No_Replacement

Hi,

I am in the process of buying my first vette - an '05 Z51 (bone stock) and would like to know what size wheels/tires will fit on the car? I plan on picking up a set of wheels/tires to use when I track the car. I'm not so concerned about the rear wheel or tire size but I'd like to know what will fit without issues on the front. I don't see 245's slowing the car down fast enough after a nice long straight.... :-)

Can I fit an 9.5" or 10" wide rim up front on a stock Z51 or is this a pipe dream?

Thanks for your help!!

gkmccready

I have 18x11 CCWs front and rear on my C6 Z51. The fronts rub on the fender quite a bit with 295/30r18 Toyo R888s and -2deg (and still rub at -2.4deg). A lot of folks are running C5Z rear wheels (18x10.5) all around on the C6 successfully. I'm actually dropping back to 18x10 and 275/35r18 R888s on the front of mine to try to keep from hitting the fender... the 18x11 rear is about perfect for keeping it in the body work, I have 305/35r18 R888s out back. Could use more in the rear, but any more wheel and it'll be outside the body work again.

No_Replacement

It sounds like a 9.5 or 10" rim will fit without difficulty up front. If this is correct - I'm thinking that 18 x 9.5 F and 18 x 10 R (or 18 x 10.5)would be a nice set-up.

Any ideas where I might be able to find rims in these sizes for a reasonable price? Since they'll only be for the track .... pre-owned would be ideal but I'm open to suggestions about places that would have inexpensive new stuff....

Thanks

WNeal

I'm running 18 x 1.5 C5 Z06 REAR wheels all the way around with 315 tires.
Had to do some trimming on the inner front fender well and added 3MM spaces on the front as well.

No issues since doing that.

C6400hp

18X10 front with 275/35/18 and 18X11 rear with 305/35/18 or 19X11 rear with 325/30/19 will fit without issue if the offset and wheel design is right.
CCW is the only place I would go, I ahve two sets from them their quality is outstanding, their service is second to none.

www.ccwheel.com

No_Replacement

Thank you guys! Unfortunately, I don't have the budget for CCW wheels.

When people talk about running rear C5 Z06 wheels all the way around on their C6's - do those wheels require any customizations at all? I don't know the offset values for these wheels but isn't the spacing out of whack with those rims on the front of a C6?

No_Replacement

Am I going to have any 'computer' issues with the car if I run 18x9.5 Front and 18x10.5 Rear?

ie. If I run 18's all around?

Thanks!

gkmccready

Wheel size isn't the issue there, it's tire outside diameter. If you run with all the nannies off, it doesn't matter. If you want even Comp Mode you'll need the rear tires to be "somewhat" taller than the fronts...

No_Replacement

Thanks! I was being loose with my reference to 18's all around representing a similar total tire height between front and rears.

Does anybody run 17(f) and 18(r) on a C6? The cost of rubber would be much less. :-) I'm just getting these questions 'out of my system' so that I understand the car better!...

gkmccready

You could run 17s, but you're going to have to "downgrade" to base C6 (aka C5) rotors to be able to clear the wheels. And then you could even run 17s all around...

No_Replacement

I'll think before I post my next question.

Thanks!

gkmccready

Keep firing questions. I sure did when I first picked up the C6!

jadkins

I run GS/A-Mold clones 17x11-315s square (Kumho 710s) on my 08 Z51 coupe - and yes I did "downgrade" to the smaller rotors for the wheel fitment and lower cost of replacement rotors. I run track events with ALL Traction Control turned off - but running 17s would probably be a problem if you want to run Traction Control. No rubbing at all except at FULL lock - which is not a problem while on track. The wheels are cheap (and a bit heavy) but got a full set shipped to me for $546 - on a budget it was the only way to go.

No_Replacement

I still havn't been able to make up my mind on a wheel combination. 'jadkins', did you need to change the calipers in order to use the smaller rotors or can you just change out the rotors to the 'base' C6 rotors without any other adjustments?

gkmccready

The part number on the caliper brackets (abutments) are 12455800 and 12455799. You'll need to order 2 of each to drop to base rotors front and rear -- you'll have to check the part numbers to see which is front and which is rear (sorry). The calipers themselves remain the same. NAPA or RockAuto have the base rotors.

Bang for the buck brakes are probably the downgrade brackets, and Doug Rippie SS pistons & lines... they also have 2pc rotors if you want to avoid the Made in China rotors.

MikeFleischer

I have the same setup as you pretty much... Still fence sitting on a set of track wheels/tires...

I think the Z51 has the same calipers but an extended bracket that holds them to the hub to fit the larger rotors. Many folks downgrade this for track use as the standard C6 rotors are cheaper to replace than the Z51 ones.

As for wheel sizes, 18's all around is what I will probably do, just not sure about front/rear, and an all square setup sounds great, but not sure how that would make the car feel on turn in etc?

So in my mind:
Pros:
1. More rubber up front certainly would help with braking
2. Square setup means easy rotation/replacement when you get close to the cords.
3. Easy to order new tires

Cons:
1. Car is factory staggered, how does square setup affect handling and corner entry/exit (more neutral?, dead neutral, oversteers a bit?)
2. Tire rubbing up front? No thanks.
3. Never enough rubber?
4. Gives the TC fits? Can this be truly disabled on a C6?

Seems the C5Z06 rears is the way to go? 305's or 295's at all 4 corners? I know I ran 305 Hoosiers on my C5Z in the rear, and 275's up front, stock were 295 Goodyear SC's in the rear if my memory is right... But I maintained the stock stagger and the car was pretty close to neutral that way with a bit of understeer.

Thanks for posting this though!

Mike

jadkins

The Z51 calipers are the same as the standard C6 calipers. And only slightly different from C5 calipers (removing the pads requires a 16mm/15mm on the C5 calipers and 15mm/18mm on the C6)

I run square but have also run the car staggard with 17x12 335s rear and 17x11 315 front - with no giant differences. Would prefer to have the 335/315 setup but from a cost perspective I can run 6 or 8 events in a season with the square setup by rotating.

oldmansan

Close, but not quite. The front calipers are identical, but the rear Z51 calipers utilize a smaller piston than the C6 base rear calipers. 3mm smaller I believe.

San

MartyZ51

There are some people running C5Z rears on all four corners of a C6 Z51. It would be great if we could see some top and side view pictures to see what the offset looks like. The two concerns are how will they clear the Z51 front brakes and how far do they stick out the sides front and back. Pictures could solve the issue for several of us trying to get the right track setup.

1BDRSK

I don't have pics but I tried this combo yesterday at the track with no success. I was running the dunlop take offs from LG, so they were 300's all around. The tires fit perfect on the 10.5x18 rim. When I put the tires on my car the front and rears stuck out from the fender a little over 1/4 of an inch. My car has the Z51 option and they cleared the brakes no problem. But it has been lowered an inch overall so I could see there were going to be issues with the tires rubbing on the tops of the fenders. Also note, I have not changed the camber.

I ran 3 easy laps and came in to see that the tops of the fenders (front and back) were rubbing, so we turned the bolts 3 turns to raise the ride height. I went back out for another 3 medium laps and just the fronts where still rubbing. We raised them again 3 turns to almost stock right height. I went back out, did four hard laps and the tires were just grazing the front fender lip. I used yellow duct tape to see the contact points. I decided the combo wasn't going to work because I'd risk cracking the fender if the tire popped up if I ever ran over any of the 'turtles'.

We then put this set up on my friends C5 that had been lowered as much as mine, but he's got coil overs. The tires fit flush with his fenders, nothing sticking out. He went out and did 8 hard laps and not one fender was touched by a tire. (I friggin hate him! lol)

Anyway, I have a CCW street set up that allows me to run a 275/35/18 front and 325/30/19 rear with no issues of rubbing at all. I ran stock Z06 street tires on the track most of last season with no issues, but wanted to move up to a stickier track tire, that's why I picked up the C5 Z06 rims. But now it looks like I'll be giving John a call at CCW about a track set up with 18's all around...unless LG comes up with their 18's for C6's very soon.