| Re: Driving Impressions today |
Subject: Re: Driving Impressions today by Josh on 2008/12/9 22:35:48 Cars vary when it comes to wheel/brake clearance. They shouldn't, but they do. I can put a set of 15 inch summit racing brand draglites on the rear of my 91 C4 and they clear the caliper. According the Corvette forum, that's impossible. Well, possible or not, the wheels clear on my particular car. On a friends non-J55 1992 C4 (should be just like mine) they don't clear. There are a ton of stock C5's out there with 17 inch front wheels, so the C5 brakes will fit under a 17 inch wheel. Whether or not there are interference issues laterally with the face of the wheel, I doubt you'll find anyone that can say definitively 'Yes' or 'No' about your particular car, wheel, and hub combination. I think you are on the right track with trying to mock up a brake system and check for clearance. There are a ton of us that have done the C5 brake conversion, so searching on the Corvette forum may yield some near definitive results, but I think the only way you will know 100% is to try it out on your car. If everything works out, I think you should stay with a 17 inch wheel. The tire options are much greater and usually cost less. Again, based on what you've said I would recommend a 275/40-17 ET street radial. There is also a 17 inch bias ply ET street available if you find that you are willing to sacrifice the rain performance for dry, straight line traction. I don't think either of those options is available in an 18 or 19, but I might be wrong. I ran the ET street radials on my car for close to year with no issues. I was caught in the rain with them several times and got home with no drama, even at freeway speeds. I didn't have very much luck with them at the drag strip, but they were infinitely better than any 'normal' street tire. In the end I went with 2 sets of wheels. A normal street tire (BFG TA's) on my stock wheels, and a bias ply ET street on a 16 inch Camaro wheel for drag strip duty. Good luck. |
