Yellow Z

I am considering the purchase of race slicks and wheels for my C5. I run autocross and track days. I currently am using stock Z06 wheels with Kuhmo 710s but want to upgrade to slicks. I have no idea what is available, what is best, and the best place to purchase wheels and slicks. I am willing to spend some money on wheels but I would like to keep it reasonable. I am looking for suggestions?

I also am interested in good places to purchase used slicks. Suggestions?

At this point I am not really too concerned about classing for autocross because the car has some other mods which make which make that difficult. Thanks for any suggestions or help.

AU N EGL

Where do you live?

the Kuhmos are good tires for combo use.

Wicked Weasel

people are selling used CCW Classics which is a good wheel. I have them and this year I replaced the centers and they are as good as new (well close anyway). I run 17in all around.

Depending on the size of the wheels you then can match tires. I run hoosiers R6 and now hoosiers A6. You cant go wrong with them, but Kumhos are good and if you want double duty r888s or other r-compund tires are very good.

Sidney004

Here is a posting for slicks:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...-for-sale.html

Yellow Z

I live in NY.

Todd Z

Your best bet is to run 18" on all four to get your best options for tires. Bob at House of Wheels can sell you a decent set of wheels for track use at a great price. If you want something lightweight, I would suggest BBS. I know Bob at at BBS has some old/new world challenge wheels he will sell at a nice discount. The fastest tire you can get right now is either the Dunlop ALMS slick or the Pirelli Grand Am slick. I can sell you a set of scrubs of either at $400.00 for a set or two sets for $700.00. Normally $468.00 a tire new. these will only have one heat cycle and 75% or better life remaining.

fatbillybob

slicks are funny. you have to know the slicks you are going to use then buy wheels to run the slicks in the right size. slicks are not sized like dot race rubber where you can get almost any size to fit any wheel. often you get the perfect rear to fit a wheel you already have only to find out there is no appropriote front to match your front wheel. this leads to a compromaise of either buying wheels or doing 3 piece wheels and different lips to match different tires as needed or do the bad thing of mixing two kinds of slicks and trying to tune the car to the slicks. If you end up buying scrub slicks they are not so fast and you are better off just buying new dot race rubber for speed. Of course you also have to worry about classing with whom you run with because you can be DQ'ed for having the wrong gear or reclassed on used or badly sized slicks and end up slower than if you got the ideal wheel tire for your car in the many dot race rubber sizes. For example if you did Michelin or or dunlop or yoko slicks you'll find there is not good size on stock C5Z wheels. You could buy ccw's in the 17" that all the T1 guys are running but you won't find slick sizes in 17" for T1 wheel sizes. This happens because makers of tires usually make slicks specifically for a series and its rules unless there are huge demand out there.

Sidney004

The Pirelli GrandAm slicks come in 285/645/18 and 305/660/18, both of which should fit an 18" x10.5. The Dunlop ALMS(or Porsche Cup) slicks come in 300/660/18's which fits perfectly on my ZO6 10.5's all around. The Dunlop scrubs are very fast, a different league from the R6's and V710's(scrubs but treated with Formula V compound) that I have used. At Laguna Seca, I turned a 1:43.72 on Dunlops,4 seconds faster than my last time there on R6 scrubs, this on a 3600# C4 with 292 RWHP. They do start to go off after 4 sessions, but still 2 seconds better than R compound scrubs. The Dunlops were very neutral and easy to drive, just very fast.

Yellow Z

Thanks for the input. Seems like the choices for slicks are Pirelli and Dunlop. Any others that work well?

Also seems like you have to use 18" wheels on all 4 corners. Rear C5 Z06 wheels are 18" X 10.5". So it sounds like you could use 4 Z06 wheels with the Pirelli GrandAm slicks.

What does 18" wheels on all 4 corners do to the handling? Turn in, etc.? More importantly, don't 18" wheels on the front screw with the traction system? How do you circumvent this problem?

Also sounds like there are no 17" four corner set ups unless you want to use different brand slicks.

Yellow Z

Sorry. I meant no 17" front and 18" rear set ups unless you want to use different brand slicks.

RaleighSS

Thats a good question .... on the 18 all around screwing up the Traction control ... I am sure someone will chime in ..... Guess you also have to keep tire sizes that will keep you at the 1" rake as well

fatbillybob

Going all rears at 4 corners works fine. The vette TC system is not nearly as particular as say the ferrari system. I have had zero issues running in any of the 3 TC modes uisng a totally square set-up. Yoko 280 650 18 slick works too on all 4 corners but is a bit small. I have run those with no issue. Pirelli grand am's may not be around for long if those were made for the gran am series specificially. however, the pirelly p zero slick comes in the same sizes and can be run on Z06 rear wheels all the way around. Personally I like the square set-up because it takes some understeer out of the car. Mid corner is where I have the most problems with the vette in general because the car pushes.

Yellow Z

As far as the rake goes, I have coil overs so I should be able to tune that into the car.

I really would like to hear if others have had any computer issues running 18" wheels on all four corner. I am hearing conflicting information from various sources.

I have received some great suggestions for used slicks, but where do you go if you want to get new slicks? I would be a little hesitant to invest in wheels if you cannot be sure that slicks will be available to fit them in the future. For instance, Dunlop only sells to licensed racers. Tire rack tells me that they do not have any slicks for the Vette. This seems to be the real sticking point. Who want to invest in wheels only to find that you cannot obtain any tires.

Sidney004

I don't believe that is accurate.

Call Roger Krause:

Roger Krause Racing 2896 Grove Way Castro Valley, CA 94546. Phone #: 1-510-582-5031 .

http://www.rogerkrausracing.net/

Todd Z

check your PM

Yellow Z

I will call Roger Krause. Thanks. I called Dunlop directly and was informed that they will not sell to me unless I am licensed.

Bimota Guy

You want to run slicks but leave on the computer baby sitting (active handling)? That is tuned for "slippery" street tires and you will not be able to take advantage of the slicks.

But to try to answer your questions, the rim diamter is meaningless. It is the tire diameter that matters. I bought the wrong size tires for my street C5 once (fronts were slightly larger diameter than stock and rears slightly smaller diameter) and traction control engaged at about 50mph. So, if you keep the ratio the same as stock, you will be okay.

But, you can't turn off active handling and leave on traction control, so this is really moot. AH is too intrusive for really grippy rubber.

fatbillybob

http://www.bobwoodmantires.com/

http://www.tracksideperformance.com/

http://www.toplessperformance.com/

http://www.sascosports.com/



There are a zillion guys here are a few. The problem is not who will sell them but will they fit your wheels you want to run.

Yellow Z

Bimoto guy, I never run traction control. Way too intrusive for any tire. My concern is that the computer, whether traction control is on or off, would cause problems when you run the same size rims on all 4 corners. A safety override so to speak. Sounds like I will be okay so long as I choose the right tires and rims. I will probably start by finding slicks that will fit 4 factory Z06 rear rims and see if I like them and go forward from there. If I like them I will probably purchase some light weight CCWs. I have four sets of factory rims that I now use for V710s and Hoosier rains so that should work. Thanks for you help.

fatbillybob, thanks so much for the links. Very helpful. Opposite of what Dunlop told me about requiring a license. I will call these people to get more info.

kmagvette

YellowZ,

Don't worry about the computer. I have run the T1 package, 17" all around and 315/17 on all four corners...never a problem. I currently run 18"s on all four corners, again with no issues. Consider what you want to do with brakes before you buy wheels. CCW classics are nice, but the 17"s will be a problem if you go to a big brake kit. Even the 18" are problematic with big brake kits; you may get away with just using spacers and longer wheel studs - but then, maybe not depending on the brakes.

Where in NY are you? I have a pile of 17" Hoosiers I want to part with. If you go 17, these will get the job done.

Also, I don't worry too much about running the ultimate grippy tire on the face of the planet. They wear out faster, put way more stress on your hubs (read about cracked hubs), exacerbate knock-back, and cost more in the long run. Could just be the cheap instructor in me; if you compete then you have no choice but to run whatever the other guys are running.