New tires for a C4
07-16-2018, 08:41 PM
#1
Heel & Toe
Thread Starter
New tires for a C4
My baby needs new tires. Had the car 5 years it came with "New" tires they are weather cracked. All 4 are 285... but research says different for front.
Recommendations on brand and sizes please.
Recommendations on brand and sizes please.
07-16-2018, 09:02 PM
#2
Burning Brakes
Tires
Over the years, the C-4 Corvette came with a variety of tire sizes & combinations. Toyo 888r is a good tire to consider if you are performance minded. Most likely your car will take a 275-17 since C4s never came with a 285 from the factory.
07-16-2018, 10:04 PM
#3
Melting Slicks
LOTS of C4's came with a 285's on the rear. None that I know of came with 285's on the front.
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Garand1 (03-01-2023)
07-17-2018, 12:31 AM
#4
Team Owner
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My first '88 came with 4 275 GY Eagles that performed well street and strip and I've stayed with that brand size.
IMO, if you enjoyed driving with 285s around then don't change.
IMO, if you enjoyed driving with 285s around then don't change.
07-17-2018, 07:46 AM
#5
Le Mans Master
What year is your Vette, some came with same size on all 4 corners, others didn't and the latter reduces tread life because you can't rotate.
07-17-2018, 08:34 AM
#6
Le Mans Master
On '95's they originally came with 255/45/17 fronts and 285/40/17 rears, unless it had the Z07 option then they came with 275/40/17 on all four corners.
If I remember your car, I didn't think it had the Z07 option, but you can check. The SPID label will show it or not, and the door tire decal will show the original sizes.
If you had the staggered sizes, the wheels were staggered also with 8.5" wide fronts and 9.5" wide rears. The Z07 same size on all four used 9.5" wide.
The 275 or 285 may be a little to wide for the 8.5" wheels although I know many people have done it. If you have the 9.5" wide on all four then either the 275 or 285 on all four will work fine. I have run all four 9.5" wheels with 275 tires on several sets and 285 tires on another set. They work fine on your '95.
What was originally on your car when new is not necessarily what is on it now. Even if it had the staggered set up when new, it may have all four the same now, so check to see which wheels are on it now. For example, my '95 and '96 came with the staggered set up, but I put all four 9.5" wheels on mine as they sit now.
For tires I went with the Continental DW tires. One set of 275's and one set of 285's. That model of tire has been replaced with one that is very similar and I suspect it would be one of my first choices also. Good ride, quiet, and good grip.
Good luck.
If I remember your car, I didn't think it had the Z07 option, but you can check. The SPID label will show it or not, and the door tire decal will show the original sizes.
If you had the staggered sizes, the wheels were staggered also with 8.5" wide fronts and 9.5" wide rears. The Z07 same size on all four used 9.5" wide.
The 275 or 285 may be a little to wide for the 8.5" wheels although I know many people have done it. If you have the 9.5" wide on all four then either the 275 or 285 on all four will work fine. I have run all four 9.5" wheels with 275 tires on several sets and 285 tires on another set. They work fine on your '95.
What was originally on your car when new is not necessarily what is on it now. Even if it had the staggered set up when new, it may have all four the same now, so check to see which wheels are on it now. For example, my '95 and '96 came with the staggered set up, but I put all four 9.5" wheels on mine as they sit now.
For tires I went with the Continental DW tires. One set of 275's and one set of 285's. That model of tire has been replaced with one that is very similar and I suspect it would be one of my first choices also. Good ride, quiet, and good grip.
Good luck.
07-17-2018, 08:47 AM
#7
Le Mans Master
All C4s with 17x9.5 wheels at all four corners came with 275/40/17 tires on them, not the taller/wider 285/40. I would follow GM's lead on that, too, if those are the wheels you have.
As others noted, if you have the "staggered" wheel set (8.5 in front and 9.5 in back) then it originally came with 255/45 in front and 285/40 in back. These are both 26.1" in diameter, whereas the 275/40 is 25.6". The 285 is too wide for a 8.5" wheels. You can go with the OE sizes (255/285), but there are very few choices in those sizes and fewer every day. If you get a road hazard a couple years from now, you might be faced with a lack of replacement options. I recommend going with 245/45 in front and 275/40 in back. These are both 25.6" in diameter, which looks better and improves handling a bit. And there are tons of choices in those sizes. The best budget pick is no longer the Nitto - it's the Riken Raptor: well under ~$85ea for a quality set of high performance tires (i.e., not Chinese crap).
As others noted, if you have the "staggered" wheel set (8.5 in front and 9.5 in back) then it originally came with 255/45 in front and 285/40 in back. These are both 26.1" in diameter, whereas the 275/40 is 25.6". The 285 is too wide for a 8.5" wheels. You can go with the OE sizes (255/285), but there are very few choices in those sizes and fewer every day. If you get a road hazard a couple years from now, you might be faced with a lack of replacement options. I recommend going with 245/45 in front and 275/40 in back. These are both 25.6" in diameter, which looks better and improves handling a bit. And there are tons of choices in those sizes. The best budget pick is no longer the Nitto - it's the Riken Raptor: well under ~$85ea for a quality set of high performance tires (i.e., not Chinese crap).
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gtFOOTw (06-28-2022)
07-17-2018, 11:31 AM
#9
Melting Slicks
In my opinion there are 2 choices in tires for these cars right now...
Continental ExtremeContact Sport
OR
Toyo R888R
Unless you need an all season tire, and I cant help you there.
The Continental will be a GREAT all around tire with good tread wear, good dry traction, good wet traction, etc... Supposed to be the competitor to the award winning Pilot Super Sport which you cant get in our sizes(the PS2 doesnt compare to the PSS).
The R888R is a GREAT dry weather tire and will provide outstanding dry grip at the expense of tread life and wet grip. I just had a set of these mounted for my 96 CE Z51 car(275/40/17 on all 4 corners).
Continental ExtremeContact Sport
OR
Toyo R888R
Unless you need an all season tire, and I cant help you there.
The Continental will be a GREAT all around tire with good tread wear, good dry traction, good wet traction, etc... Supposed to be the competitor to the award winning Pilot Super Sport which you cant get in our sizes(the PS2 doesnt compare to the PSS).
The R888R is a GREAT dry weather tire and will provide outstanding dry grip at the expense of tread life and wet grip. I just had a set of these mounted for my 96 CE Z51 car(275/40/17 on all 4 corners).
07-17-2018, 12:00 PM
#10
Team Owner
Starting with the 1993 model year, the rear tires were 285/40-17 while the front tires were 255/45-17. The base front wheels were 8.5" wide. If those years had the optional Z07 (Z51 for '96) suspension, the tires were 275/40-17 with 9.5" wide wheels. 1989 thru 1992 cars had 275/40-17s on all four corners. The ZR-1 and Grand Sport coupes had 315/35-17 in the rear and 275/40-17 up front. '96 CE cars with Z51 also has 275/40-17 all around.
07-17-2018, 03:49 PM
#12
07-17-2018, 11:36 PM
#15
Le Mans Master
07-17-2018, 11:52 PM
#17
Well, you said tires fit the wheel not the car, and to look at the size stamp on the back of the wheel, then buy tires to fit that size wheel. That makes it sound like each size wheel only has exactly one tire size that fits it, which obviously makes no sense. My lifted truck and my wife’s minivan have the exact same size wheel, but trust me, they wear very different size tires. And even on the same car like the c4, you can play with small variations in width and aspect ratio and have several different tire sizes that will fit the same wheel and still yield similar overall dimensions. So to make it sound like there’s only one tire choice per wheel is confusing.
07-18-2018, 12:00 AM
#18
Unless I missed it somewhere, I don’t see where you ever said the full tire size? That would help because everyone is giving advice assuming you have some variation of a stock wheel size, but you could have something completely different on there. For general tire research I like using tire rack for reviews.
07-18-2018, 01:38 PM
#19
Well, you said tires fit the wheel not the car, and to look at the size stamp on the back of the wheel, then buy tires to fit that size wheel. That makes it sound like each size wheel only has exactly one tire size that fits it, which obviously makes no sense. My lifted truck and my wife’s minivan have the exact same size wheel, but trust me, they wear very different size tires. And even on the same car like the c4, you can play with small variations in width and aspect ratio and have several different tire sizes that will fit the same wheel and still yield similar overall dimensions. So to make it sound like there’s only one tire choice per wheel is confusing.