Hi If I were to buy Firestone tires size 205/75/R15 radials my total point deduction would be 60% of the originality score and no lost of points for condition. My car is a 63 swc. Am I correct or am I missing something? IT is very hard to pay $600.00 for reproduction tires have a 10% deduction in original points and perhaps never use the tires again. If I buy the repos what type of ride can I expect? I what to drive the car as much as I can. Thanks for the help Bob
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Re: Tires and Judging?
The ride might be Ok depending on the roundness and balance. The handling & steering will be terrible. -
Re: Tires and Judging?
Only those seeking highest restoration honors (e.g. Mark of Excellence) should seriously consider the purchase of reproduction tires.... The difference in handling is DRAMATIC and the loss of points is modest in comparison to the benefit of modern radials!
Plus, if you only expect to have the car judged every now/then and NOT seriously pursue the big Kahuna, Mark of Excellence, award you'll get milage driven bonus points for driving vs. trailering the car to the meet and you can easily 'drive off' the point loss. Sometimes, originality isn't what it's cracked up to be and tires are decidedly one of the places where modern technology has come a LONG way!Comment
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Re: Tires and Judging?
You need to buy the Judging Reference Manual at the bookstore that tells you the standard deduction for various tire types.Comment
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Replacement tires
For what it's worth, there is a huge difference in tires over the years. I have the original tires on my 82, and they drove like a 10 pound bag of hammered rat feces. The modern Goodyear Eagle GT2, are a vast improvement, and as was mentioned, you can make up the points with driving the car to the meet. Run something on your car that will allow you to enjoy driving it!
As for the money, as others have said, spend your money where it will "buy" you the most points. At my first Chapter Meet, I lost 8 points for incorrect licence plate screws, but had the original tires. At the next event, I lost 10 points or so on the new tires, but for $4.00, I gained 8 points for correct licence plate screws. And drove on tires I wasn't scared of.Comment
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Re: Tires and Judging?
Bob,
You are correct; you will lose 60% for originality and 0% for condition for the current service replacement Firestone radial tires. I installed 205/75-15 General blackwall radials on my '64 convertible. When I had it judged I lost the 60% for tire originality or 12 points out of a possible 20. I did receive the 10 bonus points and drove my car the 200 plus miles to the meet. I more than made up the difference in points that I lost for the tires and other deductions that I received. The car still scored a Top Flight and I enjoyed a comfortable ride and predictable handling while driving to and from the meet with the radial tires. I have driven my car to other meets in excess of 600 miles one way once with the correct repro 6.70-15 tires and once with the radial tires. The difference is unbelievable, especially at interstate speeds in the rain. The pucker factor while driving a midyear Corvette with 6.70 repro in the rain is an experience I would just as soon forget. You didn't say whether you were looking at installing whitewall or blackwall tires. There are very few choices for blackwall radials in the correct 205/75-15 size, to my knowledge the only OEM manufacturer making a 205/75-15 blackwall radial is General tire. I personally do not like the look of white wall tires on midyear corvettes so this is what I had to put on. Price for the radials was just a under $300 including the mount and balance. I would assume you would pay close to $500 for the repro tires including the shipping and m & b.
Best Regards,
James WestComment
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