I posted a thread earlier looking for a deal on a replacement tire for one of my Cobra tires. It seems somehow it managed to get a cut in the sidewall. Anyway, I was turned on to Tirerack.com. So I call them up and place an order for 1 Goodyear Eagle F1/GS in the correct size (P275/40ZR17). I tell the guy specifically this is for the new 03 Cobra. He says they have them in stock and for $216.00 ships one out to me. I got the tire yesterday and was comparing the markings on it to ensure it was the same tire. What I found was that the tire they shipped me had a marking of "TPC SPEC 1156" on the sidewall that my tires don't have. Other than that they appear to be the same tire. Exact same tread pattern. I called Goodyear up and the guy tells me that the reference to TPC SPEC 1156 is a GM spec. as in General Motors. So I call Tire Rack up and talked to the same guy and told him about this. He says he needs to research it and will call me back. About 2 hours later, he calls me and asks me to check for another marking on the tires. He said that the GM tire has a 93W on the sidewall which is what was on the sidewall of the tire he shipped me. I then looked at the sidewall of my Cobra tires and they all have a 98W on them. What the guy at Tire Rack found out was that Goodyear makes 2 different versions of the F1. The 98W is a higher specification than the 93W to make it a stronger tire. The folks at Tire Rack didn't know this until I brought to their attention the different markings and then they researched it. I don't know if this all amounts to a whole heck of a lot but there is a difference and I thought I would pass it on to all you good Cobra lovers. Wouldn't want you running around on GM spec. tires now. It's kinda funny because I thought I remembered a few months ago someone saying that these tires were special for the Cobra. I guess they were right. I'm sure the other tire will work just fine. It's just not the exact tire for the car. Only a picky Quallity Manager like myself would be weird enough to see something like this probably. By the way, I have to hand it to the guy at Tire Rack. Most places would have blown it off but he really was a big help. They'll be getting my business again. Sorry for the long post but I wanted to make sure I covered it all. Later !!
