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tire size

Y

yellow84vette

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I have an '84 Coupe. Everything I've read, even here, says I should have Goodyear Eagle VR50, P255/50VR-16 as the stock tire size, yet the car has Goodyear Eagle , P275/40VR-17.
The PO says he didn't change them out....What's the general opinion on the GY tires?
Has anyone used the Kumho 712's?
 
Ooops, they are ZR rated, not VR.
 
I believe (but I am not reading this anywhere) that the original tires for the 84 were indeed 255 50 VR 16. The ZR did not come out until the 88 model with the 17" option.

Do you have any pictures of your rims? That would really help explain what is going on.

The 84-87 had the saucer saw blade looking things. The 84 had an unusual offset pattern where the front rims were like 8" and the rear were like 8.5 or 9" wide. In 85 they started moving towards the same size all the way around with specific left and right rims (to keep the saw blades all going in the same direction).

The 84 and 85 had black painted centers. The 86 got a silver natural center, the 87 got a grey painted center. This is about the only way you can tell the difference between these year models at a glance.

The Z51 optioned cars got the wider rims and you can see the wider difference by looking at the center hub. As soon as you have seen two side by side, you can judge from a distance which one you are looking at.

The Gator back was the most revolutionary tire in decades to hit the market. Up until 84 it was only a rare option on the European exotics. Hitting the road in 84 on the Vette, then the IROC Z in 85/trans am, the world was amazed at the overall look, feel, and performance. With the introduction of the ZR rated tire, pretty much all of that was standard equipment.

Alright, I have had too much coffee this morning, and am writing a thesis now on tires. I will get off my soap box now.


Chris


p.s., Look at the specifications tab that Rob has built in here for full details on the options available on your car.
 
The centers are Black, with the C4 logo. Yeah, the wheels remind me of a sawblade. The Model center shows the Tire Make/Size to be the Goodyear Eagle VR50, P255/50VR-16. Thnks for the timeley resonse.:beer
 
Guess I've not had enough coffe yet! The centers are Silver with the C4 logo- I've put a pic as my profile photo...
 
You have the one year only 1990 17x9.5" rims on the car. If you look very close, you will see that there should be a aftermarket spacer plate bolted between the hub and the rim as the track on the 84-87 was more narrow than the 88-96.

We have those same rims on our 90, but they are chrome plated for an extra bit of razzle dazzle.
 
275 40/17 is the +1 size for our 16" stock wheels (ie, if you upgrade from 16 to 17, that is the size you need). I just did this on my 86 and got the Kumho 712s. So far, so good. Only a couple days of use, but they're quiet and grip well. And cheap.

You must have 9.5" wide wheels all around? I got 8.5 front, 9.5 rear so the fronts take 255 45/17's.

[RICHR]
 
Incidently, there is zero speedometer error with the +1 size. I checked mine the other nice against a GPS-based speed-over-ground program and was right dead on from 10 mph to just over 100 mph. Pretty decent, considering most cars get upwards of 3% error at higher speeds.
[RICHR]
 
Almost there....

My '84 has the Z-51 option. This option included differing width, 16" front and rear rims. The non Z-51 cars had the same rims all around. For no extra cost, my hubs were drilled, in Mexico, off center, so the tire balance would only last 10k miles.

I now run four 315-35x17" on Epsilon rims. This solved the balancing issue. The drive gear inside the Doug Nash (pros, only) had to be changed to correct the speedo, as the outside gear alone could not fix the error.

:w
 
Kumho

I've been running the Kumho's for about 8 mo's and haven't had any trouble. They seem to have plenty of grip and performed very well in our Fla rainy weather. They hold a balance well, even over three digits.
My two Bits
 
I've got the Kumho Ecsta 712s on my 96, and they are pretty good for the money :) Not very expensive, and are quite grippy. Funny thing is that I just traded a Maxima w/ Kumho 712s in for my Vette last Monday. These tires are more popular than I had thought. :D
 
'84 with Performance Handling Package (Z51) were 8.5" front, 9.5" rear. Without the Z51 option I believe they were 8.5" all the way around. The wheels on mine do have F/R and L/R as well as the width (8.5" front, 9.5" rear) cast on the inside of the wheel.

Bill
 

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