I knew beforehand the SS came with Pirelli PZero tires. I knew it was softer rubber, would suck in the snow, and would wear out quickly. Yet.. somehow it didn't sink in until today.

I was ready reviews of the PZero Rosso's like the SS has on it. They absolutely SUCK ASS as far as tread life.

Many people were lucky to get 15K miles out of them. That's pathetic. Yeah, they get superior dry and wet traction, but really, if you're not racing and not made of money, what good is a tire that's going to wear out in 15K miles..? I really didn't think they would wear out THAT quickly. That's really pathetic.

I knew they would be bad in the snow, but I thought they'd at least be somewhat drivable. Seems that's probably not going to be true either. I'll be lucky to be able to leave the driveway, let alone actually get from point A to point B without needing a tow.

So.. now in just a few months.. I'm going to have to fork out a huge bill to get some new all season tires for these huge 18" rims with a tire size that hardly anything fits!! I think that's rediculous for a new car so soon after you bought it.

Why couldn't they put some Pirelli all seasons on there? It's probalby going to cost me $700-$1000 to put some decent all seasons on there. The Pirellis are useless to a driver like me who can't afford a second car, doesn't race, and just wants some tires that will freakin last awhile.

In case anyone was interested, I was reading the reviews on tire rack..

http://www.tirerack.com/survey/Surve...ommentStatus=P

 

Real bad fact of life with cars and tires, If you want grip you have to give up a little more rubber than everyone else and more dollars (that is why the high end Race teams have an atvantage,they can change tires after 20 miles). I have pushed these tires and man do they hold at high speed, but I understand that if economy is your thing.... Pull the tires off now, put the "all seasons" on and sell those Pirelli's (as new take-offs) to some idiot like me that will burn them off in 15K LOL.

 

Nightcrawler,

I knew about these tires back in Feb. Did my research on them also. I looked at Tire Rack and many other comment boards as well as read Perelli's full description. Here was my conclusion...... Really like the performance of the tires. I actually had one or the partners at my firm order them for his Saab 93. Once the tires came in and got a really good chance to look at them I thought they were of good quality. Once they were on his car, he loved them as well. I drove the car several times after the install and found then to be good in rain and dry, did not get a chance to drive them in the snow, but he drove them in 12-14" of snow and had no problem getting around. Now, the Saab 93 is also built on the Delta platform like the Cobalt, so performance between the two cars will be simular (giving the tire performance fair comparison). BUT, when I was waiting for my car to come in, I was already preping to buy Blizzarks for winter driving. My reasoning for this, I feel as if tire manufacters are calling tires "all season" and they only perform good for two of the three seasons. IMO their is no such thing as an all season tire. I'm already buying Blizzarks for my new Mazda 6 (it came with crappy Mich. Pilots, and will NEVER get them again). My current plans for tire is to burn off the Pilots and get a high performance rain/dry tires, and a seperate rim/tire set with Blizzarks. Oh as for tread wear, the partner has about 5k on his Perelli's now and the treads are in good shape still. Do threat too much over it, just modify what your priorities are... tires that don't perform that well but last, or sets of tires that perform.

 

I plan on using smaller wheels and snow tires in the snow.

 

So, what you're saying is that you wanted to buy a sports car, then you bitch about it having high performance tires

 

The saab 93 and cobalt don't share the same platform, the 93 use the Epsilon platform(Saab 9,Chevrolet Malibu, Pontiac G6, Saturn Aura, Opel Vectra) and the Cobalt use the Delta platform(Saturn ION, Chevrolet Cobalt, Opel Astra, Chevrolet HHR)

 

Oops...yeah that's right, brain fart

 

he he agreed! should have bought a LS coupe

This is a performance car, you want CHEAP tires go buy a hyundai! You want to play you have to pay!

 

oh and this link is for you

http://www.tirerack.com/snow/WinterP...4&autoModClar=

 

Yes.. I am bitching about the premium tires.

I don't think it's too much to ask to have a tire that will last beyond 15K miles, do you?

The SS just mildly ranks as a 'sports' car if you ask me. It's still an upgraded econobox.

You can easily get a tire that gets good traction... over 15K treadlife... and can at least move in the snow. I really don't think that's asking much.

The BFGoodrich Geforce tires are a good example of that.

 

c'mon bro lets get serious here... the softer the rubber the faster it wears and the softer the rubber the better it handles... remeber Chevy had to keep in mind its competing with 4wd cars here... they ahs to add handling somewhere.... and when you buy the "ss" chevy never claims that you are getting a bargain car that will have 40k mile tires... they plaster everywhere that tis the performance car..

sounds to me like you didnt do you research and wasted 20k+ on the worng car for you

 

From a quick glance at TireRack, look to spend at least $200 USD (if not more) per tire on stock SS/SC wheels.

 

You seem to overlook the fact that hardly any tires get WORSE tread wear. You could practically pick any other tire including other Pirelli tires such as the Neros and it would last longer.

And I bet you can get virtually identical traction out of a longer lasting tire such as the Geforce series or the Nero. I don't expect 40K miles out of a performance tire, but I *DO* expect 20K..

Who the hell can afford to buy new tires yearly or sooner? And if you can.. why would you buy a cheap SS when you obviously afford something more.

 

Your missing the fact that they arent selling this car as a 15k miles a year daily driver... the Cobalt SS S/C is a specialty car, if you want an SS that isnt made to only be taken out sometimes you need the 06' coupe or sedan SS, they will haev longer lasting tires becuase thats what they will be made for. The SS S/C isnt made for 15k miles a year

 

I bought Winter tires knowing that the tires woould not be good for winter. I bought the dunloop M3's
for a 16" rim.
but I got some bad new for you the steels that you'll have to buy are expensize because of the rare bolt pattern the SS has

 

How is this a specialty car? All the other SS's Chevy makes come with all season tires. The new 2006 Eclipse GT comes with all season tires. I don't know what's on the SRT-4, but I bet they last longer than Pirelli's as well.

How is this car different from a Z24 aside from adding a supercharger and better build quality? I think you hold this car up on too high of a pedastal. It's a nice car, but it's still a sub $25K sport compact. This isn't a Corvette, it's not a Porshe.. it's not a BMW, it's an upscale version of a compact small economy car

If it weren't supposed to be driven at least 12K a year, they wouldn't give you a 5 year/60,000 mile warranty. I see nothing anywhere from Chevy that claims this car is a car that shouldn't be used a daily driver or even any indication that this car is any type of specialty car.

This is a rediculous argument. I guess my only real point is they put tires beyond the class of this car on it. No other car in it's class to my knowledge has such tires. Some of you might consider that to be a positive thing, but I look at it is money I'm out to get some more economical tires for an economical car.

 

Wow.. so you are basically upset with Chev's desire to have good handling? A big part of the 69mph slalomn is the tires. Buy winter tires/wheels and these will last you a couple seasons.

Most of all, please stop whining.

 

If I bought a 4wd, I'd expect tires that can go off-road well. If I bought a sports car (and I did ), I'd expect performance tires.

My GTP had the worst tires I have ever driven on (Goodyear Eagle RS-A's) from the factory. They were supposedly all-season, but they were hard as rock, loud, folded in the corners, surfed in the rain, and only "ok" in the snow. Even here in Florida with 90+ degrees I would spin the tires under light throttle from the stop lights. The main reason Pontiac put a 126 mph governor on it was becuase of the low speed rating (I think they were H rated). I considered the GTP to be a performance vehicle, but the tires most certainly were not and I replaced them with proper tires once I could afford to (then I couldn't hardly spin the tires if I wanted to ).

Anyways, I'm glad Chevy chose these tires for the SS/SC's, especially since you already have a tight, well tuned suspension. Why waste all that by putting tires on like the ones that came with my GTP?

When I used to live up north, I remember that most people, including my parents, would buy another set of cheap rims to put snow tires on. Sounds like the best thing to do IMO. You wouldn't have to worry about banging up your good rims on curbs or anything else hidden by the snow, either (I remember doing that a few times ).

 

Agreed!
BTW, the SRT-4 in 03 came with Michelin Pilot tires, about the same $$ and performance as the Pirelli's and then they went to BFG's in 04-05 they were a little cheaper and handle well not as good as the Michelins, not why do they do this because these are performance cars with performance ratings and handling, why would you be on here crying about a low treadlife tire when you ante'd up the extra $$ for a SS/SC, why didnt you buy a Cobalt LT or LS ? Because you wanted the PERFORMANCE! you buy a performance car you get high performance tires. Please quit whining!

Go save some minor $$ and buy a set of winter wheels and tires in Sept from tire rack!

 

I'm goin' with Dunlop M3's on the stock 18's for winter...and puttin' the "crappy" pirelli's on a new set of 18's next spring. I've done the wheels of steel before on my other vehicles...and hated them.

 

Has no one "challenged " the new car/tire warranty ? What is the expected life as far as Chev is concerned ?
Just a question , don't burn me too bad...

 

screw the 215/45/18 tires. that is one really odd size (on the rx8 and 350z as well i believe) you can stick a set of 225/40/18's on it and this is how the sizes compare:

stock: 215/45/18

sidewall: 3.8"
radius: 12.8"
diameter: 25.6"
circumference: 80.5"
reveloutions per mile: 787.0


replacement: 225/40/18

sidewall: 3.5"
radius: 12.5"
diameter: 25.1"
circumference: 78.8"
reveloutions per mile: 804.0


i didn't see any all-season tires for the 215/45/18, only summer performance tires. there are 75 different types of tires for the size of 225/40/18 though


you can see why i will be switching over when these run out ( i just wen tthrough that specific size on my cougar and went with a 40 series cause the 45 series tires are just too damn expensive)

 

forgot to add. if you do go with a 45 series tire, just make it a 225 instead of a 215, there are a few more options available, but not many

 

Moving to a 225 will cause more problems then fix them.

 

i meant to say moving to a 225 for normal use, not winter.... 215/45's are just a wierd size