Wheels, Wheels and more Wheels
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,281
Likes: 3
From: Manahawkin NJ
St. Jude Donor '10
Wheels, Wheels and more Wheels
As a newbie to the corvette world, I was amazed that the amount of wheels and tires offered on this forum from venders, and manufacturers. It seems the choices are endless. From reading an immense amount of posts it became clear that the waters were filled with Sharks and the buyer better be aware of what he was going to do and get into. Real venders with brick and mortar, web venders that have a soft wall business’s and the tried and true manufacturers like BBS, HRE, Forgeline , Fiske, and CCW, (the one’s that come to my mind).
My first problem was what was the biggest tire and wheel I could fit on my C6 Z06 with out doing any modifications to the body and maintain the correct cast camber and toe on my wheels so that when I did get on the track for a HPDE event I could still have the confidence in my set up and that if I chose to keep the electronic nanny on that she would be able to do what she was designed to do properly. I talked to a number of venders and got a large variation on what the largest size rim and tire combination was. So I called a good friend Reese *** from MTI Racing and was told to get a set of track rims and tires and a set of show rims and tires. His suggestion was that there was no manufacturer that made the ULTIMATE wheel tire combination and that each activity had specific issues that needed to be addressed.
I also sent a number of PM's to Edensknight who from the posts I saw had a very good understanding of what was available in the marketplace and what would work for track and everyday driving. I was able to get a complete understanding of the best wheel and tire combination that would work with out any modifications to the fenders and also provide a solid suspension set up for track and every day driving. It was apparent from the amount of information Edensknight was able to discuss with me, that years of experience was in that great brain, from professional as well as personal experience..
The end result from the advice of both Reese and Edensknight was, I purchased a set of Forgeline MD3P's, which is the coolest rim design I found that reminded me of my BBS days, in 18X10's front and 19X12.5's in the rear. Tire choice was the Nitto Invos' 295/35-18 front and 345/30-19's rear. (I have been a PS2 fan for a long time but decided to try out the Nitto's). I run the PS2's down in 9K miles so I'm sure that if I don't like the Nitto's I will use them up quickly.
Hope that people find this post helpfull.
Ernie O
My first problem was what was the biggest tire and wheel I could fit on my C6 Z06 with out doing any modifications to the body and maintain the correct cast camber and toe on my wheels so that when I did get on the track for a HPDE event I could still have the confidence in my set up and that if I chose to keep the electronic nanny on that she would be able to do what she was designed to do properly. I talked to a number of venders and got a large variation on what the largest size rim and tire combination was. So I called a good friend Reese *** from MTI Racing and was told to get a set of track rims and tires and a set of show rims and tires. His suggestion was that there was no manufacturer that made the ULTIMATE wheel tire combination and that each activity had specific issues that needed to be addressed.
I also sent a number of PM's to Edensknight who from the posts I saw had a very good understanding of what was available in the marketplace and what would work for track and everyday driving. I was able to get a complete understanding of the best wheel and tire combination that would work with out any modifications to the fenders and also provide a solid suspension set up for track and every day driving. It was apparent from the amount of information Edensknight was able to discuss with me, that years of experience was in that great brain, from professional as well as personal experience..
The end result from the advice of both Reese and Edensknight was, I purchased a set of Forgeline MD3P's, which is the coolest rim design I found that reminded me of my BBS days, in 18X10's front and 19X12.5's in the rear. Tire choice was the Nitto Invos' 295/35-18 front and 345/30-19's rear. (I have been a PS2 fan for a long time but decided to try out the Nitto's). I run the PS2's down in 9K miles so I'm sure that if I don't like the Nitto's I will use them up quickly.
Hope that people find this post helpfull.
Ernie O
Last edited by VRedZ06; Apr 14, 2009 at 10:47 PM.
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,904
Likes: 1
From: Ellettsville Indiana
CI 7-8-9 & 12 Veteran
Wounded Warrior Escort '11
Hey Ernie,
Make sure you post some pics of your Z06 with the new wheels and tires. I added a set of CCW T10's with Nitto Invo's last spring. I like 'em.
Paul (at the EG&G office in Crane, Indiana)
Make sure you post some pics of your Z06 with the new wheels and tires. I added a set of CCW T10's with Nitto Invo's last spring. I like 'em.
Paul (at the EG&G office in Crane, Indiana)
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Glad you found a set you really like. I agree that picking out wheels can be a real challenge with all the choices. Post up some pics when you get them on the car.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,281
Likes: 3
From: Manahawkin NJ
St. Jude Donor '10
Thanks for the great comments.
Ernie O
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Verdad Gallardo
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Joined: Jul 2005
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From: The Beautiful Greater Bay Area California
Ernie!!!
Hey, good buddy! Thank you ever so much for the wonderful compliments! It was certainly a pleasure to share a Corvette Chat with you. And, especially so with yet another amazing Corvette aficionado, too! And, I was more than happy to offer you all the information that I could to help steer you in the right direction towards achieving an awesome, and, accurate new custom wheel and tire set-up to be proud of. Ernie, I cannot wait to see the final pic's of this Bad Boy's new shoes!!!
Hey, good buddy! Thank you ever so much for the wonderful compliments! It was certainly a pleasure to share a Corvette Chat with you. And, especially so with yet another amazing Corvette aficionado, too! And, I was more than happy to offer you all the information that I could to help steer you in the right direction towards achieving an awesome, and, accurate new custom wheel and tire set-up to be proud of. Ernie, I cannot wait to see the final pic's of this Bad Boy's new shoes!!!
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 196
Likes: 0
From: Brooklyn NY
As a newbie to the corvette world, I was amazed that the amount of wheels and tires offered on this forum from venders, and manufacturers. It seems the choices are endless. From reading an immense amount of posts it became clear that the waters were filled with Sharks and the buyer better be aware of what he was going to do and get into. Real venders with brick and mortar, web venders that have a soft wall business’s and the tried and true manufacturers like BBS, HRE, Forgeline , Fiske, and CCW, (the one’s that come to my mind).
My first problem was what was the biggest tire and wheel I could fit on my C6 Z06 with out doing any modifications to the body and maintain the correct cast camber and toe on my wheels so that when I did get on the track for a HPDE event I could still have the confidence in my set up and that if I chose to keep the electronic nanny on that she would be able to do what she was designed to do properly. I talked to a number of venders and got a large variation on what the largest size rim and tire combination was. So I called a good friend Reese *** from MTI Racing and was told to get a set of track rims and tires and a set of show rims and tires. His suggestion was that there was no manufacturer that made the ULTIMATE wheel tire combination and that each activity had specific issues that needed to be addressed.
I also sent a number of PM's to Edensknight who from the posts I saw had a very good understanding of what was available in the marketplace and what would work for track and everyday driving. I was able to get a complete understanding of the best wheel and tire combination that would work with out any modifications to the fenders and also provide a solid suspension set up for track and every day driving. It was apparent from the amount of information Edensknight was able to discuss with me, that years of experience was in that great brain, from professional as well as personal experience..
The end result from the advice of both Reese and Edensknight was, I purchased a set of Forgeline MD3P's, which is the coolest rim design I found that reminded me of my BBS days, in 18X10's front and 19X12.5's in the rear. Tire choice was the Nitto Invos' 295/35-18 front and 345/30-19's rear. (I have been a PS2 fan for a long time but decided to try out the Nitto's). I run the PS2's down in 9K miles so I'm sure that if I don't like the Nitto's I will use them up quickly.
Hope that people find this post helpfull.
Ernie O
My first problem was what was the biggest tire and wheel I could fit on my C6 Z06 with out doing any modifications to the body and maintain the correct cast camber and toe on my wheels so that when I did get on the track for a HPDE event I could still have the confidence in my set up and that if I chose to keep the electronic nanny on that she would be able to do what she was designed to do properly. I talked to a number of venders and got a large variation on what the largest size rim and tire combination was. So I called a good friend Reese *** from MTI Racing and was told to get a set of track rims and tires and a set of show rims and tires. His suggestion was that there was no manufacturer that made the ULTIMATE wheel tire combination and that each activity had specific issues that needed to be addressed.
I also sent a number of PM's to Edensknight who from the posts I saw had a very good understanding of what was available in the marketplace and what would work for track and everyday driving. I was able to get a complete understanding of the best wheel and tire combination that would work with out any modifications to the fenders and also provide a solid suspension set up for track and every day driving. It was apparent from the amount of information Edensknight was able to discuss with me, that years of experience was in that great brain, from professional as well as personal experience..
The end result from the advice of both Reese and Edensknight was, I purchased a set of Forgeline MD3P's, which is the coolest rim design I found that reminded me of my BBS days, in 18X10's front and 19X12.5's in the rear. Tire choice was the Nitto Invos' 295/35-18 front and 345/30-19's rear. (I have been a PS2 fan for a long time but decided to try out the Nitto's). I run the PS2's down in 9K miles so I'm sure that if I don't like the Nitto's I will use them up quickly.
Hope that people find this post helpfull.
Ernie O
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,281
Likes: 3
From: Manahawkin NJ
St. Jude Donor '10
My current wheels and tires and how they fit the car
I wanted to show the forum how the current OEM chrome wheels with the large PS2's fit the car. As everyone knows there have been some dealer out there stating that 355's 375's will fit on a unmodified rear fender Z06. That is the most untrue thing that is out there. the max tire is the 345's in 19, 20 and just making it in 21. As you can see from my set up the tires are inside of the fender and if the car get compressed on a large downhill high speed run the tires will NOT rub anything and work as they are supposed to. The fronts are 285's so they have space to grow if I wanted to go one size up to a 295. However with a 9.5 OEM the 285 is the max size for that width, and on the 12 inch rear the 345 is the max on that rim. The current set up suggested from Forgeline is 10.5 inche front rim width for the 295/35 18's INVO's. The rear is the same as we started at 12.5 with the 345/30 19's INVO's. 13 width is NOT going to fit with out a negative camber and a unuseable track rear suspension setup.
Last edited by VRedZ06; Apr 21, 2009 at 10:23 PM.
