sbanerdt

My 94 Coupe came with 17x8.5 front, 17x9.6 rear wheels and P255/45 ZR17 front and P285/40 ZR17 rear tires. I see some members have gone with 17x9.5s all the way around. This would sure give me a lot more options for tires but do I sacrifice anything by switching from different size front and rear to the same size?

speedycat3

That's probably the wisest decision you can make as far as having more options for tire rotation. That was one of the stock configurations in later years with 9.5 rims all around. Fitment is fine and you can run 285/40/17's in all 4 corners with no rubing. I currently have 285's in the front that used to be in the rear until I mounted the 315 in 11 inch rims in the rear last week.

WW7

In the earlier C4s they did have 9.5 wheels all way around .. I believe the reason they stopped was because they had problems with the wide front tires wondering all over the road . This is a condition where the car wonders from side to side under power and you have to keep correcting with the steering wheel.. I drove a few C4s with the wider tires and rims upfront and it is harder to control the car on a road that's anything but perfectly flat...WW

sbanerdt

Would the tire choice have a dramatic effect on the amount of wandering or is it just that the same size tire front and rear make it inevitable? I remember putting Impala SS Wheels and tires on my Roadmaster, looked great, wandered all over the place and would follow every rut in the road, I hated driving it. Dont want to do anything like that to myself again.

WW7

I think it's just having the wider tire on the front ( more rubber on the road) that makes it wonder.To be honest, I don't know if tire brand would affect it... It depends alot on the roads in your area how much it will wonder.. Where I live, I could never put big tires on the front... ..WW

speedycat3

I forgot mentioning the possibility of wandering. I have to say that I have not seen any difference driving with 255's and now 285's in front. Most roads are in great shape where I live though. I don't know if this is caused by the width of the tire or the fact that they are all the same width. I have now 9.5 in front rims and 11 inch rears.
On the other hand, I think most enthusiasts like us in the forums are willing to compromise a bit if it means getting better performance or handling in return.

WW7

Here's an idea , switch your rear tires and rims to the front of your car and drive it around for a day. This should let you know real fast how it will handle, and if it will wonder... ....WW

sbanerdt

If it is just a matter of having different size fron to rear, could I get a set of 17x9.5s with the correct offset and put 265/40/17 in front and 275/40/17 in the rear? This would give me a wider tire in back and I think that both sizes would fit the wheels, and still gives me more options than stock. BTW the wheels I am looking at are AR Torque Thrust IIs, I saw them on another members car here and they looked great. AR does not list them with the correct offset for C4/C5 anymore but there is a correct set on my local Craigslist. He went with 275/40/17s all the way around, I PM'd him to get feedback on any driveability issues but have not heard back from him yet.

sbanerdt

I'm not sure that would represent the driving combination I am looking for. My current tire/wheel (stock) has different size wheels and a pretty significant tire size difference, I am looking at going the same size.

speedycat3

Though they are different width, they are close to identical in height, so it should be fine just to get a feel on steering handling for a couple of days I think.
I drove witht the 285's in front and 255. In the rear for a couple of days just to make sure that the GY F1 D34 tires would not rub in any condition, and I had no issues with handling either.

sbanerdt

Thanks.

JoeUser

I have 17x9.5 wheels on all four corners now, after purchasing some really nice C5 style wheels from a forum member. I had the tire shop swap the 255's on the front and 285's on the rear, and the fronts are just a little too skinny for the 9.5 rim. So, you definitely want to go wider in front than stock-sized 255's. Rears are perfectly fitted on mine.

The guy at the tire shop said that he's put 275's all around on C4's many times for owners of 17x9.5's, and said he hasn't heard any issues from those owners. Plus, you can rotate and get better wear out of the set, which is a big plus if yours is a daily driver like mine. So, when my current set needs replacing I'm going with 275/70/17's all around, most likely the Nitto 555's (great tire, btw).

speedycat3

Pics of the lift kit to fit those tires please....

ms2086

I went with 255/45/17 all the way around and the car looks runs and handles fine.

ms2086

ms2086

QCVette

17" x 9.5" all around with 275/40/17 was used from '89 to '92 on all C4's (except a few specials like the ZR1, GS, etc), and optional on '88 and '93 to '96.

I ran them on several cars with no problems, and prefer them to the narrower fronts. Like others said the smaller fronts were to help keep the car from tramlining or wandering with imperfections in the road, however I ran the 275 size fronts on an '85, '88, and two '94's with no problems. I suspect if the car has some suspension wear issues or bad alignment it may be more prone to misbehave.

I have also run 255/45/17 on 9.5" wheels on my C5 with no problems. If you look on Tire Rack specifications pages that size tire can work from 8" to 9.5" rim widths based on the tire manufacturers recommendations.

Good luck with your choices.

sbanerdt

What size are the wheels?

JoeUser

LOL, ooops! Yeah, that finger flub would definitely make it interesting...

275/45/17's, ahem...