C3 Tire

[rayy]

I Know that I may be opening a can of worms here but I have researched to death what tires to put on my 1972 Corvette. It will have 18x8 on the front and 18x10 on the rear. The car will be auto x about three times a year and the rest of the time will be street duty. Herd all kinds of good stuff on most all from the rivals to Falken. But just wanted to hear from someone that is not sponsored by the tire company. Sizes I am looking for is a 285 or so for the rear and 255-265 on the front. Thanks

[Tomswheels]

Hankook Ventus R-S3, particularly if you Autocross in the heat...

[Paul Huryk]

I won't get into the tires themselves, other will certainly chime in.

But I want to talk about tire sizes got your Vette. As it is a GM front engine RWD car, it is going to be front heavy - which needs to be something you understand is going to bring about mechanical understeer. The easiest way to balance the car and get more neutral handling is to go with a "square" tire setup - same size on each corner. I'm not familiar enough with the C3 cars to say that is the only answer to this issue, just that is works for most cars.

That said, running a 255 up front and a 285 out back is going to have the car out of mechanical balance - even a 265 up front is still skewed the wrong way. If there is a way to stick a 275 on all 4 corners - that is going to give you a hell of an improvement over just about any staggered tire combo. If you haven't purchased the wheels, you may want to consider a 9" or even 9.5" up front - if it fits. More under the heavy nose is going to pay major dividends at the autocross.

[rayy]

Good info. I had the car weighed at goodguys and the car is right at 50/50 on weight so I'm good there.