ZL1 tires

[Callchuck]

Originally Posted by Misterleeman

Were the tires worn out (down to the wear bars), or were they cracked and ruined ? If they were the latter, than I believe GM/dealership should do something for you.

Performance tires wear out fast. Getting to the wear bars at 6k miles seems a little unusual, but not impossible with these tires.

My right rear was down to the bar. The other tires were all worn around the edges as expected. I can accept the short life span,but not the 40 degrees and under that GM has issued as a safety bulletin.

[Asanti]

I totally agree with Callchuck's statement..."I felt like the car was misrepresented when I purchased it because it was never disclosed this car cannot be driven in 40 degrees or colder weather. It is always 40 degrees or colder in Atlanta this time of year. Driving this car everyday and the dealership or GM never notifing me is a big concern."... This was never disclosed or discussed with me. I feel that this is unacceptable behavior and am very disappointed in GM and their dealers.

[zl1fun]

I did some research BEFORE buying my ZL1...I read up on the tires and knew BEFORE I bought the car that they were SUMMER TIRES.......I have not had any problem with tire grab in the warmer months in Illinois... LOve the tires....light them up if you can't get grab!!!! easy fix.

[BlackinBlack]

Originally Posted by zl1fun

I did some research BEFORE buying my ZL1...I read up on the tires and knew BEFORE I bought the car that they were SUMMER TIRES.......I have not had any problem with tire grab in the warmer months in Illinois... LOve the tires....light them up if you can't get grab!!!! easy fix.

I expected that due to daily driving the car I was going to need to buy at least one set a year.

I did a ton of research on the car and knew before I bought that the tires were going to be soft and wear quickly.

My tires are noticeably harder when cold at temps below even 70. Get a little heat into them and they are worlds better. If I lived in an area were cold temperatures are the norm for a good chunk of the year I would buy a different set of rims and tires for those times.

[Callchuck]

Originally Posted by BlackinBlack

I expected that due to daily driving the car I was going to need to buy at least one set a year.

I did a ton of research on the car and knew before I bought that the tires were going to be soft and wear quickly.

My tires are noticeably harder when cold at temps below even 70. Get a little heat into them and they are worlds better. If I lived in an area were cold temperatures are the norm for a good chunk of the year I would buy a different set of rims and tires for those times.

GM does not warrant any other tire wheel combo. I knew the tires would be soft, but not operational under 40 degrees. If you change your wheel and tire set up and something happens warranty will not cover you. I am asking for a buy back and might cancel my 2014 vette I have on order.

[Norm Peterson]

Originally Posted by Asanti

I totally agree with Callchuck's statement..."I felt like the car was misrepresented when I purchased it because it was never disclosed this car cannot be driven in 40 degrees or colder weather. It is always 40 degrees or colder in Atlanta this time of year. Driving this car everyday and the dealership or GM never notifing me is a big concern."... This was never disclosed or discussed with me. I feel that this is unacceptable behavior and am very disappointed in GM and their dealers.

It's really easy to lay that off to sales force ignorance. The vast majority of sales personnel are not into nitty-gritty knowledge concerning hardcore handling-related performance stuff. They don't need to understand that kind of stuff for presentation to the average customer, who doesn't understand it either.

In 40 years or so, I've met exactly one sales individual who would have been truly conversant in this sort of topic, rather than merely being aware of the ZL1 tires' "summer performance" designation.


Norm

[Callchuck]

Originally Posted by Norm Peterson

It's really easy to lay that off to sales force ignorance. The vast majority of sales personnel are not into nitty-gritty knowledge concerning hardcore handling-related performance stuff. They don't need to understand that kind of stuff for presentation to the average customer, who doesn't understand it either.

In 40 years or so, I've met exactly one sales individual who would have been truly conversant in this sort of topic, rather than merely being aware of the ZL1 tires' "summer performance" designation.


Norm

I would not consider myself an average customer. I have owned many high performance exotic cars and race cars and I have never had a street car with NO winter tire to replace a summer tire size on a street car. Those ZL1 bulletins were never published before I purchased my car. I really do not think the service manager knew about the tires. He actually acted liked he just found out about the tire problem last Friday, never read any bulletins. This is the same dealer I bought my new 2006 Z06 vette from and they were very knowledgable about the car. The tire pressure cold at 31 psi is hard to start with everyday if the temp outside is cold. Scrubbing the tires in everyday to warm up to 31 psi is not the right thing to do. Having to add air everyday is a real pain in the butt also. If you can keep the cold start at 31 psi everyday I believe the tires will last a Lot longer. Does anybody know how many heat cycles the tires will take before they go away?

[BlackinBlack]

Originally Posted by Callchuck

GM does not warrant any other tire wheel combo. I knew the tires would be soft, but not operational under 40 degrees. If you change your wheel and tire set up and something happens warranty will not cover you. I am asking for a buy back and might cancel my 2014 vette I have on order.

GM is not going to void your warranty for changing tires. Were did you hear that?

BTW Sales team at every dealership I visited knew very little about the ZL1.

Buy back because the summer tires are not able to be used in the winter. That is like complaining that the bathing suit you bought does not keep you warm in winter. Major issues with the car that GM can't fix is one thing but that..... good luck.

[Callchuck]

Originally Posted by BlackinBlack

GM is not going to void your warranty for changing tires. Were did you hear that?

BTW Sales team at every dealership I visited knew very little about the ZL1.

Buy back because the summer tires are not able to be used in the winter. That is like complaining that the bathing suit you bought does not keep you warm in winter. Major issues with the car that GM can't fix is one thing but that..... good luck.

You are changing wheel size and tire set up for this car. Why do you think GM does not have any factory recommended replacement right now for the problem with the tires. There is not one other tire they offer for replacement. How many cars would they sell if you could not operate under 40 degrees? When I bought my car in June of last year there was not much info about the car. You don't think that a dealership or manufacture that sales a legal street car that the 40 and 20 degrees temp warning should not be disclosed before you buy the car and drive off the lot. The ZR1 vette had tire problems when it first was sold, they came up with a quick solution.

[Norm Peterson]

I never meant to imply that you or anybody here in this topic was only 'average'.

I did mean to imply that most sales personnel deal mainly with only average customers and set up their pitch accordingly.


Out of curiosity, what inflation pressures does Chevy post on the sticker for this car?

I agree with you about something not being quite right if you feel that you have to start your morning drive by intentionally scrubbing a little heat into your tires (GY Asymmetrics are a little like this as well). It's as good a signal as any to swap the winter set on . . . if you have one to swap to, right?


No idea how many heat cycles they'll take.


Norm

[Callchuck]

Originally Posted by Norm Peterson

I never meant to imply that you or anybody here in this topic was only 'average'.

I did mean to imply that most sales personnel deal mainly with only average customers and set up their pitch accordingly.


Out of curiosity, what inflation pressures does Chevy post on the sticker for this car?

I agree with you about something not being quite right if you feel that you have to start your morning drive by intentionally scrubbing a little heat into your tires (GY Asymmetrics are a little like this as well). It's as good a signal as any to swap the winter set on . . . if you have one to swap to, right?


No idea how many heat cycles they'll take.


Norm

The cold start pressure for this car is 31 PSI. Yea it would be nice if GM had another tire option for this car. Because this car is high performance and weighs a ton they do not recommend any other wheel size or tire for maximum performance and warranty. As the gentleman stated on the post above yours. He needs to go into to his dealer and ask them what wheel and tire would they allow him change to right now and be covered under warranty if something were to happen to the handling, performance, tire,sensors,odometer reading,etc. I think he will be in for a big surprise. Again if you are not allowed to drive the car safely 40 degrees and under what good is it if it is your everyday driver. I bought this car to drive, not park in the garage when it is cold outside.

[Norm Peterson]

I'd think that V or higher rated 20" SS sizes on SS wheels would work, assuming that the wheels clear the brakes. Probably at a psi or two above the 2010 SS spec of 36 psi I'm seeing in the site wiki.

Seems to me that any tire of adequate load capacity that does have grip at low temperatures has to be better than the OE tire that doesn't . . .


Norm

[Asanti]

Originally Posted by Norm Peterson

It's really easy to lay that off to sales force ignorance. The vast majority of sales personnel are not into nitty-gritty knowledge concerning hardcore handling-related performance stuff. They don't need to understand that kind of stuff for presentation to the average customer, who doesn't understand it either.

In 40 years or so, I've met exactly one sales individual who would have been truly conversant in this sort of topic, rather than merely being aware of the ZL1 tires' "summer performance" designation.


Norm

I am not suggesting that a sales person must be conversant with every aspect of their product but I think that every sales person should be aware of a potentially dangerous condition that is standard on this car. It's not like not being told that the radio may play louder than average. This situation could damage the car and the driver and I feel that it should be known and disclosed. BTW, I was a sales person all my life and you can bet that I knew every aspect of every product or service that I sold.

[HDRDTD]

I ran into this same issue when I bought my 2011 2SS/RS Vert.
I will normally go to the Chevrolet web site to research new vehicles, and go thorough the 'build your own' process to get a feel for the pricies of the options, etc, etc.

i didn't realize till after I had taken delivery of the 2011, that the tires were 'summer' tires and shoudl not be used in cold temps.

It would have been nice if that fact was mentioned on the web site under thr tire section, and it would have been even better if they offerred all season tires as an option.

and no the sales person did not point out the tires when we went through the ordering checklist either.