Pio

I have a chance to purchase HRE 541's at an amazing price. But its the 19 front 20 rear combo. I have this set up on my C6 and it looks great, but is it a bit too much for a Z06?

TAC

If you're going to track the car they may be too big. I've heard 19's and up are for bling and 17-18" tires are best for going fast.

vettethret

It's the best looking combo made for the car. The problem is traction. when you have SERIOUS POWER IT'S THE WORST COMBO TO HAVE. i HAVE 400 RWHP now and it's fine. When I put my blower on and shoot for 600 rwhp I know they will be useless. I pray to the god of skinny punks that they come out with the Nitto r2's in a 305/25/20, but that aint going to happen!

Pio

405 RWHP right now, the tires are either Michelin Pilots or Pirelli P Zero. Saw a pic of your ride - your car is SLAMMED! Looks tight. Mine is also lowered but not as much. Was your tuning done by Charlie from A&A? They worked on my car too.

JETZ

I am awaiting my HRE 545R's in 19/20 in the next two weeks. Just got my mini tub done. No problems anticipated, even though it's slammed.
Go 4 it.

ALLKAR

Best size for looks!

AU N EGL

19 and 20 are too big except for bling. you will see a performance DROP of 15-20 rwhp with 19s and 20s. Weight and size are the factors.

17-18 or 18 all around. best performance is 17" all around

that is why many ppl choose 18 all around, comprmise of performance and bling.

Pio

How do you arrive at the 15-20 hp drop? Rolling resistance?

I was told the HRE's are lighter than the stock Z rims BUT the overall package weighs 2 lbs. more per because of the bigger tires.

FYI - I didn't feel a drop in power at all when I put 19/20 in my C6.

vettethret

Thanks brother. Charlie's a tuning pimp! They'll be doing my blower.

AU N EGL

Weight on the outter portion of the wheel/rim combo. The bigger the wheels the more power it takes to move it.

Several guys had their cars dynoed with their stock 18 rear and then the19 and 20" rear. rwhp dropped like a lead ballon with bigger and heavry rear wheels. 2 lbs is A LOT especilly when the weight is in the tire.

again they LOOK GREAT bling at its best. Just less HP and performacne.

Pio

AU N EGL - thanks for the info. Rolling resistance is a huge parasitic loss, just didn't know it was so much. I'm going to keep the original Z wheels and get and put Nitto 555 r 2's on them for track days, guess I'm going to need a good hydraulic jack as well.

bill mcdonald

19 and 20 looks great on the Z. I have been rolling on this combo for 10 months, since I bought the car.

I just put the stock Z06 wheels (first time for me) on and I can say there is a definite power jump. it feels like the car just winds up so easy with the stock wheels.

as for the weight, maybe I can find a scale and weigh my HRE's with tires. The HRE's are a lot heavier then the stock wheels from just moving them around and putting the stock wheels on.

Pio

There are 2 super cars that come from the factory with 19's in front and 20's in the rear, the Porsche Carrera GT and the Saleen S7. Is there a handling benefit?

vettethret

Yes. Handling wise it will benefit from less sidewall flx in the corners. That is the same thing that hurts you in straight line acceleration. No sidewall flex means a spinning convention. On one of my LT-4 corvettes I went from the 17's-18's and the handling improvement was very noticable to me.

PowerMad

All I know is that, in general, bigger wheels means more unsprung weight. The greater the unsprung weight, the more energy it takes to accelerate and the higher the load on braking.

Based on that, I think those wheels will look really cool. However, I think you will take a performance hit.

dave

rgregory

It isn't the rolling resistance it is the weight of the wheel being moved outward as he stated. This creates a much higher moment of inertia (more work for the engine) which is what drops the power.
If anything the rolling resistance will probably go down with the smaller sidewalls as the tire will not deform as much going down the road.

BQuicksilver

HRE's are FAR heavier. Bling wheels, not performance wheels.

LTC Z06

I'll add this thread to the FAQ tire and wheel post when it's done.

Pio

Guys, thanks for all the feedback! My original question was answered - 19/20's are not too big. I was concerned with the tires rubbing or the wheels getting damaged because of the low profile tires. I know any wheels can be damaged and these will need a little extra care.

Everyone I have spoken to says that HRE's are the absolute best built wheels out there, considering that and the price I can get them for just seems like a win win to me.

I'm keeping the stock wheels for track days.

jfrc

nope, my 19/20's fit just right