My Adventures Moving To 19" C6's
04-02-2007, 02:05 AM
#1
My Adventures Moving To 19" C6's (NO OPINIONS PLEASE) (I don't want any opinions in this thread. I already know some of you will like them and some won't. This thread is just about me providing usefull information about this particular rim and tire size. Thank you.)
Ok, guys, I just got a set of 4 19x10 chrome C6 rims and so far have 2 tires I've experimenting with. The rims are a 56mm offset and the tires are 295/30/19 Continental ContiWinterContact TS810 S's (used for $100ea). My car is lowered quite a bit as you can see with my old rims (TTII 17's, 275/315, 25.7" tall).
Basically the fender lip heights are 26" front and 26 1/4" rear.
I'm still trying to decide whether to run these 295's up front and get a slightly taller rear tire or to put them on the rear and get a slightly shorter tire for the front. First I mounted them both on one side to check the fitment, make sure there was no rubbing and to snap some pics.
As you probably can tell these new tires are slightly taller at 26". They fill out the fender wells better and reduce the tire to fender lip gap which is so important to me. I turned the front wheels lock to lock and felt all around the front and rear and there is absolutely no rubbing going on. As most of you know, you can run a taller and wider tire on the back of these cars than on the front.
To talk about the ride quality changes I first need to explain my suspension setup. I have the GC coilover kit up front with 550lb springs and modded stock springs in the rear with a 160lb rate. I have Koni SA shocks all around with the fronts about 5 sweeps from full soft and the rears are one complete turn from full soft.
My 17" Nitto 555RII Autocross front tires where 40psi and the GSD3 rear were about 28psi and it rode firm, but not harsh, just the way I like it. So first I put the new 19's on the front with 33psi and crossed my fingers that the ride would not be too harsh. I hit a few roads I travel all the time and know to have good bumps in them and to my utter surprise it was extremely smooth. A little too smooth for my tasted as the turn in response felt a bit sluggish. So I stopped by a service station and aired them up to 40psi. This helped make them respond a bit better, but the ride was still a little softer than my old setup. So far I think this will do nicely plus I have the added benefit of dropping the tire pressure to 33psi or so if I need to take a long trip and want the ride to be nice and smooth.
While I was out driving around at night with the 19's on the front I pulled into a food place to make a U-turn at about 5 mph and ran over a freaking curb median thing! I was like holy crap!, what the hell did I just hit! So I jumped out and looked at my front rim first thing to look for a pinched tire or scrubbed rim and it was all fine. The grass was built up to curb level in the median so the underside of the car only scrapped the exhaust a little, no big deal. I was like, wheew!, I wiped the sweat off my brow and backed off of it and then checked everything real close. Didn't see any problems at all so I headed back home.
I have to tell you, I had some serious reservations about going with 19's, but now I'm all for them. The ride is good, the grip is good (front so far) and the look is good. It may be pushing things to go with 20's, but so far the 19's are just fine in my opinion. I may swap the 19's to the rear and tell you how they feel and ride, but I can already tell you what it would be like just based on my own previous tire experience. It would be fine. These cars prefer a slightly softer sidewall in the rear to make them ride better and this tire would be just right for it, but being a winter tire it would probably spin pretty easily. I'm leaning toward getting some new 305's for the rear just because the 295 look a tiny bit stretched on the 10's so the 305 should fit just fine and give a slightly fatter look to the rear. In fact I did a PS of it with the taller rear tire. I lightened it as well so you could see the fender gaps better:
There's also another PS of the taller rear tire in post #4.
And here is just another shot of the new rims from a different angle:
Here's a beauty shot.
Look out. This bad bird is gonna get you!
Ok, guys, I just got a set of 4 19x10 chrome C6 rims and so far have 2 tires I've experimenting with. The rims are a 56mm offset and the tires are 295/30/19 Continental ContiWinterContact TS810 S's (used for $100ea). My car is lowered quite a bit as you can see with my old rims (TTII 17's, 275/315, 25.7" tall).
Basically the fender lip heights are 26" front and 26 1/4" rear.
I'm still trying to decide whether to run these 295's up front and get a slightly taller rear tire or to put them on the rear and get a slightly shorter tire for the front. First I mounted them both on one side to check the fitment, make sure there was no rubbing and to snap some pics.
As you probably can tell these new tires are slightly taller at 26". They fill out the fender wells better and reduce the tire to fender lip gap which is so important to me. I turned the front wheels lock to lock and felt all around the front and rear and there is absolutely no rubbing going on. As most of you know, you can run a taller and wider tire on the back of these cars than on the front.
To talk about the ride quality changes I first need to explain my suspension setup. I have the GC coilover kit up front with 550lb springs and modded stock springs in the rear with a 160lb rate. I have Koni SA shocks all around with the fronts about 5 sweeps from full soft and the rears are one complete turn from full soft.
My 17" Nitto 555RII Autocross front tires where 40psi and the GSD3 rear were about 28psi and it rode firm, but not harsh, just the way I like it. So first I put the new 19's on the front with 33psi and crossed my fingers that the ride would not be too harsh. I hit a few roads I travel all the time and know to have good bumps in them and to my utter surprise it was extremely smooth. A little too smooth for my tasted as the turn in response felt a bit sluggish. So I stopped by a service station and aired them up to 40psi. This helped make them respond a bit better, but the ride was still a little softer than my old setup. So far I think this will do nicely plus I have the added benefit of dropping the tire pressure to 33psi or so if I need to take a long trip and want the ride to be nice and smooth.
While I was out driving around at night with the 19's on the front I pulled into a food place to make a U-turn at about 5 mph and ran over a freaking curb median thing! I was like holy crap!, what the hell did I just hit! So I jumped out and looked at my front rim first thing to look for a pinched tire or scrubbed rim and it was all fine. The grass was built up to curb level in the median so the underside of the car only scrapped the exhaust a little, no big deal. I was like, wheew!, I wiped the sweat off my brow and backed off of it and then checked everything real close. Didn't see any problems at all so I headed back home.
I have to tell you, I had some serious reservations about going with 19's, but now I'm all for them. The ride is good, the grip is good (front so far) and the look is good. It may be pushing things to go with 20's, but so far the 19's are just fine in my opinion. I may swap the 19's to the rear and tell you how they feel and ride, but I can already tell you what it would be like just based on my own previous tire experience. It would be fine. These cars prefer a slightly softer sidewall in the rear to make them ride better and this tire would be just right for it, but being a winter tire it would probably spin pretty easily. I'm leaning toward getting some new 305's for the rear just because the 295 look a tiny bit stretched on the 10's so the 305 should fit just fine and give a slightly fatter look to the rear. In fact I did a PS of it with the taller rear tire. I lightened it as well so you could see the fender gaps better:
There's also another PS of the taller rear tire in post #4.
And here is just another shot of the new rims from a different angle:
Here's a beauty shot.
Look out. This bad bird is gonna get you!
Last edited by JasonWW; 04-02-2007 at 05:17 AM.
04-02-2007, 02:21 AM
#3
(No Opinions Please) Just a few other notes.
The brake caliper clearance with these rims are great. So if you were thinking of using some 4 piston calipers, then these rims will work fine. The gap is about 1.5" from my stock calipers.
The other thing is that the rears, just like any set of rims with the same size and offset at all 4 corners, tend to tuck in more than the fronts. I'd post a pic, but it's a bit embarrasing. I'll be spacing out the rear rims maybe 1/2" to 3/4" to get the proper fat look out of them.
The brake caliper clearance with these rims are great. So if you were thinking of using some 4 piston calipers, then these rims will work fine. The gap is about 1.5" from my stock calipers.
The other thing is that the rears, just like any set of rims with the same size and offset at all 4 corners, tend to tuck in more than the fronts. I'd post a pic, but it's a bit embarrasing. I'll be spacing out the rear rims maybe 1/2" to 3/4" to get the proper fat look out of them.
Last edited by JasonWW; 04-02-2007 at 02:49 AM.
04-02-2007, 02:34 AM
#4
(No Opinions Please) Here are some close up's of the fitment.
Here's the back with the 26" tire:
And here is a rendering to make just the tire 26.2 inches:
Here is more of a side shot with the tire width highlighted. Note the rears tuck in more, but don't look too bad from the front.
Here's the back with the 26" tire:
And here is a rendering to make just the tire 26.2 inches:
Here is more of a side shot with the tire width highlighted. Note the rears tuck in more, but don't look too bad from the front.
Last edited by JasonWW; 04-02-2007 at 02:49 AM.
04-02-2007, 02:55 AM
#5
(No Opinions Please) New and old rims. Yes, my brake pads are very aggressive - Carbotech Panther Pluses.
Here is the closest to rubbing that any of the tires get. Even if it did rub here, it's no big deal as this plastic piece will flex easily.
A view of the front offset.
From another angle. Note that I have 1* of camber.
Where's the back tire you ask? It's there, just tucked in. This is what I mean by the backs looking too tucked in. Some spacers will fix it.
Here's a rear tire comparison. The worn out GSD3's actually measure 24" on the car from the ground up. The new ones are 26", but are not loaded down so they look a bit taller than they actually would on the car.
Here's the front. You can see why I was worried about it possibly rubbing.
Here is the closest to rubbing that any of the tires get. Even if it did rub here, it's no big deal as this plastic piece will flex easily.
A view of the front offset.
From another angle. Note that I have 1* of camber.
Where's the back tire you ask? It's there, just tucked in. This is what I mean by the backs looking too tucked in. Some spacers will fix it.
Here's a rear tire comparison. The worn out GSD3's actually measure 24" on the car from the ground up. The new ones are 26", but are not loaded down so they look a bit taller than they actually would on the car.
Here's the front. You can see why I was worried about it possibly rubbing.
Last edited by JasonWW; 04-04-2007 at 09:11 PM.
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04-02-2007, 04:59 AM
#8
(No Opinions Please) I just had to play around with some Big Brake Kit pictures. I plan to run the Vette 14" with the Caddy Brembo 4 piston calipers, but I didn't have any good pics to use for this Photoshop so I used the Z06 setup. One in the regular red and one in a yellow/black theme which I prefer.
Questions are welcome, but I don't need comments.
Questions are welcome, but I don't need comments.
Last edited by JasonWW; 04-02-2007 at 07:24 AM.
04-02-2007, 01:32 PM
#9
I pulled the 19's off the front today to swap them to the rear to see how they would feel and I noticed some rubbing on the top of the passenger side plastic splash guard. It seems the 295's may be just a hair too tall for the front. There was no rubbing on the drivers side so it may be due to when I drove over that median last night. It may have pushed that side tire higher up than normal. On the other hand some of those rubs look like they were when the tire was pointed straight and the suspension just dropped lower than the drivers side. The plastic rub has some burrs on it.
So I tried them on the rear, I dropped the pressure down to 30psi and took it out onto some familiar roads. It was just as I thought, smooth, smooth, smooth. Surprisingly the grip was pretty good. Both in taking off and sliding the rear out in corners. So I think I can live with these in the back and I will get some slightly shorter front tires. Probably 285/30/19's. Those should be 25.7" tall.
I'll post some pics of the rub marks later.
So I tried them on the rear, I dropped the pressure down to 30psi and took it out onto some familiar roads. It was just as I thought, smooth, smooth, smooth. Surprisingly the grip was pretty good. Both in taking off and sliding the rear out in corners. So I think I can live with these in the back and I will get some slightly shorter front tires. Probably 285/30/19's. Those should be 25.7" tall.
I'll post some pics of the rub marks later.
04-02-2007, 02:53 PM
#10
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I have 19X10's on the back of mine...with 275/30/19s I have 1.8" drop springs to put on ..I was worried about rubbing...how much is yours lowered???
Last edited by FallenZ28; 04-02-2007 at 04:29 PM.
04-02-2007, 11:50 PM
#13
Originally Posted by FallenZ28
I have 19X10's on the back of mine...with 275/30/19s I have 1.8" drop springs to put on ..I was worried about rubbing...how much is yours lowered???
WIth 275's it's going to be stretched some so that reduces the chances of it rubbing. I'm going to be sticking to the 295/30 rears and run some 285/30 fronts. You could easily run 285 rears as well, but the price jumps up quite a bit over the 275's.
I don't usually say how far my car is lowered because they left the factory with slightly different ride heights, but my fender gap heights are 26" front and 26 1/4" rear. The camaro front fenders are a tad taller, but the rear fender heights are equivalent. They don't need any spacers to keep frpm rubbing, but I plan to add some anyway just to push them further out. They look a bit too tucked in in my opinion.
Last edited by JasonWW; 04-03-2007 at 12:18 AM.
04-03-2007, 08:50 AM
#15
(No Opinions Please) Here are the rub marks on the passenger side.
This first one is directly on top of the inner fender liner and it looks like it was made with the wheel pointed stright forward. Maybe it was made while going over a bump or something.
This one is similar, but just forward in the fender. It also looks like the wheels were stright when it was made. Judging by the burrs I'm thinking it was not a one time deal. I think the tire rubbed that spot a few times over bumps. Do you think that is what happened or does it look like a one time rub?
Now I think this one is a fluke. It was made when the wheel was all the way to the right and the tire had to go way up to make it. This has to be from when I ran over that median. I was turning right to make a circle, like a U-turn. There's no other way for it to be made as it's very high.
OK, so I'm wondering what the heck is up with the first 2 rub marks. There is nothing like that on the drivers side and I think the drivers side is heavier due to me behind the wheel. It was bugging me so I swapped all the wheels and put the 19's back on the front. I also put some dark blue paint over the rub marks so I can tell if it's a new rub or not. I need to find some very level groung, make sure the suspension is at rest and then do some exact measuring. It may be that the ride height is a tad lower on the right or that side tire may be able to move higher up than the left side. The shock and bumpstop is what limits travel so maybe I have the left side more limited than the right. I suppose it would be an easy fix. I could add another 1/8" packer on the right side to limit the suspension travel about 5mm. That might do the trick.
This first one is directly on top of the inner fender liner and it looks like it was made with the wheel pointed stright forward. Maybe it was made while going over a bump or something.
This one is similar, but just forward in the fender. It also looks like the wheels were stright when it was made. Judging by the burrs I'm thinking it was not a one time deal. I think the tire rubbed that spot a few times over bumps. Do you think that is what happened or does it look like a one time rub?
Now I think this one is a fluke. It was made when the wheel was all the way to the right and the tire had to go way up to make it. This has to be from when I ran over that median. I was turning right to make a circle, like a U-turn. There's no other way for it to be made as it's very high.
OK, so I'm wondering what the heck is up with the first 2 rub marks. There is nothing like that on the drivers side and I think the drivers side is heavier due to me behind the wheel. It was bugging me so I swapped all the wheels and put the 19's back on the front. I also put some dark blue paint over the rub marks so I can tell if it's a new rub or not. I need to find some very level groung, make sure the suspension is at rest and then do some exact measuring. It may be that the ride height is a tad lower on the right or that side tire may be able to move higher up than the left side. The shock and bumpstop is what limits travel so maybe I have the left side more limited than the right. I suppose it would be an easy fix. I could add another 1/8" packer on the right side to limit the suspension travel about 5mm. That might do the trick.
04-03-2007, 12:08 PM
#17
OK, tonight I'm pulling those splash shields and seeing if I can't get some more travel room.
I wonder if the plastic can be reshaped with a heat gun?
I've also come to the conclusion that my 295/30's run on the narrow side. Other brands or models in the same size could be wider.
I'm also going to be adding some 3/4" adapters to the rear rims. If your not famiiar with them, they look like this:
I wonder if the plastic can be reshaped with a heat gun?
I've also come to the conclusion that my 295/30's run on the narrow side. Other brands or models in the same size could be wider.
I'm also going to be adding some 3/4" adapters to the rear rims. If your not famiiar with them, they look like this:
Last edited by JasonWW; 04-03-2007 at 12:16 PM.
04-03-2007, 06:29 PM
#18
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Hey Jason - First...Bitchin' Ride, can't wait to get my C6's on!
What kind of lug nuts are you using? The stockers (at least on my 95ta) are about 1 1/2" long. Any suggestions? Also, if I'm right the 3/4" spacer will force you to cut some
length off of your studs...right?
I've got 1" spacers I was going to use for my C6's, but I like them tucked in, so out comes the BFH this week. Anyway when I tried the spacers, it looked like I'd have to cut the studs, an I sure as hell ain't gonna do that!
Mitch
What kind of lug nuts are you using? The stockers (at least on my 95ta) are about 1 1/2" long. Any suggestions? Also, if I'm right the 3/4" spacer will force you to cut some
length off of your studs...right?
I've got 1" spacers I was going to use for my C6's, but I like them tucked in, so out comes the BFH this week. Anyway when I tried the spacers, it looked like I'd have to cut the studs, an I sure as hell ain't gonna do that!
Mitch
04-03-2007, 08:27 PM
#19
Originally Posted by cocimitch
What kind of lug nuts are you using? The stockers (at least on my 95ta) are about 1 1/2" long. Any suggestions?
Originally Posted by cocimitch
Also, if I'm right the 3/4" spacer will force you to cut some
length off of your studs...right?
I've got 1" spacers I was going to use for my C6's, but I like them tucked in, so out comes the BFH this week. Anyway when I tried the spacers, it looked like I'd have to cut the studs, an I sure as hell ain't gonna do that!
Mitch
length off of your studs...right?
I've got 1" spacers I was going to use for my C6's, but I like them tucked in, so out comes the BFH this week. Anyway when I tried the spacers, it looked like I'd have to cut the studs, an I sure as hell ain't gonna do that!
Mitch
This is the 19x10 79mm rim. See the notches cut that have the lettering stamped in them? On the 56mm version these are one inch deeper. It allows plenty of room for the stock stud and lugs to fit in them. I'll get a pic of mine shortly and show you.
