Corvette Stuff

"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
09/10/2020 at 22:15 • Filed to: C4 Update, C4 Corvette, C5Z

So I am still trying to work all the gremlins on the car. Was driving home the other day and she started to miss or get over fueled or under fueled. Hooked up a fuel pressure gauge and everything seemed to be working right. So I am glad it wasn’t a fuel problem. I was also getting a pretty bad vacuum leak from my brake booster so that has been changed out. I am hoping that was causing the drive ability issues.

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Gosh I really miss going out driving for fun like pictured above.

That said, I have found a problem that I will face down the line and the other Corvette owners I know of on Oppo will face. As you have seen, I am running C5 Z06 generation wheels and this means my tires are Front: 265/40ZR17 and rear: 295/35ZR18. The problem here lies in there are only 2 options in the factory size tires with the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 or Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar. The Pilot are 200 tread wear and the F1s 220, not going to last long as a daily fun car. I know I can change sizes, but that is hard to do in equal measures. Not to mention that are going to be massively expensive. Any of the C5Z guys, are you running a different size or thought about that for the future?

DISCUSSION (21)

onlytwowheels > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/10/2020 at 22:34

If you can bump the front size to 275/40R17 you will have more matching set choices.

citrus > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/10/2020 at 22:40

Have you considered squaring up your wheels and finding another pair of fronts or rears?

Extreme contact sport is available in a lot of weird sizes, including 285/40-17, a 26" tire which I believe is the c4 size originally if you went 4 fronts

CaptDale - is secretly British > onlytwowheels
09/10/2020 at 23:29

Yeah I was just considering that

CaptDale - is secretly British > citrus
09/10/2020 at 23:31

Hmm, that is an interesting idea. Thought I would rather go 18s all around cause at some point this car will be getting more aggressive brakes.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/10/2020 at 23:56

If u can spend some monies, get 2 of the rear rims and put em on the front. This way u can rotate the tires.

I can fit anything from 275/35 to 315/30 on my C5 with those rims, it’s likely that u can on the C4 as well. 275/40 rub on the inner fenders while turning so maybe avoid that.

If its just a fun car, re71 are highly recommend. They last a long while and are good in the wet as well. My friend got 16 autox events and 2 years of street driving on his. Get 285/30R18 RE71 if u are going that route. Also, they last longer than the goodyear f1s. A friend has h ad both on his supercharged s550 mustang.

onlytwowheels > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/11/2020 at 00:06

I believe the difference is .4 inch increase in width and .315 inch increase in diameter. If width is an issue, a wheel spacer can probably resolve this.

atfsgeoff > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/11/2020 at 01:39

I just want to comment that factory staggered wheel diameters are awesome and I love that they exist for real in addition to being a common feature on Hot Wheels cars.

i86hotdogs > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/11/2020 at 05:31

Just came to say I love those wheels, and they look great on any vehicle.

krustywantout > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/11/2020 at 07:26

I can’t answer your tire question but I wanted to say I have a big C4 crush (especially a ZR-1) and your pictures do not help in reducing my urge to buy one. Beautiful car and pictures.

CaptDale - is secretly British > krustywantout
09/11/2020 at 16:12

You should get one soon then, the ZR-1s seem to be going up in price as are the CEs because Radwood and nostalgia etc.

CaptDale - is secretly British > atfsgeoff
09/11/2020 at 16:14

I like staggered too. Just makes rotation impossible if you also get directional tires. That said I like it.

CaptDale - is secretly British > i86hotdogs
09/11/2020 at 16:14

Thanks, I love them too. Some of my favorite wheels.

CaptDale - is secretly British > onlytwowheels
09/11/2020 at 16:15

Shouldn’t be a clearance issue. Plenty of room under those arches.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/17/2020 at 18:34

Would you consider the closest sized all-seasons if you’re using it as a daily? Looking at your pics, you’ve got plenty of sidewall and I think a -10 width won’t be a huge deal if you’re not exploring the limits. What are the closest AS tire sizes you can find on Tire Rack?

I’m not a huge fan of summer tires for a daily driver either—it’s wasted performance and it’s an expensive flex.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever
09/18/2020 at 02:10

Continental makes the Extreme Contact™ DWS06 which my partner has on his Miata and they are great tires so I have considered them.

Personally I have had no issue with having summer tires on my dailies as they are also my fun cars. I don’t usually have a long commute so worrying about the trea d rating isn’t too high on my list of concerns. Add to it that I take my cars to the canyons a lot having a good sticky tire helps and being in CA the two seasons are warm and maybe sometimes wet so summer tires preform perfectly.

I did take a set of Nitto N555 G2 on my GTO through snow. It wasn’t great, but it was controllable. Hell I even had chains on that car once which was.... a long drive over Donner pass.

CaptDale - is secretly British > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
09/18/2020 at 02:12

Thanks for the info. I like the staggered stance personally, but I have considered squaring it if I have to. I definitely do not want F1s. They have always been a fairly shit tire even when they were new back in the day.

I will consider the RE71s. Just wish they came in the staggered sizes.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/18/2020 at 07:39

Just curious, why do you like the stagger? I hate it since I cannot rotate tires...

CaptDale - is secretly British > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
09/18/2020 at 18:05

Well I can rotate side to side as my tires are not directional, so I know it isn’t perfect, but it works. In a factory set up it is more performance oriented and gets you the balance the car needs weight wise. Every Corvette since at least the C4 has had a staggered setup any way so *shrug*?

That said, I have done enough to the car now it would actually probably benefit from the square set up to help counter understeer, though I have yet to find that limit as it prefers to break the rears as it is. Just isn’t something I have felt the necessity to change.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/19/2020 at 07:21

I feel like the Vettes are setup to be understeery from the factory, so wider front wheels help in that respect. Plus I wear out the rears much more on the street then the fronts so rotating them is helpful. Side to side rotation doesn’t really do anything imo.

CaptDale - is secretly British > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
09/19/2020 at 13:37

Yeah probably right as most cars are set up to understeer as it is the “safer” approach from the factory . The GTO had square and the rears definitely went faster. Square would be nice, but I would have to go with a smaller tire size than the rears have to fin in the front I am pretty sure. Should throw a rear up there and see.

Yeah side to side really only helps if you have something off about your alignments or something is fucky with the roads you usually drive .

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/19/2020 at 19:20

I would suggest to check if the rears fit on the front first...I was running 295/30R18 (which is the stock rear size) on the front axle with another set of rear rims. They fit fine...