I put my new wheels on a little over a week ago, but I didn't bother with trying to pull the car out of the garage since the roads and weather were pretty crappy. Yesterday was a decent enough day to pull the car out and grab some pics. The tires are 275-40-17 Yokohamas and the additional width fills the wheel wells VERY nicely in comparison to the stock wheels and smaller tires. The lower profile tire sidewalls are also more attractive.

 

Is that stock ride height?

 

No... it's sitting on Eibach Sportline springs.

 

Thanks, good to know. The whole package (ride height, fender gap, stance, wheels, etc) is just awesome looking.

 

Are you running spacers or is that flush against the hubs? By the way, looks awesome.

 

Very nice looking!
You're running the Sdrives, same tires as me. What do you think of them?
I love them personally.

Now c'mon Hawks, bring out 17x9 repro stock appearing irocs!!

 

looks great !

 

Thanks!

The wheels came with 2 small spacers for the front so the wheels will clear the strut brackets.

I've only driven about 30 miles with them on so I don't have any opinion on them yet. I don't have high expectations for them, though.

Thanks!

 

Looks fantastic!

 

looks great!!!!

 

Nice....gotta polish the lip.....

 

Yeah... I've been giving it some serious thought about stripping the clear coat from the lips and giving them a high polish finish.

 

The look and stance is perfect! Your GTA is almost identical to mine. So the only mods you have to your suspension are the Eibach Sportline springs? Are you now sitting at stock ride height again with the bigger tires? Do you have any rubbing?

 

I also have an adjustable panhard rod, adjustable KONI shocks and struts. 275-40-17 tires have the same overall diameter as the stock 245-50-16 tires, therefore the ride height stays the same and the tire to fender gap stays the same.

 

That is a Bad *** car. I love the looks! Great Stance!

 

Very nice. I wish Hawks would offer them in 11" rears. I had 11" C4 ZR1 rears on my old car and love the GTA/TA 17" reps.

 

Seriously? =p Us GTA guys have been waiting for YEARS for bigger GTA rims. Repro IROCs are made in every size under the sun (even though they may not be to your tastes), and there are TONS of aftermarket wheel options that look good on Camaros. You can't say the same for the Firebirds! The next thing we need are 18 inch GTA rims. =)

 

I have the Konis too. They shouldn't affect ride height. Does the panhard bar affect ride height? I would think that since your new tires are the same overall diameter as the old ones that the sportlines would give you a smaller gap between tire and fender.

 

nice ride!

 

Love that color and rim.

If only we had a 18x9 now so I could run the larger brakes that come from newer cars!

 

If the design was better, you should be able to run 13.5" or 14" brakes under a 17" wheel.

Problem is that the company making them in 17" didn't design them to do just that. The 16" OEM ones hardly fit anything modern at all.

 

Looks great!!

 

Great set up! Any idea on what you're looking at for ride height fender to ground? Our cars have a similar set up

 

No idea... I'll have to take some measurements. To be honest, the Eibach Sportlines didn't lower my car as much as I wanted, although the wheel to fender gap was significantly reduced. Sometime in the next 4 months, I'm gonna pull the springs out and cut half a coil off of each in hopes of lowering the car an additional .750 to a full inch.

 

If I want to run ls1 front brakes can I just use the small slip on spacer that the 17x9s come with?

People love to suggest that Hawks should come out with an 18" version of these wheels. Let's say someone did decide to mass produce these wheels or 18s for that matter to fit most of these cars. What would the optimal back spacing be based on 18x10 all 4 corners? 6" bs with the ability to rotate 285/35/18?

I hope I'm not hi jacking this topic but I'm very close to getting the 17x9s because it seems right for the car and the price seems fair.

 

looks sharp

 

If you want the wheels flush with the fender, 5.75" would be the BS you would want with an 18" x 10" wheel, 6" would also work perfect. While possible, a 10" wide wheel is not going to fit many older cars - like the ones that Hawks made the 17" x 9" wheels for. Either a 275 or 285 width tire would fit a 10" wheel.

 

18x10 will fit but there's probably not enough bite for them to venture in and depending on specs 10 wide square setup has been my favorite this far I had 285 all around

 

The odds that Hawks makes an 18 x 10" GTA wheel is 25:1, maybe a 3:1 that they make an 18" x 9" to fit 15 or 20 different GM cars. They have the resources to do it, but wont move out the door anywhere near as quickly as the 17".

I've said it here before that the 18" x 10" is an almost perfect size for a 3rd gen wheel - you can fit a 275-35-18, 275-40-18, or 285-35-18 tire, it will clear any brake system (at least our wheels would in 18"), and the tire selection in that size are close to 75. We have it on our radar to make CTW Motorsports wheels in 18" x 10", but between the interest level (not that high), the potential cost ($1,300 to $1,400 a set), and the limited space we have at our new facility, it is a future project.

 

Great looking ride.

Louis

 

Make them so you can go 305 on the backs if your going to go that 18 route

 

Machinery for 18" maxes out at 10" wide (as the foundry tells me) - so 305 would be a no go (would want a minimum of 11).

 

My interest level for these is REALLY HIGH. I had to buy some tires for the stock 16's so I can wait until this happens but some good performance 18's would be killer.

 

Hawks Stormtrooper Formula has 10.5 and one of the customer cars, Kevin B's black Formula has 10's, and both run 305's... so it is possible with the 10's....... hmmmmm....

And when were these a possibility for you? A year, maybe 2???

 

Yes I agree 17 will move alot quicker than the 18s and have the resources I thinks it's only matter of right timing I'm the market

1400 for a set isn't that bad and it actually reasonable for what you get but your wheels is definitely a wheel that's for particular performance seekers

The tire selection is the greatest thing about the 18x10 from cheap to high end tires

 

[if I'm not mistaken they where widen not made

Is it possible to run a wider tire on a 10 sure it is but isn't ideal no it's not your pinching the tire and decreasing side wall stability especially when cornering

In straight line and or drag racing it's probably not a deal breaker but as far as handling concerned it's not ideal

10.5 has alttler more room for a 305 tire but ideally 11 is best

 

Look at this illustration and you see the concept of narrow and wider tire

 

Just ordered a black set from Hawks for my 92 TA 5 speed convertible. Can't wait to install them!

 

so you ran 275-40 all around?

 

that's the size you would want

 

I would never run a 275 up front. I run them in the back, but a 255 up front.

 

Please explain your reasoning

Plenty of members here run 275's up front without issue at all. I'm one of them, everything works as intended and the square setup keeps the handling balance same as stock on 245s.

Moving to a narrower tire up front and a fatter tire out back will push the balance further towards understeer.

 

I would like to hear this reasoning I ran up to 285 with room for 295 upfront on a 10 and 10.5 rim up front
with that said I wouldn't run less than 275 to be honest if I had a choice

 

Your GTA looks amazing!!! My dad had a near identical one back in the day. Man if that car was around now. Would there ever come a point where you'd consider selling that ride?