Availability Of Corvette C7 Tires Is Slowly Beginning To Improve

Back in February, GM Authority reported on a tire shortage for three high-performance Chevy Corvette C7 variants – the Grand Sport, Z06 and ZR1. Rear tires for these vehicles, which measure 335-25-20, have not been available for quite a while across all tire manufacturers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Luckily, the supply of these Corvette tires is now starting to improve, GM Authority has learned.

According to our research, availability of at least some of the rear tires for the C7 Grand Sport, Z06, and ZR1 is gradually returning to normal levels, as follows:

• Michelin Pilot Super Sport ZP: serving as the OEM tire for Corvette C7 models without the Z07 package (Grand Sport, Z06) or the ZTK package (ZR1), the Pilot Super Sport is currently available in limited quantities at many retailers. Availability is set to improve in mid-April.
• Michelin Pilot Super Sport Cup 2 ZP: serving as the OEM tire for Corvette C7 models fitted with the Z07 package (Grand Sport, Z06) and with the ZTK package (ZR1), the PSS Cup 2 are currently available in limited quantities. Like the regular PSS, it will become more broadly available in mid-April.
• Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ ZP: the only all-season tire available for the tire 335-25-20 size recently became available briefly at some retailers. However, it will become available in greater quantities in the beginning of April.
• Continental ExtremeContact Sport: the non-run-flat Continental became available briefly at some retailers, albeit in limited quantities. Greater quantities are expected in mid- to late-April.
• Bridgestone Potenza S007A RFT: since the shortage began, the Bridgestone has been on back order. However, many retailers are now showing limited availability.
• Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4: the only winter tire produced for the 335-25-20 tire size, the tire has been on back order for the second half of 2020 and the first two months of 2021. Now, however, the Alpin is becoming available in limited stock at some retailers.

For those not intricately following the tire shortage for the Corvette C7, here’s the back story of what took place. Tire manufacturers were severely affected in 2020 by factory shutdowns resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, causing supply to drop globally. When factories re-opened, the manufacturers understandably focused on replenishing stocks of popular tire sizes for resellers and distributors. Given that the 335-25-20 tires used by the C7 Grand Sport, Z06 and ZR1 is a very unusual size, production was put on the back-burner. Now, it would appear that production has started back up.

It’s worth noting that 285-30-19 front tires for the aforementioned models were generally not impacted by the shortage. Additionally, the C7 Corvette Stingray (with and without the Z51 package) was generally not impacted by the shortage, as these models run on 245-35-19 fronts and 285-30-20 rears.

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