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| C4 General Discussion For general topics of discussion related to the 1984 - 1996 Corvette. |
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12-09-04, 10:34 PM
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#1 (permalink)
| | Guest
Posts: n/a
My Corvette(s):
|  275/40ZR17 Vs 255/45ZR17
Why CORVETTES changed the front tires from 275 to 255 on 1993-1996?
A 1988-1992 has 275/40ZR17 all around.
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12-10-04, 08:28 AM
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#2 (permalink)
| | Supporting Member 
Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Tallahassee, FL
Posts: 2,707
My Corvette(s):
1996 LT4, Z51 CE Coupe -- (sold to Hrtbeat1) |
Quote: |
Originally Posted by FX3FX3 Why CORVETTES changed the front tires from 275 to 255 on 1993-1996?
A 1988-1992 has 275/40ZR17 all around. | Chevy's stand point is that it drives better on the street. The wider your tires are, the harder it is to track straight on the road when 'ruts' are there. I am sure the bean counters in GM's accounting didn't mind the smaller tires either. LOL
if you have a car with the narrower tires, you can 'upgrade' to the bigger wheels and tires if you want
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12-10-04, 10:02 AM
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#3 (permalink)
| | Member
Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Lacey, WA USA
Posts: 992
My Corvette(s):
87 Gold Z52 Coupe 02 EB Z51 Supercharged Coupe |
That was the reason for the change. Customers complained about the car "tracking" in ruts in traffic lanes. These ruts are typically caused by years of heavy truck traffic. You feel this tracking when one front wheel follows the depression or rut. The change to a slightly narrower front tire and minor changes to front alignment specifications reduced this problem.
93 and later coupes with the Z07 performance suspension option got 275/40 tires and 17x9.5" wheels all around.
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12-10-04, 11:19 AM
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#4 (permalink)
| | Banned
Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Ankara TURKEY
Posts: 797
My Corvette(s):
1995 6 Speed Manual Coupe |
Yeah, sounds like a familiar problem when I drive the car here in Turkey folks... The "ruts" annoy me when the car moves left or right at its own will... Scared me a bit but I now understand why... Thanks for the discussion folks.
Cheers,
Selim
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12-12-04, 03:11 PM
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#5 (permalink)
| | Member
Join Date: May 2002 Location: CA
Posts: 2,480
My Corvette(s):
'84 White Z-51/4+3 |
Quote: |
Originally Posted by Vettelt193 The wider your tires are, the harder it is to track straight on the road when 'ruts' are there. | We have no ruts in SoCal and my 315's wanna follow the pavement cracks.
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12-12-04, 10:23 PM
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#6 (permalink)
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My Corvette(s):
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Thats why I'm considering put 9.5" rims in the front, that will make my 95 275/40ZR17 all around. This will allow me to rotate tires, instead of making Good Year richer....Mmmm Maybe that's why now they have 18 rear and 17 front, you are OBLIGATED  to buy more tires:s
Last edited by FX3FX3; 12-12-04 at 10:32 PM.
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12-13-04, 10:12 AM
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#7 (permalink)
| | Supporting Member
Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 977
My Corvette(s):
Blk/Blk '96 LT4 Coupe |
Quote: |
Originally Posted by FX3FX3 Thats why I'm considering put 9.5" rims in the front, that will make my 95 275/40ZR17 all around. This will allow me to rotate tires, instead of making Good Year richer....Mmmm Maybe that's why now they have 18 rear and 17 front, you are OBLIGATED to buy more tires:s | I'm running 275/40/17's all the way around on mine and don't plan to change it. Looks and feels good.... 
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12-13-04, 10:36 AM
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#8 (permalink)
| | Supporting Member
Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Chicago
Posts: 2,001
My Corvette(s):
96 Collectors Edition LT4 |
There is one other reason. When you go into a turn, the smaller (narrower wheel) allows you to do that more quickly and easily. My 92 (275's all around) was harder to move into turns than my 94 and 96. I know that autocross drivers like the wider tire patch both front and rear. I do not autocross. Having the narrower wheels while driving on city roads and interstates is easier for me. GM felt that most owners were like myself. I feel I am an experienced driver, but certainly not an experienced autocross or oval track driver.
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12-13-04, 10:49 AM
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#9 (permalink)
| | Supporting Member
Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Tallahassee, FL
Posts: 2,707
My Corvette(s):
1996 LT4, Z51 CE Coupe -- (sold to Hrtbeat1) |
Quote: |
Originally Posted by lt4man There is one other reason. When you go into a turn, the smaller (narrower wheel) allows you to do that more quickly and easily. My 92 (275's all around) was harder to move into turns than my 94 and 96. I know that autocross drivers like the wider tire patch both front and rear. I do not autocross. Having the narrower wheels while driving on city roads and interstates is easier for me. GM felt that most owners were like myself. I feel I am an experienced driver, but certainly not an experienced autocross or oval track driver. | yep... the closer your wheels sit together the better the car will steer in slow situations (parking!). The problem is, I never liked they way it looked (had them on my '93)... The 255's on the front sit 'in' from the fender/hood and makes the front end look funny IMO.
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12-16-04, 03:47 AM
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#10 (permalink)
| | Member
Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Guadalajara, Mx.
Posts: 391
My Corvette(s):
1994 389 A4 Torch Red Coupe |
Very nice answers all those about the reason was how easy you can take a turn and that GM does not want our vettes to fallow old traffic tracks (these gets worst with narrower wheels), etc. But I think there's only one reason and that is very simple: to save some dollars.
After the 92 if you wanted to improve the handling of your Vette, there was the option to get the four 275/40/17s but you had to pay for it!  | |
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