Les

It's time for new tires out back and I'm very close to changing the size of my Nitto Drag Radials. My current tires are their 275/60/15 and I'm looking to change to their 275/50/15. This would result in a tire height change from 27.76" to 25.71", obviously almost exactly 2". My front tires will remain at 235/60/15 which is 26" tall.

With my current set up I have a slight nose down attitude and the fender gaps are just about right IMO. Here's a shot of the car as it sits now-


Changing to the shorter rears would pretty much square up the front/rear height and level the car out. My concern is the gap from the top of the rear tire to the fender arch will grow by 1" and I'm afraid I won't be happy with the looks. I have the longer rear leaf spring bolts (8" I believe) and I can adjust down by about 1/2" or maybe a bit more.

Here's where I'd like your opinions- If I'm still not happy with the gap and I want to lower it more, how low can I go before I start to adversely effect the rear suspension geometry? Has anybody seen a C3 or run a C3 with the rear tires at about 26" tall and, if so, how did it look? Did it need to be lowered to look right or am I worried about nothing? Thanks.

gkull

Fender gap is always a problem when you get down in diameter like thes 25.7 inch tall 315/35/17's here in my old picture from years ago.

Alan 71

Hi Les,
To my eye it's not just the distance from the top of the tire to the apex of the lip; it's also the way the smaller diameter tire doesn't fill the wheel well. It makes the car look a bit like it's on roller skate wheels to me.
Regards,
Alan

7t9l82

i agree . that's why I'm fighting going to 17 or 18 inch wheels they just don't fill the wheel well nicely. yours sits about perfect.

Les

You all make good points. I've fought the 17" wheel change too. It worked out great on my Z28 and it truly transformed the handling on the car but the overall diameter of the tires was the same as the stock ones were for that car- this would not be the case for the Vette.

George,
Your pic really helps- that's exactly the look I want to avoid. Were you able to make any adjustments or is that pretty much the way it looked with those rear tires?

gkull

Yes, to correct the look I went and bought 12 X 17 rear wheels and mounted 335/35/17 tires and then my painter friend and I put on the flares.

gkull

This an 15 year old picture when I first got 11X17 rears and 9X17 fronts.

The rear tires are 285/40/17 they are 27 inch tall or something like that and the fronts i ran 255/45/17 which are 25.7 inch They were Goodyear F1 steel belted

Les

Thanks for the info George. The combo in that last pic is actually pretty close to what I have on my Z28 IIRC. It looks pretty good. I'll keep it in mind for the future.

The Money Pit

I like that hot rod look, so I now am running 295 55 15 MT's. I used to run P295 50 15 street tires, and it always bugged me that they looked too short. They were 26.5 inches tall.

Les

I used to run a 295/50/15 too but they stuck out just enough past the fenders on a 69 to look wrong for the car. They actually didn't hook well anyway since they were a normal rubber compound Yokohama street tire.

So, are your current MTs the ET Street Radials? If so, how do they work for day to day street driving? I was actually thinking of getting those in the 255/60/15s since the height would be just about perfect and they would probably give me the straight line traction I need. However, the MT rep I talked to today said they weren't really intended for anything except getting to the track, running the 1/4 mile, and getting back home. They don't even give them a speed rating apparently.

Les

Bump- hoping that Money Pit sees this to answer my question about the MT ET Streets.

The Money Pit

They are ET Street radials, and I really seem fine to me for daily driving. I haven't put a lot of miles on since I put these on, because I blew the engine last July, and got married, have all kinds of other projects going on,....The tires are R-2 compound, ..You can stick your thumbnail into it like one of those gum erasers you used to use in elementry school.

This pic I snapped before I had them mounted shows they are about 1 1/2 inches taller than the P295 50 15s I was running, but are only a little fatter in the sidwall. The shoulder of the tire barely sticks out past the fender, but that took me a bit of finessing with wheel offset./ adaptor thickness to get what I wanted.

Les

Money, that's a good look on your car- you've definitely filled the fenders. Earlier C3s like my 69 don't have those little fender flares like yours does, so really wide meats like you have just don't look right IMO because they stick out too much. Thanks for the pics.

johnmb

I think the first picture of your present ride looks fantastic!

blckslvr79

Please explain what rim diameter has to do with tire diameter filling a wheel well.

rogman16

You can get 27" or 28" diameter tires for 17" and 18" wheels...

Rogman

Gale Banks 80'

I'd love to have a 27" 17" Tire but I havn't found them. Let's make it a 335 40 17 rather than the 335 35 17 that is out there. 26.2" is the tallest Tire I have found in the 315 + width. Street Performance Tires please, Drag Radials don't count.

rogman16

GB--

If you want to go wide, you'll need to bump the wheel size up to 20" to get close... You can get a 345/25ZR20 which is 26.8... You could narrow a little with a 315/35ZR20 and get 28.7... That would be a "mean" combination and I'd really like to see a C3 with this combo...

Rogman

Krystal

......... running 17" wheels on my car and the 255/50/17s match up in height almost EXACTLY with the 255/60/15s they replaced.

There is, of course, an argument that suggests at the stock height the optional 255/60/15 didn't fill the space as well as the 225/70/15s that were standard issue.......... but this is nothing that can't be corrected by lowering the car over-all.

We lowered my car through the use of a transverse fiberglass spring in place of the coils up front but new shorter coils would accomplish the same at lower cost. The back end is easy.......longer bolts and you are good to go.

Roco71

I love the wheels that you have on your car now they look great with the color of your car. I am sure that you will find a solution to your tire issue.