Ben Diss

Guys (and gals)- I need help picking tires for autocross. I drive an almost stock C6 and I want to change to these tires at home and drive to events. Maybe, in a big year, I might go to 4-8 events. I won't drive them in the rain, so dry traction is my only concern. I'm going to buy a second set of wheels for them so I can use non standard sizes but I think I'd like to stay as close to stock circumference as possible.

Suggestions?

BFoster

How far are the events from your home?

There are a few guys that run Hoosier R6's as street tires, though they aren't exactly the best all weather tire in the world .

I would say Hoosier R6, or Pilot Sport Cup's if they make them in the size you're looking for.

TommyBoy72

I think I would go the Toyo RA-1 or Nitto NT-01 (I have NOT used the NT but same compound as the RA-1) though I am not sure about sizing for a C6. Long lasting compound that should be fine to drive in the street. Don't shave them as the deeper tread should help warm them up for autox. I personally would not go with the R6. The PSC are good but pricey. Another one that sounds good I have not used is the Nitto 555RII.

Ben Diss

I doubt I would go to an event if it were more than 100 miles from home.

What about the Nito Invo? That comes in stock sizes.

Locke

Ben
I would advise you to first look at the sanctioning body and their classes before deciding on a wheel and tire combination.
For that matter if your goal is to autocross; before making any modifications to the car, check the rules first.
NCCC has street tire classes which are great for those who do not want to trailer the car to events. SCCA allows the latest and greatest R compound tires in their stock classes and to be competitive you'll need them.
Another suggestion is to run a couple of events with the the car as is and talk with the experienced entrants to see what they run.
The point here is to learn autocrossing and do some research before being sorry for money spent on pieces that put you into a class you must spend alot more to be competitive in.
We see lots of first timers show up at our NCCC events down here that are dissapointed when they have to run in Group II because of a small change in tire size or an aftermarket air cleaner. They usually don't come back when they loose by six or seven seconds!
Be patient and do your homework. Enjoy the friendships and driving the car.
I hope you can enjoy the sport for a few years like I have.

Ben Diss

This is good advise and I do appreciate it. I'll be running SCCA Street Prepared as I've added headers and intake. The race I already ran didn't carry that class so I ran Street Modified. Either of those allow any tire, so after seeing how the others did I got the itch to go with sticky tires.

-Ben

rws.1

I put a trailer hitch on my Vert and pull a small tire trailer to the event and change tires there. That way I don't get premature wear on my track tires and don't have to worry about issues with rain.
I am just finishing up a set of Kumho V710's and the next set of tires is mounted and ready to go... Hoosier A6..

I don't have a pic of my set-up, but here is one of another that was recently for sale here on the Forum. If it had not been so far away, I would have bought it.

Ben Diss

Thanks guys. This is good information.

What size tires is everyone using? I know that if I stay with stock sizes I'm very limited.

naschmitz

Would the Hoosier R6 be better than the Hoosier A6? Can you drive the A6s on the road to the event or is that compound too soft?

jjherman3

I use the Hoosier A6's and they work great. I started out on the stock tires and went really slow compared to everyone else. I switched to the A6's and what a difference they make.

I was running stock alignment and used a tire trailer to go to events. I started getting closer in times. Now I changed the alignment settings to aggressive and it made equally a big difference as using the Hoosier tires.

But now I am going to use a car trailer to go to events so I don't shred the street tires. I think doing things slowly and learning step by step is the approach to go. Just my .02

Depending on where you are located, I am going to sell my tire trailer cheap, if you're interested.

Jeff

KCHOTBOAT

How much for the trailer? I am in Olathe.

jjherman3

Pm sent to KCHOTBOAT

Ben Diss

What size A6's are you running and what did you do for wheels?

jjherman3

I've got a C6 Z06 so I'm using the stock rims I bought used. I am running the stock sizes now (275's front and 325's rear) but when I get a new set I am going to run 295's or 305's on the fronts and 345's on the rear. I know the 345's will fit and 90% sure the 295's will fit on the fronts. I don't think this will help you cause the C6 has smaller wheels than the Z06.

Jeff

Ben Diss

Thanks Jeff. It helps a bit, but you're right we have smaller wheels.

The thing is, I don't know if there's any advantage staying with 18" fronts and 19" rears or should I go with 17" front and 18" rear? That would open up more sizes that are available.

I looked at the A6 and R6 and the fronts I can in stock size, but not the backs. I just wish I knew that answer so I could start shopping around.

-Ben

naschmitz

I have been doing a ton of research on this same subject. All the other C6s I autoX against are Z06s, so I don't have any examples to follow.

For the C6 stock rear tire I would use the Hoosier 295/30/19. It is 26.1" diameter and fits the 10" rim. Hoosier offers many more sizes than other brands so that is about the only Competition tire I have found for stock C6 sizes.

I need to drive about 30 miles to the track on whatever I will be running, so I still can't decide if I want to go the Hoosier route or the Michelin PS2s. Forum sponsor Corvette Garage has 18x9.5 and 19x11 wheels for the C6 for a reasonable price (http://www.corvettegarage.com/produc...-corvette.html). This would allow using a 275/35/18 on the front.

If you find another combination of wheels with the right offsets, I would be interested in looking at those too.

Since I live in New England and need tires that work in "near freezing conditions" I will use the stock wheels to mount an all season compound.

gkmccready

Wheels are the hard part for the C6.

CCW (http://www.ccwheel.com/) makes their Corsair wheels in C6 offset/backspacing. When the RA-1 was the best dual purpose tire John@CCW was recommending 18x10+18x11 w/ 275/35r18+305/35r18. Now that the R888 is out he's recommending 18x11+18x11 w/ 295/30r18+305/35r18. Personally, I want 18x11+18x12 w/ 315/30r18+335/30r18 but John is worried the 18x12s might stick out a little...

If you don't have Z51 brakes 17" wheels are definitely doable. I *think* I saw somebody even say some 17s will fit over the Z51 package? I know some C6 guys are running C5Z rear wheels at all four corners.

My notes from last year tell me 17s or 18s with 315mm tires all around was the hot recommendation so long as you turn off TC/AH but that wouldn't maintain the stock circumference... not much will honestly, but you can maintain the relative size difference front:rear which is all AH seems to care about?

Since you want to drive to the events I think tire choice will depend on how far you're willing to drive on a super sticky DOT-R, or how much stick you're willing to give up for a dual purpose tire (Nitto NT-01, Nitto 555RII, Toyo RA-1, Toyo R888) or if you want to run a high-end street tire (Kumho MX?).

All that rambling aside, Locke is right back in comment #5, if you go to different sized wheels you're no longer stock. SCCA will put you into ASP, and at least out here the Corvette clubs will bump me into E3 (?) which is effectively ASP.

Anyway, I've yet to do any of this for the Corvette; I've just been gathering the information since getting the car last year waiting for better choices to become available. It looks now like the Toyo R888 will fit nicely for me driving to/from the track and getting some wider rubber under the car.

In fact, you can even run the Toyo R888 in 245/40r18+295/30r19 on the stock rims. Rears will be shorter than stock, but still larger than the fronts so AH should(?) work. Another alternative is to go 255/35r18 in the front. Smaller overall height, but keeps the front:rear ratio closer to stock.

Let us know what you decide/try...

bluesjam

Great info here! I'm new to the Vette world and I'm also gathering info for tires/wheels and hitch setups. Already have a tire trailer from previous car hoping I can use with the Vette's larger wheels.

What hitch options are available for the C6? Hoping it's a hidden hitch until it's used with the trailer.

I'm mainly an autox guy but will be hitting the track as well. Going to be hard deciding on a tire... I've used the 710s for both autox and track in the past, but the 710s aren't available in stock sizes, and the A6s are not track tires! Looks like I might need two sets of wheels! Or I could just get 18s and stick with the 710s and not worry about staying in stock class. What to do...

What are the lightest wheels out there in 18s or 19s for a C6 with Z51?

Thanks!

Ben Diss

I'm still confused on the classes. Since I've added headers and intake, I think I'm already out of stock class. I think I'm in Street Prepared now. With that in mind, my read of the rules said any wheel/tire was OK in Street Prepared. Is there more to it than that?

gkmccready

The local Corvette club out here has a max wheel width of 11" before getting bumped even higher up the class structure. Not sure if you have something similar to contend with.

I think SCCA ASP is where you'll land with headers, intake, and non-stock wheels.