Kyle Doise

Hey Guys,
I'm looking to replace the tires on my 88 Vette. The previous owner had Goodyear 285/40ZR17 on the back and 265/40R17 on the front.
I'm wondering why he had two different tire sizes on the car, should I do the same and which High Performance tires do you think holdup the best, perform the best and are quiet?

THE 383 admiral

To make it have the appearance of a 90 series C4 with staggered tire size options. 88 C4's should have 275/40R17 on all 4 corners. Depends on how you drive your Vette. If you just cruise around get All Season tire.
Take a look at the Continental Extreme Contact DWS. Make sure you have Matching rims.

FAUEE

Some people like the staggered look. Later C4s did that from the factory, but the chassis supposedly is designed for a square setup all the way around.

As far as what tires are best... that all depends. Do you drive in cold temperatures, how often, how hard, etc. I have Bridgestone re760s, they're a decent all around tire as long as you only drive in 50+ degree temperatures. Not an amazing track tore, but they will work.

QCVette

The '88 to '92 had 275/40/17 on 9.5" wheels on all four corners. (Unless it had the standard 16" wheel with 255/50/16 tires in '88).

From '93 to '96 the 17" x 9.5" wheels with 275/40/17 were optional with certain suspensions while the 8.5" front with 255/45/17 and 9.5" rear with 285/40/17 were the base wheels/tires.

You did not state what wheels are on the car now. Are they the stock 17" x 9.5" all around or perhaps 8.5" front and 9.5" rear that were on many later years.

Your choice of tires depends on what size wheels you have.

Kyle Doise

I was told by the PO he put the rims to a 1989 Vette on the car. The back has 285/40ZR17 tires and the front has 265/40R17. I'm assuming that the rims are the same size being they're both 40R17.
I live along the Gulf Coast. We have no issues with snow and when we do have temps below 50 I don't take the car out of the barrage. I Baby it for the most part. My concerns are traction in wet and dry conditiins, handling the roads, ruff ones, at high speeds and quiet. I'm hearing impared and it's hard enough to hear in good conditions. So, it'd be nice to understand my passenger. I know I can spend a fortune and get good tires, but I'd like to know what gives the same quality with the price for the name.
And I'm not really attached to the staggered look. But if it's done to help with handling, I'm for it!
I put an average of 1K miles per year

bcrich1975

I just installed a set of Nitto Motivo 275/40ZR17 on my '88 and have been very happy with them.

Kyle Doise

Are they quiet?

RollaMo-LT4

Never "assume" anything when working on these cars.

The 40 in the tire size is just an aspect ratio (the 40 means that the height is equal to 40% of the tire's width).
There is nothing there that tells you what the rim size is or should be.

The actual rim size will be stamped on the back side of the wheel.

bcrich1975

The Nitto Motivo's are very quiet, don't cost a fortune, and have a better treadwear rating than most sports car tires so you'll get some good mileage out of those. I work for a tire distributor so I could have used pretty much anything but our shop has had good luck with these and satisfied customers aside from myself.

FAUEE

I would go with Bridgestone re760s. There is a distinct trade off between traction and noise, and the re760s is a good midpoint in my opinion. The nitty involved is pretty good too, but expect it to wear out faster than you'd expect for not that amazing traction. The re760s has more grip and longer life than the invo. The motivo or neogen or most any other nitty tire will have less grip than the invo, only the nt05 or nt01 have more grip than the invo.

MatthewMiller

The worst thing about the staggered set you have on there now is that the rears are not just wider, they are also taller than the fronts (fronts are shorter than stock, rears are taller). That is not great for handling: taller tires increase roll center height and reduce lateral traction due to increased jacking. If you find you have 9.5" wheels all around, then I agree with others who suggest going back to the OE square setup on 275s.

3JsVette

also. As far as tires go check out the reviews on the Tire Rack. They don't sell Nittos so no reviews on them there but the Conti DWS are a good choice as well as the Bridgestones.

DGXR

I understand that the previous owner told you the wheels are from an 89. BUT, before you look at any tires, decide if you are keeping those wheels on the car now... It sounds like you are, and if so,

CONFIRM THE WHEEL SIZES.

This is a very important first step in shopping for tires, if you are not 100% sure what wheels are on there now. It's easy to confirm a 17" diameter. I'm talking about the wheel WIDTH. This will determine which size tires you can safely install on those wheels.