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I've had a set of Goodyear Eagle GTII for over 15 years and figured its time to replace them due to there age. The current size is P255 / 60 R15.
The tire sized fill the tire wells and looks pretty good and it doesn't rub on anything.
I've seen a lot of C3's with large gaps between the tire and the fenders and to me it looks like the tires are too small.
A few questions:
What is the stock size?
I've seen on this site people recommend 225 / 60 R15 and 235 / 60 R15 but not my 255 / 60 R15.
Performance is most important to my. Noise and mileage is not why I have the car.
255/60R15 is the optional stock size for 78-82, 44% of 81 C3s left the factory with them. 225/70R15 was the other choice. Either way, the outside diameter is about 27 inches. GM made changes to the cars to allow for the wider tires, but they also fit many earlier C3s.
If the tire looks too small for the wheel wells with stock tires, perhaps the car is too high off the ground.
Spent the morning calling around for a set of 255/60 R15 but I want a Red Strip. Can find it anywhere. Does nobody carry strips other then white? I think a red strip would really work if I can find it. Any suggestions on sites?
Coker, Diamondback are a couple of the re-make folks on tires. I'm sure for the right $$$ they will make you whatever you want. IMO, Diamondback is the better choice.
255/60R15 is the optional stock size for 78-82, 44% of 81 C3s left the factory with them. 225/70R15 was the other choice. Either way, the outside diameter is about 27 inches. GM made changes to the cars to allow for the wider tires, but they also fit many earlier C3s.
If the tire looks too small for the wheel wells with stock tires, perhaps the car is too high off the ground.
I run a different wheel and tire at 17". "Summer performance" tire options on a 17" are just so much better than the orphaned 255/60/15 tire size that I couldn't find good tires for after massive suspension improvements that have transformed the car's ability to turn corners. How-ever the diameter of this wheel and tire is just about exactly the same as the 15" 255/60/15 it replaced. The "look" at the fender is achieved with a dramatic drop front and back.
Two pictures. One with the original 15" wheel and another with the replacement "17". No changes to the drop.
Krystal, car looks great with that new setup. I’d be very interested in your suspension upgrades as I need to do that too. Feel free to PM me with any suggestions or whatever you did as that car looks great. Thanks in advance.
Spent the morning calling around for a set of 255/60 R15 but I want a Red Strip. Can find it anywhere. Does nobody carry strips other then white? I think a red strip would really work if I can find it. Any suggestions on sites?
To the best of my knowledge, by the time that 60 series radial tires became available, red stripe tires were no longer in fashion, so the major tire manufacturers did not offer them. You only option, if that's truly what you want, is the "custom modified" tire, such as "7T1vette" mentioned
First of all, i can't believe you are driving around on 15 year old tires, that's just NOT safe and down right dangerous. If you want the original type Eagle GT tires that came on the car new, here is the site that sells them and is made by Goodyear. Get your wallet out, they are pricey and I have bought several sets over the years from them, but I love the Goodyear Eagle GT tires. GY Eagle GT Tires
Krystal, car looks great with that new setup. I’d be very interested in your suspension upgrades as I need to do that too. Feel free to PM me with any suggestions or whatever you did as that car looks great. Thanks in advance.
The car is a long term story of changes made. Some parts are no longer available from where I got them but can still be obtained from new suppliers.
I leaned into Vette Brake for a lot of it. The front end rides on a fiberglass transverse mono leaf, much like the one available from many suppliers today that is out in the back of the car.
I also have gone through the original trailing arms and done all poly attachment points in the complete rebuilt arms to completely eliminate any deflation and looseness in the back of the car. Mine had gotten so bad that on and off the gas pedal produced a small amount of steering input in the back of the car. That sort of "loose" has no place in any Corvette.
Add to this Bilstein shocks and much more aggressive sway bars and almost immediately it was very obvious the serious impediment to really finding the potential improvement was all about the 15" tires. My solution was to go with a 17" Torque Thrust wheel. I know a lot of people might suggest even more improvement in a larger wheel but I like the 17" size out of a personal bias to at least keep the side-wall height some-what closer in appearance to the old 15" tire than the rubber band look of the most modern interpretations of a wheel and tire you see so often these days. 17" wheels are probably as small as you can go and still get a good selection of the best in modern "summer performance" tire GRIP today.
As for over all height off the ground the car is a lot lower than it was when new and it seems to work well. Bottoming out hasn't been an issue.
11-26-2020, 05:15 PM
1981 C3 Tires
