Corvette Forum Members Weigh In on Custom Rims

The appeal of a Corvette is as much about the design of the car as it is about the performance, and rims play an important part in the equation. The trouble is, when you opt for buying custom rims outside of those offered by Chevrolet, you could find yourself making some compromises, as highlighted in a thread started by Corvette Forum member JPK_NJ after buying a set of Nuburgring rims for his base C7 coupe.

At issue is whether JPK_NJ might be sacrificing some of the performance attributes of the car for the wider stance that the rims give his Corvette.

“The tires definitely do not sit inside the wheel well now, and do stick out past the fenders,” says JPK-NL in the post, as depicted in the picture above. “I’ve noticed the tires/fenders now get dirty fairly quick and maybe the aerodynamics of the car are hindered. Anyone else feel the same way? Also, the ride feeling has changed for the worse. Bumps / imperfections now transit to the driver much more than with the stock 18/19 wheels. Maybe the stock wheels are built a bit more solid and absorb these bumps?”

However, member C7Jake posted in the thread about the benefits of custom rims with a few pics of his C7 (pictured above) equipped with a set of Matte Gunmetal TSW Nuburgring rims:

10k…stock bolts full drop…stock tires…no issues
ride changed aerodynamics hindered no return
Order a set of Center Lock Forgelines

Corvette Forum member Op_z also paints a pretty clear picture of the benefits his Laguna Blue C7 (pictured above) has seen:

Did you have the car fully lowered on stock bolts? I have the nurbs and a stock non-lowered setup and it seems unlikely to me that the shocks would ever compress this much for the wheels to rub. Would it be prudent to install the Z51 sway bars to keep the car flatter in turns? I realize this would not help with bumps.

BBMedic, however, probably summed it up best:

“Guys,,,do you really think that if you change your wheels from stock that is not going to change a few things??”

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