Trying to decide which way I want to go on my car. I can use either the old school 15" Z28 wheels that are already on the car, or I can use 16" iroc wheels.

I like the 15" wheels because I think the darker wheel looks good with the gunmetal paint, and it's more authentic RS, so it doesn't look like I'm trying to make a clone

The 16" wheels are more upscale, and there's a better selection of tires available for them (although much more expensive.. ouch!)

Will there be a considerable ride difference between the 235/60/15 and the 245/50/16? Will 16's have a harsher ride to them?

 

another view of the 15" wheels on my car..

 

^^for your car I agree! those darker wheels look sharp. and u can save some $$ on tires..

 

I like the 16" IROCS.....polished, chromed or black.

Ride quality is just fine on a 50 series tire...AND, you can put wider tries (245 50R16 stock) on an 8" rim.

 

I should have said the tire selection was better for the 16" wheels only because if I stick with the RS wheels, I'm moving to 235/60/15 on them, not 215/65/15

There's a ton of Tires available for them in 215, like 27 different ones at tirerack

 

Here's another question... I read on another thread that a rear axle that has brake drums on it will require spaces when using the 16" wheels. is that true, and is so, how much spacing do I need?

 

16". BEEN RUNNING EM FOR YEARS. MORE GRIP. 16 X 8 245/50/16 IN FRT. 17 X 10 315/35/17 IN BACK.

 

Keep the 15"s. But I'd buy the IROCs and sell them for a profit.

 

LOL, I just told my wife that if we didn't put them on my car, we'd keep them and put them on the blue one she wants

 

I don't mind the 15s, but I'm more a fan of the non-colored ones.

 

interesting, I just changed the picture above by adding the black center emblem that says CAMARO. Having the black disc in the middle really changes the wheel dramatically, IMHO

here's the two pics, before and after the emblem add




With the RS wheel, it's now TOO much black, but it makes the IROC wheel look better...

 

Keep the 15's and make some extra money on the 16's

 

I agree, the IROC wheel needs the black center, and it really does change it a lot on the RS wheel; then again, you and I are probably just way too used to having faded logo discs on the centers of our wheels.

 

Lol, you're right...

I did the photoshop wrong. the center of the rs wheel with the black emblem would be totally blacked out. that's even worse

 

Run the 16's better grip and i think a nicer ride myself.

 

I dont know why I am stating this but I dont like the 16" irocs in that pic. the 15's look way better. As for a better ride? I dont think so. Usually 15" wheels do not have low pro tires which adds "cush" to the ride... semi squish. The 16"s will be a little rougher but they should certainly handle better with decent tires.

I honestly am a fan off the 15" z28's. People call them RS's but thats a misnomer as they were the original z28 wheel. Anyway... Buy the irocs. Mount them on for a while and see if it grows or not.

 

Handling really isnt a concern, because of the v6, i'm not going anywhere fast and hard. Road noise and comfort are bigger concerns for me, which is why this isnt a no brainer.

I'm seriously thinking of buying them, and just saving them for a different car. Too good a deal to pass up

 

I always thought 16 inches was an oddball size; it's like it was the odd middle child between the long-established 15 inch wheel, and the 17s that kind of came out of nowhere in the '90s. It was kind of like you either had 15 inch wheels, or 'upgraded' to 17s with low profile tires.

16 always seemed kind of weird with its oddball tire profile.

Truthfully I think the black wheels look better on your car than the IROCs. The IROCs just don't seem to do it for me on your car.

 

thanks... if I had a lighter colored car I would like a lighter wheel, but now Im thinking of staying with the 15's, and saving the irocs for my wife's car

 

15's

I don't know where the idea of more choices in 16's comes, you basically can put the stock 245/50, 255/50's if you want slightly more tire, or some people go with 225/50 or 245/45 but they look funny unless the car is lowered A LOT. There are 295/50's also, and there used to be a few sizes in between, but the 295 50's are really on the big side and only look right on some cars.

With the 15's there's actually a bunch of choices depending on the look you're looking for and the intended application, there are widths from 205 to 275 that will fit correctly on them. Stock sizes are 215/65 and 235/60 (later years) and I think look better on the car then the 16s, they're a little taller and fill the wheel wells better. The 215's work surprisingly well as front runners at the track and tend to be very light (on firebirds, mounted on 15" "Hi tech" wheels they're typically >20lbs lighter than 245's on the 16" "hi tech" wheels, the 235's aren't much worse but are large enough to get good handling out of. I personally really like the look of 255/60's on the back, and 275/60's give it a nice dragstrip look. They're all cheaper and lighter than comparable 16's, and you can feel the difference in weight in the way the car reacts.

My combination of choice is 235/60 on the front and 255/60 on the back with 1/4" spacers behind the front wheels. This gives the car a killer stance, especially a lowered car. I feel that looks better than the 16's, and will give you both better acceleration and mpg than the 16's, and will outhandle them with a comparable tire (roughly the same contact patch, much lighter...), and the combination of less unsprung weight and taller sidewall will give you a much nicer ride. Typically 215's will give you better mpg if you care, and some 215's on the front and 275's on the rear give you that dragstrip look (FWIW, 215/65's goodyears on the front and 275/60 drag radials on the back on firebird wheels come in at just over 72lbs lighter total than 245/50 goodyears on all 4 on comprable 16's)

to answer your other question, drum brake rears got either aluminum or iron drums, the iron ones had thinner surfaces where they mated to the hubs so they got some thin (roughly 1/8") factory spacers with the 16" wheels. Assuming that there isn't anything weird with your car, they should fit without them, and the 15's naturally sit 1/4-3/8" further out than the 16's making them unnecessary

 

there are two tire sizes that are close to 26" diameter, but also have a little extra width.. that's the 235/60/15

Tirerack.com shows two or three tires for that size. If I wanted to go with 215/65/15, i would have more choices, but I don't

For the correct size for the 16 inch tires, 245/50/16, there are about 13 tires available

that's why I said there are more choices for the 16 inch wheel... I just don't like the 215's anymore, and want to go a little wider, at least in back, and I also don't want it to screw up my speedometer

 

OK, as of yesterday I thought I had decided on the IROCs, just because when I polished up the ones I got they looked so awesome.

BUT.... (there's always a but isn't there)

I found out that my camaro emblems won't work with the iroc wheels without practically having custom centers machined. I don't have an IROC, and don't want to make my RS into a half baked clone, so I'm not going there.

I don't mind making custom caps, but for that cost and the extra cost of the tires, it would have to be a slam dunk improvement, and the poll isn't leaning that way.

Here's two more photoshop pics.. if you voted and want to change your vote, tell me. if you haven't voted, please do!

 

I have to ask, if you don't want a half baked clone, why do you have the painted headlight buckets and the Z28 grille? Or was the car like that when you got it?

 

that's a fair question...

to me, there's a difference between styling cues like the black buckets, actually putting something on the car that says IROC-Z

The average person doesn't know which cars had blacked out buckets, fog lights, ect. but to put both RS emblems and IROC emblems on the same car, to me, is weird

 

I see man. I was just wondering. I have thought about painting my headlight buckets black, but I'm not so sure. But I would love a set of the 16" IROCs.

 

ok, you're a 2.8 guy too... if it was you and you had these wheels, what would you do for center caps?

 

I'd make something to replace the IROC piece. I don't have any RS emblems on my car as it is, but I still wouldn't want IROC on it, I'm proud that my car is an RS.

 

update time.

The debate is over. I had a guy offer me $300 for the wheels, so I took it. They are out of my life, and I'm no longer tempted my them

It's RS wheels for this boy. I think it's funny after all this time, the poll is tied 14/14

It's funny, I was about to have custom RS center caps made for them out of aluminum. guess I don't need to now

 

Lol, I've moved on to wanting a set of black GTAs or keeping the draglites I have.

 

I like the 15 inch z28 wheels. Def my fav OEM wheel.

 

here we go again. I've had another set of IROCs come available, but these come with tires and center caps. Trying to decide if now is the time to act or not

I like my 15's, but they have a full set of practically new tires on them. I would have to find a buyer for my wheels and tires (and I have 7 caps, 4 of them in mint condition) for me justify buying these other set.

 

does that rear tire fit under the rear wheel well ok, or did you need to do any mods for them to fit

 

Another Photoshop for your polling pleasure

 

Getting the IROCs on thursday! I think I've already sold the 15" wheels and tires to somebodyt that needs them desperately. No going back now

 

done and done

 

IROC wheels are the best.... I agree with puma that the painted 15's dont look that great. I dont think any Z28 ever came with painted center 15's... but maybe Im wrong.

And the black buckets and z28 grille, I rock them too. I just dont like badging. IROC wheel badging isnt a huge deal to me because it's so small, but you can always plastidip the logo area black if you really wanted. But this is from a guy with a z28 hood, too. I just like all the cool performance model styling cues, I'd just never get the badging for it. I dont think that's a big deal, especially for parts that are stock to the same generation of car, and even more especially parts that are stock on the same year. Your car probably wasnt new when those IROCs were, but there were no major styling differences in that time frame and the wheels "fit" the car. I've got hte 91-92 ground fx and as much as I LOVE IROCs, and I wanted them badly for a while... I became bothered that they were year-correct for my car. Just started looking wrong to me to see IROCs on a 91-92 car. I have ZR1's now, and that's not correct on the car, but it is era correct...

 

I need to get replacement center caps for a 1982 Z28. The originals were all cracked when I got the tires changed. Does anyone have a recommendation for after-market ones? I have the inserts, just need the caps.

 

 

Ebay has good ones, but male sure you get the ones with the metal retaining clips

 

Thanks guys!

 

I think you made the right choice, I too love the original look of the 15" 5 spoke but unfortunately handling and braking are sacrificed in the long run, the tire choices are much greater for 16" and lower sidewall so better handling, also the 16" rims allow room for brake upgrades to larger rotors and calipers, the Iroc 16" give a bit more room, and the C4 16" rims allow for even more room, they all look good and as mentioned only informed Camaro guys would actually notice so it's a trade off, but hate to have to loose the original look of the 15" rims. When I swapped I kept the original rims and brake setup in storage in case I ever got an urge to return to stock.