Steve's 1994 ESP Z28 Wheel & Tire Page

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Page updated Friday, July 9, 2004

When I started looking for wheels I knew what size I wanted to go with (at least the size I could afford!). I would have loved to have some 18" wheels but the cost was outrageous. Almost all of the major 4th Gen F-Body tuners go with 17x9.5 wheels. So the search began. I think I read every magazine there is trying to see pictures of wheels. Although I liked the Fiske wheels at $895 each, they were a little out of my price range. I finally went to http://www.tirerack.com. By far the best place to search for wheels and tires. That's where I found the Borbet Type T wheels you see here (17x9.5 48mm offset). The picture just doesn't do them justice. The aggressive look of these wheels compliments the car perfectly. I ordered them with locking lugs and metal valve stems.
Next step, tires. Here is where the problem lies. I use this car to commute 60 miles a day to work, but autocross on the weekends. Unfortunately, right now I can't afford another set of these wheels to mount special autocross tires on so I had to find a tire that was the best compromise between daily commuting and Solo II. One of the nice things about TireRack is being able to select tires based on different criteria etc. and reading reviews from other people. Having had good luck with Yokohama's before, I selected some Yokohama A520 275/40-ZR17's. They have a tread wear rating of 140 so I knew that they would be fairly sticky. So far I really like them. I haven't tried them in an autocross yet but will on 06/18/00. I'll let you know. The wheels and tires came mounted and balanced and all I had to do was bolt them on.

06/01/2002

Update to the tires. I slap wore them out. While they had a very high grip I found them to be very difficult to predict the limit. They would let go with little or no warning.

In the future I plan on buying another set of wheels and mount some Kumho Victor Racer tires on them. To be competitive I know I don't have a choice

05/14/2003

My tires were replaced (back in June 2002) with Yokohama AVS db's, same size, 275/40-17. Much quieter than the old ones with a much better tread wear rating too. The thing I've noticed is that they are much more predictable at the limit than the A520's so I would highly recommend them for street driving. Still, not anywhere close to being competitive in ESP. I know what tires (Hoosier) and size (315/35-17) I want but can't decide on the wheels (17x11) for autocross. I will most likely keep 17x9.5 on for the street.

06/02/2003

Well, I went and did it. I didn't think I'd win but I just ended up buying a brand new pair of Corvette ZR-1 wheels on eBay. It really is a deal. These are from AFS wheels and are 17"x 11" (+50mm, 7.93" backspace). and are 5-lug 5x120.65mm. If you bought these on their site, you'd pay $262.50 plus $15 for the center cap for a total of $277.50. I paid $185 each. Now I only need two more.... and four tires.

06/11/2003

The new wheels arrived! 24lbs each is what they weigh. Can't wait to put something on them and go racing!!! I've ordered (2) 17 x 9.5 36mm offset ZR-1's for the front. That should push the wheels outboard by about 1/2 inch over my Borbet's. SHOULD fit perfect, we'll see!

06/26/2003

Picked up my heat cycled Hoosiers. The fronts (275/40-17) weight 22.5 lbs. and the rear (315/35-17) weigh in at 25.5 lbs. The rears are mounted. I'm still waiting on the two front wheels. By the way, you can't autocross on street tires, it's like driving on ice. I rode on racing tires for so long I forgot how slippery street tires really are, not to mention that everyone that goes fast are on sticky tires!

07/11/2003

I got tired of waiting on my 17x9.5 so I exchanged them for 17 x 11 36mm offset. I can still mount my 275's on them so I'll run like that and once I wear these tires out, I'll get some 315's. They should be in before the end of next week. (Note: I traded my 275's back to TireRack for a pair of 315's)

07/27/2003

Put all four 315's on the car today. Here are the pictures. The back fits perfect, the front (36mm) sticks out a little, it's not much and it really depends on the angle you're looking at as to whether it's that noticeable or not. I didn't have much rubbing except on really tight turns but I haven't pushed it hard yet so we'll see. I do have 1/4" spacers coming for the rear and I'll get a picture once I put those on. I'll try to get some better pictures too.

01/03/2004

Well, I got 72 runs out of my Hoosiers. Think about it. That's about $16 per run. Let me say that again. $16 per run. There is still plenty of rubber left on them but they've gotten hard and don't stick very well any more. The last several events of the season really showed how bad they got. Not only that I found out how they don't stick when they're cold AND how hard it really is to get a 315 size tire up to temperature. But I'm not complaining. They really do stick like glue when they're healthy.

So now it's time to order new tires and I have a decision to make. The NEW Hoosier A3S04 or the NEW Kumho V710. This year I think it's going to come down to price and I believe the Kumho is going to win this time around. The old Kumho's would have cost me about $185 each or $740 OR about $10 per run. I know the new ones (both tires) will be more expensive but I really think I'm going with the cheaper tire this time.

04/01/04

My Kumho's were recalled!!! The tread was de-laminating. But they sent me a set of Ecsta V700's to use now and another set of V710's when they come back out. Not bad getting a free set of tires!



back to main page....	Page updated Friday, July 9, 2004

When I started looking for wheels I knew what size I wanted to go with (at least the size I could afford!). I would have loved to have some 18" wheels but the cost was outrageous. Almost all of the major 4th Gen F-Body tuners go with 17x9.5 wheels. So the search began. I think I read every magazine there is trying to see pictures of wheels. Although I liked the Fiske wheels at $895 each, they were a little out of my price range. I finally went to http://www.tirerack.com. By far the best place to search for wheels and tires. That's where I found the Borbet Type T wheels you see here (17x9.5 48mm offset). The picture just doesn't do them justice. The aggressive look of these wheels compliments the car perfectly. I ordered them with locking lugs and metal valve stems. Next step, tires. Here is where the problem lies. I use this car to commute 60 miles a day to work, but autocross on the weekends. Unfortunately, right now I can't afford another set of these wheels to mount special autocross tires on so I had to find a tire that was the best compromise between daily commuting and Solo II. One of the nice things about TireRack is being able to select tires based on different criteria etc. and reading reviews from other people. Having had good luck with Yokohama's before, I selected some Yokohama A520 275/40-ZR17's. They have a tread wear rating of 140 so I knew that they would be fairly sticky. So far I really like them. I haven't tried them in an autocross yet but will on 06/18/00. I'll let you know. The wheels and tires came mounted and balanced and all I had to do was bolt them on.

06/01/2002
Update to the tires. I slap wore them out. While they had a very high grip I found them to be very difficult to predict the limit. They would let go with little or no warning. In the future I plan on buying another set of wheels and mount some Kumho Victor Racer tires on them. To be competitive I know I don't have a choice

05/14/2003
My tires were replaced (back in June 2002) with Yokohama AVS db's, same size, 275/40-17. Much quieter than the old ones with a much better tread wear rating too. The thing I've noticed is that they are much more predictable at the limit than the A520's so I would highly recommend them for street driving. Still, not anywhere close to being competitive in ESP. I know what tires (Hoosier) and size (315/35-17) I want but can't decide on the wheels (17x11) for autocross. I will most likely keep 17x9.5 on for the street.

06/02/2003
Well, I went and did it. I didn't think I'd win but I just ended up buying a brand new pair of Corvette ZR-1 wheels on eBay. It really is a deal. These are from AFS wheels and are 17"x 11" (+50mm, 7.93" backspace). and are 5-lug 5x120.65mm. If you bought these on their site, you'd pay $262.50 plus $15 for the center cap for a total of $277.50. I paid $185 each. Now I only need two more.... and four tires.



06/11/2003
The new wheels arrived! 24lbs each is what they weigh. Can't wait to put something on them and go racing!!! I've ordered (2) 17 x 9.5 36mm offset ZR-1's for the front. That should push the wheels outboard by about 1/2 inch over my Borbet's. SHOULD fit perfect, we'll see!

06/26/2003
Picked up my heat cycled Hoosiers. The fronts (275/40-17) weight 22.5 lbs. and the rear (315/35-17) weigh in at 25.5 lbs. The rears are mounted. I'm still waiting on the two front wheels. By the way, you can't autocross on street tires, it's like driving on ice. I rode on racing tires for so long I forgot how slippery street tires really are, not to mention that everyone that goes fast are on sticky tires!

07/11/2003
I got tired of waiting on my 17x9.5 so I exchanged them for 17 x 11 36mm offset. I can still mount my 275's on them so I'll run like that and once I wear these tires out, I'll get some 315's. They should be in before the end of next week. (Note: I traded my 275's back to TireRack for a pair of 315's)

07/27/2003
Put all four 315's on the car today. Here are the pictures. The back fits perfect, the front (36mm) sticks out a little, it's not much and it really depends on the angle you're looking at as to whether it's that noticeable or not. I didn't have much rubbing except on really tight turns but I haven't pushed it hard yet so we'll see. I do have 1/4" spacers coming for the rear and I'll get a picture once I put those on. I'll try to get some better pictures too.

01/03/2004
Well, I got 72 runs out of my Hoosiers. Think about it. That's about $16 per run. Let me say that again. $16 per run. There is still plenty of rubber left on them but they've gotten hard and don't stick very well any more. The last several events of the season really showed how bad they got. Not only that I found out how they don't stick when they're cold AND how hard it really is to get a 315 size tire up to temperature. But I'm not complaining. They really do stick like glue when they're healthy. So now it's time to order new tires and I have a decision to make. The NEW Hoosier A3S04 or the NEW Kumho V710. This year I think it's going to come down to price and I believe the Kumho is going to win this time around. The old Kumho's would have cost me about $185 each or $740 OR about $10 per run. I know the new ones (both tires) will be more expensive but I really think I'm going with the cheaper tire this time.

04/01/04
My Kumho's were recalled!!! The tread was de-laminating. But they sent me a set of Ecsta V700's to use now and another set of V710's when they come back out. Not bad getting a free set of tires!