Welcome to the ultimate tire guide for the C5 Corvette and track tires! We've investigated a lot of different tires out there, be it personally tracking them or consulting with other C5 owners and their experiences with them (and verifying with lap times). Through all of our collective time at the track, we've come to provide you our current recommendations for having a good time with your car at the track!
Eagle eyed readers may not that all of our tire recommendations (excluding one) are 200 tread wear offerings. For those unfamiliar, treadwear is in theory how long a tire lasts in comparison to some fictional lord knows what tire, and in theory these tires all last 200 times longer than that tire. What's crazy though is one tire that will last 8-14k miles will be a 200 tread wear tire, while another tire that lasts 4-6k miles will also be a 200 tread wear tire supposedly. In theory one should have double the treadwear rating of the other... which just goes how to show you how made up these are.
So, the current track recommendations are based around what most time attack classes list as their lowest tread wear rating, which is 200tw. These also tend to be DOT certified for highway use, keeping up that "street tire" illusion. That said, most brands will denote that while they carry a DOT certification, they are not recommended for street use.
Oh, and if you aren't familiar with wheels for the C5 Corvette and what tires fit what wheel combination, check out our Wheel Fitment & Sizing guide article
Sections:
Endurance / Fun / Street 200TW options
These are the tires you're likely looking for if you're just out for fun. Tracking a car can get quite expensive, and you can make it unaffordably expensive pretty quick if you're blowing through consumables every other track event instead of making stuff last 10+ events. Plus the faster you go and the harder you brake the more wear and tear on the car and the higher the consumable consumption.
These are our recommendations for hitting the track and just having some fun. A lot of these options you can also drive to and from the track on as well. It is worth noting that not all of thes tires are good for spirited street driving though, as they take some heat to get going, generally more heat than you should be able to safely generate on the street.
(note: These are all listed in no particular order)
- Falken 615K+ (Reasonable, well lasting, novice friendly)
- Michellin Pilot Sport 2 (Street and all weather focused, track capable)
- Continental Extreme Contact Force (Track capable, long lasting)
Falken 615K+ | Tires available at Tirerack
The Falken 615K+ is a staple amongst 200tw tires. It's been out for a bit but seen a few variations and improvements over the years that make it a pretty good all around tire. It's not the grippiest, but it's more than grippy enough for most folks to have a ton of fun on. They also heat up reasonably quick and when they begin to overheat they remain predictable. These tires can often be found on sale as well making them a good option for most folks.
Michellin Pilot Sport 2 | Tires available at Tirerack
The Michellin Pilot Sport 2 tire is the one outlier in our list of tires in that it is a 220tw tire while all the rest are 200tw. That means, in theory, this tire will last 10% longer than everything listed here... but don't even begin to get us started on how fictional tire tread wear ratings are.
If you actually drive your car a decent amount outside of the track, but still want to hit the track on the same set of tires, these are 110% the tires for you. They grip great on the street, they do well enough on the track, they can handle mixed weather conditions, and at novice to intermediate paces these tires do pretty good. They are also predictable and intuitive to drive.
Where these tires aren't ideal is that at advanced paces they tend to overheat, which produces reduced lap time and tire lifetime.
Extreme Contact Force | Tires available at Tirerack
Continental has been making some big strides in the 200tw category, especially since the brand has come to purchase Hooiser tires, makers of some of the most prolific race tires out there. It should be no surprise then that their Extreme Contact Force is a pretty good contender in the 200tw endurance category.
We've driven this tire around a track a lot, and we find they offer an exceptional value in a capable and durable tire. This tire will easily last 10-12 events at an advanced pace on a C5 Corvette. The tire also offers exceptional turn in and great handling. The one fault of this tire though is that it perhaps focuses on exceptional grip for the first 5 or so laps, but then does start to fall off as it gets heat soaked. This tire is a solid option for the track goer who wants a tire that will last and put down good lap times without having to purchase new tires every 3 events. It will also be exceptional for an intermediate paced driver, even if they drive it to and from the track.
Time Attack & Autocross 200TW options
It's highly unlikely that you'd be considering these tires and not extensively know why you want them, but the jist is your idea of maximizing your track time isn't about being abler to utilize the full time you paid for, and instead about putting down an exceptionally fast lap. Or, maybe you're doing autocross and you need maximum grip pretty quick and only need the peak grip to last a fairly limited duration compared to track days (1-2 minutes max versus 20 minute track sessions).
Driving these on the street is doable, but a massive waste. These tires grip nice and strong right away so they're good in that regard, but they also wear quickly along with you'll be throwing out heat cycles on these tires pointlessly.
- Vitour Tempesta P1
- Nankang Sportnex CRS-V2
- Yokohama ADVAN A052
- Hoosier Track Attack Pro
- Falken Azenis RT660+
Vitour Tempesta P1 | Available Direct from Vitour (use code "GOSHREDVITOURS")
The Vitour Tempesta P1 is the tire everybody is getting on the podium with this year. The tire came out just last year (2024) and started taking track records all around the country. Unfortunately Vitour had run their tread depth slightly too short (5/16") so it didn't qualify for SCCA events. They are back this year with 7/16" tread depth and thus SCCA legal. Expect to see a lot of these on podiums all across the country!
The tires are renowned for heating up modestly, holding up well, and eventually heat soaking but not falling off a cliff performance wise. Our writer Shred Jesse just got himself a set of these to try out this track season so expect to hear more about this from us soon!
Nankang Sportnex CRS-V2 | Tires available at Tirerack
The Nankang Sportnex CRS-V2 has been the official tire of Spec Corvette for some time, so go figure we recommend it for the Corvette. The tire is known to take a few laps to warm up, but then hold an exceptionally good pace for quite a while afterwards. Apparently there have been some issues getting these into the United States recently due to tariffs, so grab them if you see them.
We recommend these for the track goer who wants to put a whole session and just take a few cool down laps here or there instead of having to fully come off the track.
Yokohama ADVAN A052 | Tires available at Tirerack
The Yokohama Advan A052 is the Autocross tire of choice. From that first rip it's gripping and gripping hard. Many a podium has been taken on these tires both in time attack and autocross. That said, these tires wear out quick and overheat just as quick, meaning if you're going out and expecting to be able to run at your limit and push yourself for even half a track session, these probably aren't for you in the Corvette.
We recommend these tires for the person who wants ultimate speed and quick lap times as soon as they hit the track, and they don't care if that means they only have that level of performance for 5 minutes of their 20 minute session. They're there to win.
Hoosier Track Attack Pro | Tires available at Tirerack
Hoosier has been making some amazing slick tires for quite some time now, but haven't had a competitive super 200 offering for whatever reason. With the recent merger with Continental, the company has an enduro 200 offering, but the gap remained. So, Hooiser at the end of the 2024 season came out with the Track Attack Pro tire.
We haven't personally tested it, but the feedback has been pretty good on it. We'll be seeking out feedback on these tires from folks running them this season and report back on just how they compare!
Falken Azenis RT660+ | Tires available at Tirerack
The Falken Zenis RT600 is the "Super 200" big brother of the RT615K+. The RT660 though was having a lot of problems for folks these last two years, with a lot of folks noting issues with delamination and issues with the tires lasting. Falken went ahead and revisited the tire construction and released the RT660+, which per many current drivers testing is a superior tire in all aspects that also isn't suffering from failures during their lifetime.
As this tire is fairly new, we'll be reporting back on how it is holding up for folks this season, but we'd feel pretty confident putting a few of these on our Time Attack Corvette and going out and chasing Podiums with this tire.