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The wheel lock was forgotten on the lug when I had to do a QUICK tire change on the side of a highway

I just had the guy at the dealership take them off and replace them with regular lug bolts

Axial > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 01/05/2015 at 22:30

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The same thing Jalopnik's own Patrick George is gushing over at the moment. ;D

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Axial 01/05/2015 at 22:38

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YOU HAVE A ZR-1

need pics plz

Axial > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 01/05/2015 at 22:44

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Only have two pictures at the moment, both of which I've posted around before. It's these:

I intend to do an Oppo review in the summer, when I'm finished with college and the roads aren't constantly making things look shitty. It's currently my DD.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Axial 01/05/2015 at 22:52

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A college student with a real car? WUT

Axial > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 01/05/2015 at 23:06

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> My first car (2002 Jetta GLS) went poof way too many times

> ZR-1 was $14,000

> Really generous parents

> Really good grades in high school and in college

> Obligated to buy the car on my own dime once I'm out

I have no delusions, though: I am one incredibly lucky piece of shit. It's not even my first Corvette: that honor belongs to a black 1996 LT4 that is going to stay with the old man when I leave, and the price of that one is what I have to pay for the ZR-1 ($16,500).

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Axial 01/05/2015 at 23:08

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Wait

You got a ZR-1 for 14k

WTF are they actually that cheap?

Axial > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 01/05/2015 at 23:26

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$14,000 is an anomaly of a price. However, $16,000 is not. If you are willing to settle for a 1991 or 1992, $16,000 is rather easy to find. 1990 (which is the only year I wanted) is a little harder to find at such low price points. Check Craigslist in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and California. AutoTrader has had this one up for awhile , and at $13,000 that's a goddamn steal.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Axial 01/05/2015 at 23:31

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Wow

Maybe I should save up during college and buy one myself...

Axial > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 01/05/2015 at 23:39

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I'm not sure how much longer they'll stay this affordable. That was the entire reason we got the '90 now, to avoid later regrets. In May 2012, you could find them all over the place for between $12,000 and $15,000. Now? I know I said it's rather easy to find one for around $16,000, but that still takes a bit of time spent digging around the internet. It used to be as easy as going onto the classifieds section of Corvette Forum. Finding one under $16,000 is a market fluke. Finding one around $18,000 is doing better than typical, but most sit around $22,000.

In four years, I expect finding one less than $20,000 to be a noteworthy accomplishment.

bob and john > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 01/06/2015 at 01:15

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fun fact:

those contis? they come stock on the audi A3 TDI. and they LASSSTTTTTT

we have had our for 5 years (summers only, have a different set of wheels/tires for winters) and they are just due tro be replaced.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > bob and john 01/06/2015 at 01:17

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Yep ContiProContacts one in 89h one in 91h

I'd say I got a hell of a deal on them considering they are basically brand new

bob and john > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 01/06/2015 at 01:17

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I woudl check the build date on them and make sure they arent TOO old.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > bob and john 01/06/2015 at 01:19

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They shouldnt be... I'll check tomorrow b/c its 1215AM here and i've got to be up at 615am