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Hi yall. New C4 owner here.I i love my car, I wish my wheel combo was squared. 18s in the back and 17s in the front. The front wheel well has so much of a gap between the tire and the fender. Also front wheel looks so tucked in. Id really like it to be flush with the fender + fill in the gap, so to speak. I see other peoples C4s with stock wheels and theyre exactly what i want with the flush and no gaps. Advice? Google says 18" x 9.5 all around is ok. Wont cause rubbing or speedometer issue. I take it the c5 z06 wheels only come in 17s? Because i cant find 18s anywhere.
I don't know anything about 18 inch wheels but 17x9.5 replica A molds with 285 width tires brought my front tires flush with the fenders on the front. As for the gap around it, this is fixed with lowering the front end which is a somewhat involved process modifying the blocks that the leaf spring sits on. On the rear it's just lowering bolts to drop the rear end.
I have 17x11 on the rear with 315 tire and the tire comes out 1/4 inch out the wheel well. Looks really sharp in person. I lowered the rear end about 1 to 1 1/4 inch just to level out the car and remove the factory "rake". did it with a full tank of gas to avoid having the blown rear suspension look.
OP, your car is fitted with C5 wheels. They have a bit too much offset up front and a lot too much in back, which is why they look tucked in. You can fit up to 11 rim widths with 50mm offset front and rear. OE Wheels has a number of inexpensive options that are 18x10.5 et56 and will fit your car well with 275/35/ or 285/35/18 tires. I'd go for the latter size since you want to minimize the gap to the fender.
Last edited by MatthewMiller; Jun 4, 2026 at 07:36 PM.
OP, your car is fitted with C5 wheels. They a bit too much offset up front and a lot too much in back, which is why they look tucked in. You can fit up to 11 rim widths with 50mm offset front and rear. OE Wheels has a number of inexpensive options that are 18x10.5 et56 and will fit your car well with 275/35/ or 285/35/18 tires. I'd go for the latter size since you want to minimize the gap to the fender.
11 width in the front without rubbing with full steering lock?
I don't know anything about 18 inch wheels but 17x9.5 replica A molds with 285 width tires brought my front tires flush with the fenders on the front. As for the gap around it, this is fixed with lowering the front end which is a somewhat involved process modifying the blocks that the leaf spring sits on. On the rear it's just lowering bolts to drop the rear end.
I have 17x11 on the rear with 315 tire and the tire comes out 1/4 inch out the wheel well. Looks really sharp in person. I lowered the rear end about 1 to 1 1/4 inch just to level out the car and remove the factory "rake". did it with a full tank of gas to avoid having the blown rear suspension look.
This looks really good. I like the C4 ZR1 wheel along with the C5 Z06 wheel.
The a mold (what you're calling a c4 ZR1) wheels are often found in the right size to go square on 17s. One thing I'll add, 284 40 17 square tires are CHEAP compared to the 18s. They are a couple hundred cheaper for the 17s, same tires and widths.
The a mold (what you're calling a c4 ZR1) wheels are often found in the right size to go square on 17s. One thing I'll add, 284 40 17 square tires are CHEAP compared to the 18s. They are a couple hundred cheaper for the 17s, same tires and widths.
I got mickey Thompson street comp in that size for about 250 a pop
11 width in the front without rubbing with full steering lock?
Yes, easy peasy if you use 50mm offset (for 88-96 C4s) and 315 tires. That's what you see on my car in my avatar. But there aren't really any street-oriented tires in 315/30/18 or 315/35/17 - they are all really track/autocross-focused. The 18x10.5s et56 wheels I linked you to with 285/35/18 offer lots of good street tire choices, and they look good on a C4, and for a lot cheaper than 11" and 315 options. Here's my friend's 95 on that exact combo front and rear, with stock ride height and stock everything else:
The a mold (what you're calling a c4 ZR1) wheels are often found in the right size to go square on 17s. One thing I'll add, 284 40 17 square tires are CHEAP compared to the 18s. They are a couple hundred cheaper for the 17s, same tires and widths.
I mean. Im good with the 17s if they fill out the open space in the wheel area without lowering the car. Ive already scraped the front lip a few times as it is, i dont want to lower it. The white car with those Zr1 wheels does look solid as well - and cheaper than the 18" option...
Yes, easy peasy if you use 50mm offset (for 88-96 C4s) and 315 tires. That's what you see on my car in my avatar. But there aren't really any street-oriented tires in 315/30/18 or 315/35/17 - they are all really track/autocross-focused. The 18x10.5s et56 wheels I linked you to with 285/35/18 offer lots of good street tire choices, and they look good on a C4, and for a lot cheaper than 11" and 315 options. Here's my friend's 95 on that exact combo front and rear, with stock ride height and stock everything else:
the white car posted above with the 17s also fill out nicely as well, no? I assumed only 18s would do the trick..
also, thanks for that site. Im going through it. I believe i also have a canadian equivalent bookmarked
Will compare options on both sites
Last edited by 95vettematt; Jun 4, 2026 at 08:14 PM.
Another thought, what about wheel spacers for both rear and front? Rather than buying all new set of wheels to get those wheels flush with the fender.
Wheel spacers require longer studs. Those aren't super tough to do up front, but they are more of a pain in the rear hubs. It's very doable for someone mechanically inclined and with a garage full of tools, but for a lot of folks it's going to a big task. Besides, the staggered-diameter wheels from C5/6/7 don't really look right on a C4. The C4 had great fundamental proportions and didn't need to hide a strangely short and tall *** like the later gens did (a byproduct of their transaxle layout).
Wheel spacers require longer studs. Those aren't super tough to do up front, but they are more of a pain in the rear hubs. It's very doable for someone mechanically inclined and with a garage full of tools, but for a lot of folks it's going to a big task. Besides, the staggered-diameter wheels from C5/6/7 don't really look right on a C4. The C4 had great fundamental proportions and didn't need to hide a strangely short and tall *** like the later gens did (a byproduct of their transaxle layout).
aww man. Will kinda suck dropping a couple Gs on a new set of wheels n tires. Will see what the local corvette shop says about good quality spacers before anything..
i appreciate the input yall. Generally speaking, i still dig the look of the car as it is. I mostly want the flush wheels. I love the C4
Last edited by 95vettematt; Jun 4, 2026 at 11:14 PM.
If you go with larger overall wheel diameter your speedometer will be reading incorrectly. It will read lower than your actual speed.
My setup looks great in person, I don't scrape anywhere even getting into inclined entrances. Plus my speedometer reads right. If you go A-molds check out the chrome ones like I have, or the alloy ones. Both look really nice, look at photos of each online. Plus A-molds stay generation correct whereas C5 wheels are from later cars.
If you buy a set of a-molds on ebay make sure if you go with the 17x11 rears that the offset on them is -52mm, not -36mm. The 36 is for the ZR1 chassis and will not work on the base cars. You can also run the 17x11 on the front as well, I considered it but ultimately stuck with 9.5 width rim on the front and its flush to the fender, or close enough for me at least. No rubbing anywhere going over bumps from any of the 4 wheels.
A 275 or 285 width tire on the front works on the 9.5 wheels.
aww man. Will kinda suck dropping a couple Gs on a new set of wheels n tires. Will see what the local corvette shop says about good quality spacers before anything..
I thought you were asking about getting 18s for this car?!
Also, if you have a to ask a local shop about spacers, you probably need to ditch those wheels and tires and just get OE C4 wheels with OE tire sizes and forget about other options. Not trying to be mean, but you'll pay a shop more for studs and spacers than you'd spend on proper wheels.
I thought you were asking about getting 18s for this car?!
Also, if you have a to ask a local shop about spacers, you probably need to ditch those wheels and tires and just get OE C4 wheels with OE tire sizes and forget about other options. Not trying to be mean, but you'll pay a shop more for studs and spacers than you'd spend on proper wheels.
im completely ignorant on this. Ill continue to look over wheel and tire options with the site provided. Im actually surprised spacers can be costly, I really thought that was a simple job and the spacers idea popped in my head last night - and of course im completely open to getting a different set of wheels to sooth my woes.
I appreciate the advice. Thanks.
Last edited by 95vettematt; Jun 5, 2026 at 08:32 AM.
im completely ignorant on this. Ill continue to look over wheel and tire options with the site provided. Im actually surprised spacers can be costly, I really thought that was a simple job.
It will be the labor to replace the wheel studs that costs money. A spacer itself is just a flat piece of metal milled to a specific thickness. It doesn't need to be expensive or fancy - just flat. If anyone starts talking about "hubcentric" spacers or super-high-quality alloys or whatever, stop listening.
I meant to include the following in my prior reply: what exact tire sizes are on your car right now? The OE C5 rear tires are too tall for a C4, and that may be what's in back of your car. OTOH, in your pics, the fronts look too short, like someone was going for that 1970s drag racing look. That may be causing part of your gap. Please look on the sidewalls and tell us both tire sizes.
I have 3/4” wheel adapters on the front of my 86. They bolt onto studs and your wheel bolts onto adapter.
I’m running 90 ZR1 wheels, so that corrects the offset to better match the 11” rears.
I have 3/4” wheel adapters on the front of my 86. They bolt onto studs and your wheel bolts onto adapter.
I’m running 90 ZR1 wheels, so that corrects the offset to better match the 11” rears.
The problem with adapters is that 3/4" is the thinnest they come in. Those might work for the OP's rear wheel fitment, but that's probably too much thickness for the fronts. I really his issue with fender gap up front is his tire size, not the wheel specs.
Wheel fitment
