I hope this hasn't been discussed already. A search here yielded no results so I apologize in advance if there are numerous threads on this topic.

I bought my 09 Z51 Base last November and will most likely replace the tires on it soon. It has the Goodyear run flats and I will bet when I check the manufacture date on them later today I'll take it sooner than later to get new tires. I prefer Michelin tires and will be buying them so I'm not looking for tire brand suggestions. I loved the difference the Michelin Pilot Sport AS 3+ made on my 15 C7 when I replaced the stock Michelin Cup summer tires.

The stock size for my front tires when I input the vehicle information into the Discount Tire website is 245/40 R18 SL for the front and 285/35 R19 SL for the rear. I have the Z51 package so I am assuming that might have made a difference in tire size. I have the stock premium wheels on the car - they show as an option on my window sticker I got from the Corvette Museum. I'm not changing out the wheels. You can see them in the picture I have attached.



I've seen some discussions on here about changing the tire size. Examples: instead of going with a 245/40 on the front changing them to a 255, 265, 275, etc...... Same with the back tires - instead of going with the 285/35 on the rear changing them to a 295, 305, 315, etc......

My questions:
What is the reasoning behind going with a larger tire size?
If I do go bigger, what are the chances of the tires scrubbing the wheel wells when I make turns, etc.....?
What is the largest size you would recommend and why?

Thanks in advance for any advice. I've learned a lot on this forum!

 

Those wheels are after-market zr1 replicas.

 

 

As pointed out those are replicas, but they're the same size wheels with same tire size specs.

Researched this when changing to aftermarket wheels. Found several opinions, most having to do with aesthetics. Did find a good back / forth in the autocross section of another performance forum for mustangs while using Google. Took a screenshot of most definitive post and kept it for information reference. It was the same question posed for 8 / 8.5 " width wheels...



Because I do so much mountain road driving opted to stay within recommended spec for the aftermarket wheels purchased. Your driving may be different so may not be relevant.

 

I went with 255/40-18's and 295/35-19's, have no issues with traction control, ABS or active handling. To me it looks better on the rims than the stock sizes.

 

My suggestion would be to go with stock tire sizes. Unless you're going to track the car adding width really doesn't buy you anything. Plus you must maintain the 1.2" difference in diameter between the front and rear tire sizes (rear taller). Usually that active handling issue will not so up until 100+ MPH.

And yes, your car did not come from the factor with those wheels in the picture.

Good luck.

 

The idea is to go with WIDER tires to give a bigger contact patch for more traction. You want to keep close to the OEM overall tire height on both front and rear, which will also keep the same ratio of front to rear tire height to keep active handling happy.

I haven't changed tire widths so I can't give you a recommendation regarding that. I can bore you with the math on tire size if you are interested; just let me know.

 

As several of you have noted, you've said the wheel on my car are aftermarket ZR1 replicas and you are correct. A quick Google search showed me that the $1850 wheels that were on it from the factory must have been the five spoke chrome wheels. The car was sold by Corvette World to the second owner, so they may have swapped them out. Who knows.......and I like them.

Thanks for the advice. I'll stick to stock sizes for tires.

 

Not knocking your wheels at all, Fastdawg. I think they look pretty sharp too.

 

when i bought my base model last year it had the TSW interlagos on it with 245s up front and 305s in the rear no issues