FYRARMS

Yeah, sounds like the "specialist" needs to specialize in a different car. Maybe he should stick to working on mini-vans.

TIKTGTR

Man....I hope not. At home waiting on my ZForce 19/20 set up now

Dave68

The big IF is wheel weight. If you're not careful and simply buy any ol' wheels you could end up with a ton of extra unsprung weight that WILL

produce longer braking distances
slow down acceleration, big time
feel like a wood-wheel wagon over bumps and ruts

I once asked a Porsche 911 guy how he liked his bigger wheels and lower profile tires. He told me he had to switch back to stock after a month of driving. (for all the above reasons)

I've plus-sized wheels and tires on other vehicles and always made sure I was not increasing unsprung weight. My Mazda actually lost unsprung weight after plus-sizing and acceleration is now notieably peppier.

Toque

I agree with the above 100%.
I tried some cheap aftermarket wheels, and felt a huge reduction in my car's performance. I sold them a month later. I sure will never do that again ! Research wheel weights before you just jump into something. You don't want that sick feeling in your stomach that you spent big $$ on something that slowed down your high performance car...

Toque

max'svette

19/20" set up is way too big, and it makes the car look silly.

SoDiezl350

I ran 20" iForged on my Lexus IS350 so I cannot comment on how they ride on a C5 Vette but I would advise you against going with iForged given the experience I and many other people have had with both their wheels and customer service.

iForged at one point had begun welding all of their 3 pieces wheels together for reasons unknown to me and anyone I asked. This caused the T6 aluminum to lose its temper and reduced the yield strength from 50ksi to something like 5ksi.

Needless to say that I was having the rims repaired quite frequently. Sadly the only way to repair the cracks was to weld them shut, which further weakened the surrounding material.

I was not slammed, and I was running very low spring rate coilovers but was still getting a lot of problems. Eventually I was able to avoid wheel damage by raising the car a considerable ammount and significantly softening the damping on the shocks (not because the shocks were bottoming out). I rode around for about a year without cracking a rim, which I was pretty amazed with. I still had a lot of anxiety whenever I hit a pothole.

As for ride quality, the small bumps are fine but the big ones are really gut wrenching. My advice would be to stick with high quality 1 piece wheels(cast or forged) that are 19" on a daily driver and consider three piece 20" wheels that aren't iForged on a weekend car.

Toque

I agree with you on some setups I have seen. Some 19/20 setups are not done right and looks weird. You can't just slap on wheels this large without following it up with bigger brakes, and lowering the car.

Now, some 19/20 setups are done "right" in every way..... (see JETZ post above).... . His ride is the epitome of done "right"....

Toque

groundstrike

You know I used to think this way myself. But times have changed, I was just thinking the other day about how much I like the stance of the car. I've had these wheels and tires on here for 6 months now and really like it alot, no regrets I would do it again. You know that the new ZR1 comes with 19s and 20s. The C6 comes with 18s and 19s which is close anyway... I'm over 40 and feel that they are the way to go.

Vette C5

After hours and hours of research in the last few days I have decided that I am going to go with a 18"/19" set up.

IMO the best looking 18"/19" set up is the C6 Z06 polished wheels.

I will go with the 18X9.5 and 19X11

I am stuck as to which offset to get??

18X9.5 +40?? or +57??

19X11 +64?? or +69??

JETZ

Thanks Canuck!

FYRARMS

Hours and hours of research to choose factory wheels? Hey, as long as you are happy, that's all that matters. What were your deciding factors? Cost? Conformity? Just curious. With all the gazillions of aftermarket choices out there, I am surprised you settled.

Dashracing

No issues here with 19/19.........I previously had 19/18 and I didn't like the smaller front.

Vette C5

Yeah I know it does sound odd to go to C6 Z06 wheels.

I decided if I was going to have 18/19, I didnt want a lip. I wanted spokes that go to the ends of the wheels to make them look alittle bigger.

I also wanted a split spoke wheel. I think the best looking split spoke without a lip is the C6 Z06

Another deciding factor was price. C6 Z06 wheels are dirt cheap compared to anything else.

Last and most important was that if I had to choose Looks or Performance. I would go with performance. I would hate to have a set of wheels/tires slow me down, effect my handling, or having to worry about carrying a passenger and some luggage while cringing everytime I would go over a bump.

z06joe

The IForged classics would have looked so GOOD!!!

FYRARMS

Did you end up weighing some of the aftermarket forged offerings? Many of them are lighter than factory wheels. Of course, cost probably was a factor as you said. I agree with you on the split spokes. As far as factory wheels go, the C6Z wheels are pretty hot.

jpandes

I completely agree with Toque's post above^. 19/20's lowered on coil-overs look sweet.

209TIME!!!

your car will be just fine....if anyone would know i think that would be me, i run a 20/22 set up and i have not had any problems "AT ALL" i even took it to the track with the 22's on it without any problems.....lol so take it from me you will be just fine.

Chicago1

That's really nice I like that!!!

1320b4you

Not to be mean as i'm normally pretty cool headed in these forums, but your vette specialist is a complete f'ing moron. The only issues he mentioned are when running huge, super swampers tires on stock axle vehicles like jeeps and 1ton trucks. I also own a lifted jeep so i know what he's talking about, its just the wrong type of vehicle his facts represent. You WILL NOT have issues w/anything else mentioned except ride quality. Every vehicle i've every owned, 14+ had aftermarket wheels on them. Do your research on what others are running in terms of offsets and tire size and make an informed decision based on facts. You will be fine w/19/20's on a vette. I run 19/20's on my '99 c5 w/o issues, drove up to Maine over the summer highway and backroads w/o issues. The ride was actually the same as i went to non run flats. No scraping/bearing issues (wft,,sounds like a purist talking). I also run 20's on my 3rd gen camaro w/a 1.2" drop w/o issues (vette is at stock height since l like my front spoiler). My '03 IS300 had 19's all around on coilovers w/o issues and i'm from jersey (obv with a camaro ) so i know about harsh roads vs. ride quality. Some like the bigger wheels and some don't. To me, an 18/19 or 19/20 looks right at home on the vettes and a drop, if your able to do it, brings it all together. Also the proper offset will let your wheels stick out slightly more than stock (no issues w/paint being damaged if the proper offset is used), the rims will be even w/the fender/quarter panel when looking from the top and makes the vehicle look as if it was intended. Good luck w/whatever you decide, its just facts like what was given to you kill me sometimes as the guy probably has a '71 w/rally wheels on it and doesn't understand b/c he himself doesn't like/run them.

....and hamze, that vette is beautiful!!!!!!

jacks996

I run 19/19 and have not had any problems