I might suggest that you contact John Purner at Complete Custom Wheel before you make final decision. He is good at matching equipment with one's goals...link from VCA home page via " accessories" under "marketplace".
Tire and wheel reccomendations
- Thread starter Steve-Indy
- Start date
First my observation and opinion:
I see dozens of Viper owners spend thousands of dollars on new wheels and get the same size as stock and use the same size tires. I think that is a complete WASTE of money. If I were going to spend a few thousand on some new wheels I would definitely make sure they were going to improve the performance of my car
Now my recommendation:
I would go with 18" wheels. The only reason is because you still have a few options for tire styles and manufacturers. When you get up into the 19" and 20" wheel combos, you run into the possiblity of having only 1 choice in tire. If that tire is discontinued, you are out of luck.
If you choose 18" wheels, I would go for an 18x11 up front and put a 295/35/18 tire on it. For the rear, personally I would stay with a 13" wide wheel (for the same reasons as above; style and availability) and use the 335/35/18 tire. If you use the 345 tire made by Michelin, you will raise the rear about 2/3 to 3/4" higher.
If you do NOT plan on upgrading to larger brakes/rotors, I would mix up sizes front and rear to achieve optimal tire grip:
17x11 up front with a 315/35/17 tire and 18x13 in the rear with the 335/30/18 tire. In either case, for the rear wheel I would have 1/2" backspacing so the wheel will fit flush with the wheel well.
In all cases you should not have any tire rubbing and the tires shouldn't stick out fromt he well either.
Hope this helps!
I see dozens of Viper owners spend thousands of dollars on new wheels and get the same size as stock and use the same size tires. I think that is a complete WASTE of money. If I were going to spend a few thousand on some new wheels I would definitely make sure they were going to improve the performance of my car
Now my recommendation:
I would go with 18" wheels. The only reason is because you still have a few options for tire styles and manufacturers. When you get up into the 19" and 20" wheel combos, you run into the possiblity of having only 1 choice in tire. If that tire is discontinued, you are out of luck.
If you choose 18" wheels, I would go for an 18x11 up front and put a 295/35/18 tire on it. For the rear, personally I would stay with a 13" wide wheel (for the same reasons as above; style and availability) and use the 335/35/18 tire. If you use the 345 tire made by Michelin, you will raise the rear about 2/3 to 3/4" higher.
If you do NOT plan on upgrading to larger brakes/rotors, I would mix up sizes front and rear to achieve optimal tire grip:
17x11 up front with a 315/35/17 tire and 18x13 in the rear with the 335/30/18 tire. In either case, for the rear wheel I would have 1/2" backspacing so the wheel will fit flush with the wheel well.
In all cases you should not have any tire rubbing and the tires shouldn't stick out fromt he well either.
Hope this helps!
Another thing to consider when moving to 19" wheels, other than the fact of few tire choices, is that the sidewalls get very thin/small. The wheel is more likely to get bent, etc.. when you go overs large bump in the road, and handling will suffer since there is much less sidewall for turning. I believe this is one of the reasons the Purner still prefers 17" wheels and tires with comapratively larger side walls than the 18s and 19s
As far as ride height is concerned, keep in mind that the Viper has limited travel even with adjustable shocks. If you have to lower the Viper 3/4" to 1" to get it back to stock ride height than you may not be able to really utilize the adj. ride height shocks as they were intended...to lower the center of gravity. If you lower the ride height much more than an inch, you can run into problems with the shocks bottoming out, limited travel, etc... Most shocks are not linear for compression and rebound so as you lower the height, the characteristics change.
Just my $.02.....
As far as ride height is concerned, keep in mind that the Viper has limited travel even with adjustable shocks. If you have to lower the Viper 3/4" to 1" to get it back to stock ride height than you may not be able to really utilize the adj. ride height shocks as they were intended...to lower the center of gravity. If you lower the ride height much more than an inch, you can run into problems with the shocks bottoming out, limited travel, etc... Most shocks are not linear for compression and rebound so as you lower the height, the characteristics change.
Just my $.02.....
Supercharged Vipermad
Enthusiast
If you are looking for optimal grip and plan on doing any track (road-racing) events get 12"x18" fronts and 13"x17" in the rear. That's the best combo for road racing and there are plenty of sizes available.
David Jenkins
Enthusiast
I don't think wheels and tires are a "waste" of money if they don't improve the performance. I would estimate that 90% of owners don't drive their cars hard enough to feel, or know the difference in the side wall height. Second they are the best cosmetic uprade you can do. I had 5 BL/WH GTS' in my shop about a month ago. They all looked the same with the exception of Kramer's with the 18' Kinesis. If you go to a show and there are 20 red RT/10's, the one with wheels stands out. Put 18's or 19's on it with consideration for big brakes later.dj
getbit
Enthusiast
Larry -
I saw your car at TNT. It looked incredible. I recently traded my solid black '99 GTS with cognac interior for an '01 GTS Saphire with silver stripes. Seeing your car made me almost reconsider the trade. Those 546's will still look great on mine.
You won't be disappointed.
I saw your car at TNT. It looked incredible. I recently traded my solid black '99 GTS with cognac interior for an '01 GTS Saphire with silver stripes. Seeing your car made me almost reconsider the trade. Those 546's will still look great on mine.
You won't be disappointed.
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