New owner! Question about tires and deal.

[kevin922]

Just bought an 06 convertible, 4800 miles... GTS blue. Paid 45,500... curious if that was a good deal?

Also, I had another viper owner put the fear of god in me about stock tires... he said that they are known to be bad with respect to handling (his illustation was that he totalled one of his vipers while driving 55 MPH down an interestate and wasn't even "goofing around").

He recommended Michilin Pilot Sports...thoughts?

Also, can anyone tell what is on it now from this tread pattern? I haven't picked the car up yet so i don't have it in hand.

 

[kcobean]

Welcome Kevin. Glad we could get your account enabled so quickly.

45,500 is a decent deal on an '06 vert with less than 5K miles. Nice job.

You are probably running the stock run-flats. They're an OK tire but can be dangerous on a performance car because with the very stiff sidewall needed to be a run flat, you lose the pliability to transfer load to the ground both linearly and laterally. You are also at the end of the safe lifespan for the rubber. Tires are only 'good' for about 5 years from manufacture before the rubber has considerably hardened. This doesn't exhibit as dry rot or cracking most of the time, it just starts to get hard and thus less grippy.

The Michelin PS2's are the way to go.

ETA: Whoever told you their car just magically went out of control without them "goofing around" is lying. Tires don't lose traction without some sort of user input or awareness any more than guns kill people, if you know what I mean.

 

[G-Fulm]

those look like the pilot sport ps1's.

the ones you want to go to are the pilot sport ps2's.

Michelin Pilot Sport PS2

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[VJR3]

Looks like Michelin Pilot Sport ZP, if thats the original tire. I just looked on TireRack.com to compare. hope that helps.

 

[eucharistos]

i'd say you got a good deal

new rubber needed for sure

congrats

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

If you do decide to purchase the PS2 tires make sure the alignment is checked and changed to the newer specifications of the Gen4 car. This will help tire life and the tracking of the vehicle going down the road.

 

[hemihead]

If you choose to buy new tires, buy them from one of the venders supporting this site. Not only will you get a good deal and be sure to get the proper size, you will also get a recently manufactured tire versus tires that have been sitting in inventory getting hard.

Have fun!

 

[witz323]

you got a great deal. If you're only street driving, the PS1s are fine, just be VERY careful in the rain. The PS2s are awesome for the track or autocross, and give the car a much improved ride quality over the stock PS1s. You'll notice it immediately. It's up to you whether you want to drop close to $2,000 for new rubber, but if you plan on any tracking at all, i'd say do it right away. John B. at parts rack will get you a great deal on the tires.

 

[JonB]

Did you know that is a rare car? I think only 84 or so were built, decent buy, too. Yes, you are on "Run-Crap" runflat tires, fery squirrely at their likely age.

Also see here: http://forums.viperclub.org/srt10-srt10-coupe-discussions/641106-new-tires.html

If you visit the VENDORS area you will see the tires you seek are on a great sale.......

JonB~~~~:<~

 

[kevin922]

JonB - I'm the one who talked to you yesterday on these tires... i'm trying to figure out a local place that has reasonable prices for installing them, and the logistics of getting them and a viper to them to have them installed.

Picking up the car next week, so that is obviously the #1 priority at this point.. once its in hand i'll see if you still have some sets in stock.

As for the alignment goes, will dodge dealers pretty much be the only ones who know how to properly set the alignment for the gen 4 car?

 

[AZTVR]

i'm trying to figure out a local place that has reasonable prices for installing them, and the logistics of getting them and a viper to them to have them installed.

You probably already got this answer from Jon; but, I will add it here. TireRack has a list of installers and reviews here: Find a Recommended Installer

Jon can probably ship direct to one of them if you have one in your area. At least in my area, the installer I went to specializes in custom wheels; so, I felt a lot more comfortable with them than a regular tire shop, especially with the width of the rears being somewhat unusual.

 

[JonB]

JonB - I'm the one who talked to you yesterday on these tires... i'm trying to figure out a local place that has reasonable prices for installing them, and the logistics of getting them and a viper to them to have them installed.

Picking up the car next week, so that is obviously the #1 priority at this point.. once its in hand i'll see if you still have some sets in stock.

As for the alignment goes, will dodge dealers pretty much be the only ones who know how to properly set the alignment for the gen 4 car?

Ready when you are.

Alignment? Short dealer answer: NO! I suspect MOST Dodge dealers would be not as good at aligning a Viper than specialty-shops that do it all day long. There are Dealer exceptions around the USA. INTERVIEW THEM! The regional club and this board can be a benefit in finding a place. Where are You? Just be sure they can load it on there platform easily and caerfully (If they use a platform) My best alignments have been scaled, on the ground, like Archer does.

Since 1993 I had a GREAT Dealer here, but I have my cars aligned at 2 specialty shops....it can handle with 2 fingers, but keep both hands on the wheel.

JonB~~~~:<~

 

[kevin922]

Ready when you are.

Alignment? Short dealer answer: NO! I suspect MOST Dodge dealers would be not as good at aligning a Viper than specialty-shops that do it all day long. There are Dealer exceptions around the USA. INTERVIEW THEM! The regional club and this board can be a benefit in finding a place. Where are You? Just be sure they can load it on there platform easily and caerfully (If they use a platform) My best alignments have been scaled, on the ground, like Archer does.

Since 1993 I had a GREAT Dealer here, but I have my cars aligned at 2 specialty shops....it can handle with 2 fingers, but keep both hands on the wheel.

JonB~~~~:<~

Yikes.... lots to learn. I'm in Atlanta. I guess I need to be a VCA member to post in the regional forums?