So here's my deal. The prior owner of my car put on a set of Ansen sprint style aluminum wheels, but they need a fairly thick spacer to clear the rear calipers and a thin one in the front. I'm not a big fan of the setup, though I realize that plenty of folks use them.

Anyway, I'm poking around to either find a good deal on a set of OEM 15" alloys, or something else aftermarket that will work, which brings up the possibility of going with 17" or 18" wheels.

Obviously better tires are available in the larger diameters, so that would mean better performance. For those that have upgraded, I'm curious what difference you noticed in the ride/drive. I find that I actually prefer the look of 15" wheels/tires, and I vastly prefer the cost as both the wheels and tires are a fraction of what you pay if you upsize.

So, for those that have gone with 17's/18's, if the cosmetic enhancement does nothing for you, was the performance upgrade worth the change?

My car will likely see limited "spirited" driving that is not in a straight line (no topography = few curves), if that makes a difference.

Thanks.

 

I'm in the crowd that supports the traditional appearance of old 5-spoke aftermarket wheels (TTII's) and the handling benefits of a late model tire.

In my situation, I went from a car with over 105K mileage that rolled like an old school bus in a turn, to reflexes like a late model sports car. Bear in mind that I took full advantage of upgrading the suspension also but I would expect that a OEM chassis and suspension in good order would deliver great results with the 17" or 18" tire.

Mine is more quiet and comfortable than it ever was and is much more predictable on normal road conditions. Was a night and day difference.

Good luck and keep us posted on what you choose to do.

 

Here we go again....

I'll vote for the 18" wheels and tires. Big difference in car handling.

 

I take it that you are running adapters on the C6 wheels in your avatar shot?

Care to share the specs? I've read many of the threads on them, but there does not seem to be a consensus on what size to use on what wheels.

The C5/6 wheels are at least available used fairly easily. Wheels that fit C3's without modification seem to be either rare or expensive.

I'm a cheap bastard by nature, but you probably already figured that out.

 

Dustup7T2's wheel combo is my absolute favorite out there. I'm getting the same ones on my car next year.

I vote for 18" Coys wheels

 

If you aren't racing the car on a track where the larger diameter wheel means a shorter side wall and therefore less possiblity of sideways flexing then my personal opinion is it does not matter with my L48 engine in my 76. Now, if I had a 454 or 427 big block that could haul *** I might consider getting the bigger wheels.

As it is, going with 255 wide 15" instead of the stock much narrower on the 76 makes my 76 just about like an octupus with 16 arms as is on spirited two lane twisted road driving. Let me define that....an 85 mile circuit of two lane 55 mph with curves limited in some cases to 35 or 45 mph which I often take at 65 or 75 and sometimes more.

I just keep tires that are less than six years old on the car as the tread never wears off before the rubber ages driving it a few thousand miles a year.

I have another vehicle with 20" wheels but the bad news is for V rated tires they are $352 a tire. That one has an ls2 in it and more than 400 hp and pushes the tires. Their overall diameter is 30" approx, wheel and tire, while my 15" 76 vettes are about 27" overall diameter. Different vehicles

Lance P.

 

If I were going to buy new rims and tires, I would choose a larger diameter tire, without question. There are enough options out there if you want a design that looks period-appropriate to a C3, and the tire-choices for 15" rims are not getting more plentiful as the years go on.

 

The performance improvement will be significant, but if you never hear the stock tires squeal you may not notice a difference.

 

true that the tire size for 15" wheels are declining but it's, in my view, also sort of a fad to go to bigger wheels and smaller aspect ratio tires. The tire companys must love it..less tire fabric at higher prices. Change can be for one of two reasons: style and appearance or function. I've covered the function for the most part and if it's style then that's up to you to decide but it will be a pretty expensive style and take the car further from original. Up to you to choose. Some of this is functional at higher racing speeds but a lot of it is the current fad applied to older cars. Up to you to decide if you want to join that or not so long as 15" tires that perform are available in my opinion.

I've been wrong on lots of things but the above is what I thought when I was thinking about a new set of tires. I stuck with the 15's given my usage.

Up to you.

Lance P.

 

You're dead on with that!

Before the fireworks starts.......it's your choise.

Yes 17s or 18s cost more.
Yes they handle better.
Yes there are more tire choises.
Yes shorter sidewall tires ride harder.

.........makes you wonder why people do some of this stuff in the 1st place doesn't it??????

It sounds like you are not going to be pushing the car. If you went with 17x8s (4" backspace) and 255/50-17 tires I think you would have all the performance you would ever need and there would be little if any deterioration in ride quality.

Good luck in what ever you choose to do.

 

Thanks for the opinions. To be honest, i am just now getting it up and running, but this is one of the items I need to fix before I'll be happy. I'd be lying if I said I had a good feel for how the car handles currently, as I've literally just driven it around the block a couple of times and it still needs an alignment from the front end rebuild.

Maybe I'll hoon the hell out of it once I get used to it, but I'm not sure if I trust my mechanic that well.

 

This thread didn't take off as hot and heavy as I expected. (yet)
Maybe others are just getting tired of discussing the subject?

IMO-some people will always prefer stock size and type everything. Coker tire loves this type of person. If you're one of these people, so be it. There are reasons to remain stock.

Now if you're the type of person that pushes the car's limits a bit or enjoys a bit more refined feeling, an 18" wheel will provide much benefit. If you have not driven the same car with both 15" and 18" rims/tires, you honesty don't know. It is not about the diameter of the rim, but the availabilty of tire options. I'm talking about stickier rubber.

Tires are like shoes. They all have a purpose. Do you want dress shoes (white walls), slip ons (red walls), those old classic canvas Converse All Stars (15" rims with a set of Cooper Cobras, Firestone, or GY 60 or 70 series) or are you going for a spirited run and want something that is comfortable, sticks to the pavement, and allows you to stop, cut and turn faster? The problem with 15" rims is the options are very limited. Soon, you'll only be able to buy recased copies from Coker Tire.

The larger rims include options for more modern rubber compounds, brands, prices, and sizes.

Some people complain about larger rims looking out of place or stupid, but I've seen plenty of cars with 15" rims that looked just as bad. It' all about matching the correct tire size with the correct rim and correct car while having taste.

As for claiming that larger rims are a fad, I don't think so.

 

The C6 rear wheels have a different backspace than the C5 rear wheels. I think this creates some confusion. I went with these because the price was right. I like the way they look on the car, but would not be my first choice if ordering custom wheels. Including rims, tires, and adapters, I have less than $1000 invested in them right now.

I had custom adapters made. Rear should be 3.5" thick and front should be 2.5" or 2.75" thick, depending on how far under the car you want the front rims.

 

[QUOTE=blckslvr79;1580668157] As for claiming that larger rims are a fad, I don't think so. [QUOTE]

As long as manufacturers keep building vehicles with 500+ horsepower, 15" rotors, and 6 piston calipers large diameter wheels are not going away.

As far as C2s and C3s go the "stock" guys have no use for other than 15" OEM wheels and I get that. If you want to increase performance it's very hard not to include modern compound wider tires. Now I'll be the 1st to agree that there are a lot ugly cheap looking "ricer" wheels out there that just don't belong on an American classic and most of all a Corvette. Not everyone shares the same taste (I think that's why the started to offer Corvettes in other than white but I'm not sure ) but if you go with "take offs" from newer Vettes with adapters or a "classic" style wheel I can't see that that is creating an eye sore. Besides that as I have said before it's not a modification that's not reversable. If you hate them just take them off.

 

I love the looks of the TT's but Jeesh, everyone has them.

Not trying to steal the thread...but what do you think of these. American Racing and foose have some good alternatives I think
http://www.americanracing.com/wheels...d=1&groupid=74

 

I have these...




...and these...


...and these...


...for my project.

I plan to keep the stock ralleys (255/60/15 rear and 245/60/15 front) and the 17" SLP ZR-1 look alikes (255/45/17 rear and 245/45/17 front) and change them when I want to change the look and handling of the car. The gold rims are 16" GTAs with 255/60/16 rear and 245/60/16 front. Well, I might keep all three sets for variety.

Ok, so for a short while I had more money than sense...now I have less money.

 

For the street I run the 15" late C3 wheels. I love the looks, and they keep the frame from dragging on the pavement. For the track I use a set of C5Z06 wheels (18"/17"). Different tires for different purposes.

If I could afford to have a set of 18" wheels made that look like the 15" aluminum C3 wheels I'd be a happy guy.

 

They look like they could have came factory and belong on the car that's why.

It's almost like saying, I like rally wheels, but everyone has them.

 

Almost but not exactly...

But so many Muscle, pony, classic cars , even 80s cars have them. I like the 81's Aluminum wheels best. Wish they came in 18s.

 

I've seen one C3 with a set of custom 18" wheels that looked like the 80-82 Aluminum wheels and yes they did look perfect. I don't recall if it was on this site or another though. I do recall they were made custom just for that guy though. If they were readily available and priced right, I'd run them in a heartbeat.