C3 tyres - General Grabbers any good?

Mon 18 Dec 17 20:09

C3 tyres - General Grabbers any good?

Hello again all.

It's been a little while since I was last on and I'm looking for tyre advice. I currently have BF Goodrich's fitted but due to age and lack of use they're cracking so I need to replace all four on my '79 before I can MOT it again.

It seems the general way forward is the 255/60/17 but BF's of this size are quite expensive (for a car that only does maybe 1000 miles a year to shows in Summer), so I have been looking at the Cooper Cobra's. However, I can get a good deal on General Grabbers.

Anyone using the General Grabbers as I thought they were mainly for off-road?

Thanks.

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Everything's easy, when you know how it's done.

Mon 18 Dec 17 21:30

Re: C3 tyres - General Grabbers any good?

Grabbers will be fine.. Just turn the white lettering inwards as it looks a bit tarty on a Corvette. If you want the white lettering to show, go for Coopers as it looks better (in my opinion).

These type of tyres are all much of a muchness and wear and drive about the same so price is the deciding factor.

If you need serious tyre performance above this you'll need to pay for it. I use Coopers/Kumho/Nexen/BFG on my daily 10k mile per year '87 and they work fine.

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RIP Gunny.. Hoo Ra, Semper Fi..

Mon 18 Dec 17 23:01

Re: C3 tyres - General Grabbers any good?

phorbiuz wrote (View Post):Hello again all.

It's been a little while since I was last on and I'm looking for tyre advice. I currently have BF Goodrich's fitted but due to age and lack of use they're cracking so I need to replace all four on my '79 before I can MOT it again.

It seems the general way forward is the 255/60/17 but BF's of this size are quite expensive (for a car that only does maybe 1000 miles a year to shows in Summer), so I have been looking at the Cooper Cobra's. However, I can get a good deal on General Grabbers.

Anyone using the General Grabbers as I thought they were mainly for off-road?

Thanks.

Standard wheels are 15" if you are going 17" you will need to reduce the side wall profile to maintain the rolling road circumference.

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Barry - Daytona Vette

Mon 18 Dec 17 23:26

Re: C3 tyres - General Grabbers any good?

Not an ad for North Hants Tyres......but most of these these Galaxy tyres are VR rated - so 149 mph - most of the others are 113 mph rated. Not saying if one is better than the other but I'd feel happier with the higher rated rubber underneath me.....
149 mph rated
http://www.northhantstyres.com/main-tyre-pages/galaxy-tyres/...
130 mph rated
http://www.northhantstyres.com/main-tyre-pages/galaxy-tyres/...
149 mph
http://www.northhantstyres.com/main-tyre-pages/galaxy-tyres/...
149 mph
http://www.northhantstyres.com/main-tyre-pages/galaxy-tyres/...
149 mph
http://www.northhantstyres.com/main-tyre-pages/galaxy-tyres/...

Last edited by roscobbc on Mon 18 Dec 17 23:29; edited 3 times in total. [27 %]
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CCCUK Chairman & Editor, Vette News
'68 coupe - 4 speed - 3.08 - 489 cu in - 570 bhp @ 5850 rpm - 606 ft/lbs torque (821 Newton Metres) @ 3850 rpm

Tue 19 Dec 17 08:05

Re: C3 tyres - General Grabbers any good?

Daytona Vette wrote (View Post):
Standard wheels are 15" if you are going 17" you will need to reduce the side wall profile to maintain the rolling road circumference.

Sorry, that's a typo caused by looking at tyres for my daily too which are 17". I'll be staying on standard C3 Anniversary rims.

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Everything's easy, when you know how it's done.

Tue 19 Dec 17 11:31

Re: C3 tyres - General Grabbers any good?

I tend to be with Steve on this in that the look of the tyres is quite important, particularly at shows etc. (obviously, the safety aspect is paramount, but if you're changing them.....)

For that reason I went with the BFGs, which are the nicest looking of the RWL tyres in my view. Next came the Coopers, but wife June drew the line against having the word "Cobra" on a Corvette!

The Galaxy's look OK, but still a bit "tacky" in my view. Grabbers would be out of the question on looks I'm afraid!

When I asked a tyre/wheel question on the US forum I was bombarded by reasons to go to 17 inch wheels! Much as I like the look, they were not in my budget. But the up side is that they allow a greater variety of tyres and, given the added "bling" of the TTII's I was considering, RWL tyres are not so necessary.

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Stephen J Irons
CCCUK Lifetime Member
Corvette Club France
Corvettes of Southern California
NCM Family Member
Stephen & June's Web Site
Red Corvettes Have More Fun!

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Tue 19 Dec 17 12:14

Re: C3 tyres - General Grabbers any good?

The General XP 2000 tyre used to be reasonably priced and the lettering wasn't too ostentatious..

Of course there's also the lovely Jetson Revenger, Mastercraft Avenger GT and the Uniroyal Tigerpaw too! (..if you can find them in the UK).


I'm halfway through my rear 295/50x16 Cooper Cobras and I only have one spare set left. I'm still looking for more and I may have to upgrade to 17" to get a wide tyre to fit. Not happy about the prospect and I'm currently looking to what's available in 15" sizes for an '87.

I do like the American Racing Outlaw 1 wheel and they do it in a 15x8 and 15x10 which if they fitted ok would be perfect and wide tyres more available.

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RIP Gunny.. Hoo Ra, Semper Fi..

Tue 19 Dec 17 19:27

Re: C3 tyres - General Grabbers any good?

kentvette wrote (View Post):I tend to be with Steve on this in that the look of the tyres is quite important, particularly at shows etc. (obviously, the safety aspect is paramount, but if you're changing them.....)

For that reason I went with the BFGs, which are the nicest looking of the RWL tyres in my view. Next came the Coopers, but wife June drew the line against having the word "Cobra" on a Corvette!

The Galaxy's look OK, but still a bit "tacky" in my view. Grabbers would be out of the question on looks I'm afraid!

Agreed...Even look OK on a Van...!

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Tue 19 Dec 17 22:36

Re: C3 tyres - General Grabbers any good?

I changed BFG's for the second time on my 79 ,they were 5 years old ,done around 15k and cracking (again) ,i've never been that impressed with them especially in the wet but they are a 40 year old pattern tread design ,I went for the Galaxy this time as i liked the more modern tread pattern ,higher speed rating and lower price and went on the assumption that a higher speed rating should be a better and more refined tyre ,i've done around 4k on them and am impressed with there ride quality and the finish of the sidewall is very good ,the whitewall lettering isnt to big and you soon get used to the different words to the iconic B F Goodrich. In a perfect world id go for the BFG if they were a better tyre and lower price just because they look best for the car but i also like my Galaxy tyres now

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longtimedead

Tue 19 Dec 17 23:10

Re: C3 tyres - General Grabbers any good?

I have had Coopers on 15" Rims for years ever since they stopped the Pirelli P7s in my sizes.

Coopers have taken over Avon Tyres and a lot has changed - correct me if I am wrong but I think the Cooper Cobra GT 255-60-15 is no longer available directly in the UK my last set but a different size I had to bring in from Germany, via a company operating a .co.uk site.

I changed the last ones due to age - 10 years no cracks - 5mm left on all four - the Tyres had age hardened, not noticed till I made the change. The tyres are M&S Mud and Snow so they are a softer compound to begin with - that bodes well for a low mileage / long duration senario.

They are a good option if available

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Barry - Daytona Vette