17, 18, 19, 20 or a combination? What is the ideal wheel size for a street ZR-1?
03-19-2010, 07:23 AM
#21
The only reason the cars today are running larger wheels/tires is due to design people. The fad has been to put larger wheels on a car to "improve" the looks. The engineeres have to adjust and make the combo work. Have you ever read the book "All Corvettes Are Red"? In there it has a chapter about how the C5s were going to have the 96 grand sport wheels on them, but the design department wanted 18" in the rear. There was a battle between the engineers and design, and eventually design won out. The engineeres had to make the package work with the 18" on the rear. That is why a C5 can actually run better lap times with 17" grand sport wheels on the rear than the factory wheels.
With bigger wheels, you also should get bigger brakes. The further away the rim is from the center, the more rotating mass and inertia it has and the harder it is to get it to stop.
To me bigger wheels look stupid anyways. I can see going 1" over stock, but no bigger. I race with 16" C4 wheels on my 73 because there arn't any tires available in 15" sizes anymore. The 16" are on their way out also so soon I will have to step up to 17" to find a good race tire. The 17"+ in my opinion looks stupid on a C3.
If I were you, I would get the 17" and lowere the car about 0.5-1" and that will look great.
With bigger wheels, you also should get bigger brakes. The further away the rim is from the center, the more rotating mass and inertia it has and the harder it is to get it to stop.
To me bigger wheels look stupid anyways. I can see going 1" over stock, but no bigger. I race with 16" C4 wheels on my 73 because there arn't any tires available in 15" sizes anymore. The 16" are on their way out also so soon I will have to step up to 17" to find a good race tire. The 17"+ in my opinion looks stupid on a C3.
If I were you, I would get the 17" and lowere the car about 0.5-1" and that will look great.
I thought they step up in size over the years because of new technology. Tire tech has always improved year after year and exotic light weight materials to make rims lighter & stronger.I have seen some killer looking C3's with 17"s & 18"s (non racing)
I run 18"s on my car now but will do 18-19 combo soon to make room for my big brake set-up. I feel confident I can make the package look good.
03-19-2010, 10:08 AM
#22
NCM Lifetime # 982
What is the ideal size for wheels (and tires if you wish) for a totally STREET DRIVIN ZR-1?
Stockers , A mold's to be specific. On the street the need is for a nice beefy sidewall .
Stockers , A mold's to be specific. On the street the need is for a nice beefy sidewall .
03-19-2010, 07:50 PM
#23
Le Mans Master
But I agree on the C4, there doesn't seem to be much real reason to go bigger unless you add bigger brakes or want more tire selection.
