JAKE

On the 96 I recently bought I found that the front wheels are narrower than the rears 8.5" fronts vs 9.5" rears.

Anyone have a clue as to why that is?

I'vbe been looking at some aftermarket Z06 wheels but the ones I've found come with all four at 9.5". Has anyone gone that route and replaced the front 8/5s" with 9/5"?

Having uni-directional wheels and tires when the front wheels are narrower than the rears prevent any sort of rotation.

What's the poop??

Jake

Aggravated4life

Hi Jake,
To my best knowledge,GM put smaller rims up front to help increase stability of the car and stop the side to side tracking of the wheels the larger rims were known for over bad pavement,or track strips on roads.
Thats how I remembered it.

c4cruiser

The wider tires tended to get caught in ruts in pavement making the car feel "darty". Changes in alignment and the narrower front tire helped solve those issues. The 93 cars were the first ones with the small er front tires and wheels.

Z07 suspension-equipped cars (or the 96 Z51 cars) got 9 1/2" wide wheels on all four corners along with 275/40 tires so you can move up to that wheel and tire size with no problems.

JAKE

Thanks, Bill, for that Info.

Jake

JAKE

I appreciate that info. I was hoping not to have to buy new tires as well as new wheels.

So, as I understand it, if I decide to go with the aftermarket wheels which are 9-1/2" on both the front and rear, I'd also need to go with a different size tire on both the front and rear. Well, that's a real "downer".

Jake

Desert1957

Jake,
just thought I would tell you I own a 92 C4 , it came with the wide 9.5 inch wheels on all 4 corners and 275x45/17 tires.

Just 4 looks I purchased a friends wheels 93-96 "sawblade type" that were polished and 8.5 frt / 9.5 rear. 255x45/17 frt and 315x35/17 rears

WOW what a difference in ride quality! , no more lane searching , or pulling the wheel out of your hands , overall major improvement to the driveablity of the Car , I would have never beleived the difference without experiencing it first hand.
Desert

AORoads

First, did you mean the tires you had on the 9.5" wheels was 275-40 or 275-45? And second, I didn't think 315-35 would fit on 9.5" rear wheels, or are those actually 11" wide wheels in the rear?

While I don't disagree with your situation/experience, to a degree, the lane pulling/darting/changing due to larger front wheels and tires can be due to tread and tire design (compound, grooves, belt type and placement, etc.).

Just trying to add to and clear up some info.

Desert1957

Yes , sorry for the typo, the 92 wheels have 275/40X17 (dunlop SP) tires. the 93 wheels have 255/45X17 Goodyear GSC (Front) , 315/35X17 Sumitomo's (rear).

You are correct about the 315's being too wide for the 9.5 wheels , I have not noticed any abnormal wear or handling issues though.

Anyone else have 315/35X17 tires on 9.5 inch rear wheels?

Desert

F1Fan

I have the same size 315's on 11" rims, I don't know that I'd feel safe during hard cornering with them on such a narrow rim.
If you just cruise in the car, I guess thats one thing, but I wouldn't take it to track day event with that combination.

9vette4

Hi guys... I have chrome sawblades on my 94 coupe. Right now i have 8.5 with 255's on the front and 11's with 315's on the rear. I bought a pair 9.5's for the front cause i want the tires to come out alittle bit further from the wheelwell. i am going to get 275's for the 9.5 rims over the winter. I like the way the 315's look on the back of the car.

UWEBABY

I'vbe been looking at some aftermarket Z06 wheels but the ones I've found come with all four at 9.5". Has anyone gone that route and replaced the front 8/5s" with 9/5"?



JAKE IF YOU WANT THE 8.5 Z06 WHEELS FOR THE FRONT, CHECK WITH TOMZ WHEELS (TOMZWHEELS.COM). HE HAS THEM.

TA

I believe 88 (with 17" wheels) through 92 all had 17x9.5 on front and rear.

mffi115

I put a set of AFS "Grand Sport" copy rims on my '94 with the stock size tires; 245 / 9.5" front and 285 / 11.5" rear. I didn't notice any change in sensitivity until I started running lower air pressure - 34 psi vs 38 (some tire store jockey told me low profile tires need to run high psi). The handling improved at the lower psi. I'm a daily driver guy and not an auto crosser so my perspective may be different. I like the way the 285 on the 11.5" rear looks.

rickneworleansla

Where did you get the 11.5 rear rims? All I have seen is 11". Are these larger than a 17" diameter?

Thanks

mffi115

OOPS. They're 17x11" - sorry.

Carl

94ZR1

Go with ZR1 wheels

9vette4

Hi... I see that you have Magnaflow exhaust on your '94. My Magnaflow's will be delivered tomorrow.How do you like them?
Any tips you would like to pass on.....

mffi115

I love them. One of the guys at the muff shop I had weld them told me that they will mellow out after a few k miles. They did - nice mellow rumble and not too loud at WOT and very little resonace at the 65-70 mph range. Since I drive in AZ and NM @ 80mph it doesn't bother me. I don't think it's bad though.

One thing. The mounting bracket on the left one broke a few weeks ago at the weld on the muff body and left it hanging. I used a couple large metal hose clamps to jury rig it until I can get my LT headers and I'll pull it and have it rewelded.

If you're going to do it yourself, don't cut too much of the stock pipe off. Measure twice - cut once. I measured once and had barely enough left to clamp. It lasted until I got it to the local shop and had them weld them.

9vette4

i heard about the bracket welds coming loose.Maybe i should have them spot weld the brackets as well. I'm going on monday to have the put on.

Cold_B

I'm running chrome A-Molds in the grandsport sizes with no problems (9.5x17 wheel with 275 tires and 11x17 wheel 315 tires).

Sure you can't rotate them, but I haven't found that to be a problem.