[Snake_Eyes]

Just picked up a '23 2SS 1LE on Saturday. Lots of niceties and only 7k on the clock. First thing that needs to be taken care of is winter tires since I live in MN and it's my daily. That being said, daily is ~3 miles 5 times a week.

I poked around the forum a bit but didn't see anything definitive as far as a recommended wheel and tire setup. I don't want to stick with the 285-305 sizing for snow (don't think I could find winter tires anyway) so I'm looking for experience on the smallest rim I can run to fit the Brembos. I am using https://www.wheel-size.com/calc/ which has been a huge help over the years with my Daytona Charger, lifted RAM and Merecedes S550.

Any advice on rim and tire size/brand would be greatly appreciated.


https://1drv.ms/i/c/9b4e11b02be25370...yGCag?e=YUiDLt

[Msquared]

I am using base model 18x8.5 et32 Camaro wheels on my SS 1LE, shod with 245/50/18 tires. These wheels clear the front Brembos, albeit not by a lot. They slightly touch the brake cooling deflectors screwed to the front lower control arms, so you may need to either trim those a bit or remove them entirely for the winter. Someone else on this forum also ran these, which is how I knew they would work.

I didn't go with full-winter tires like you should, because in St. Louis we don't have that severe a need. I used Continental DWS instead, which are better on wet and dry roads but obviously give up performance on snow and ice. There are lots of full-winter tire choices in that size, though.

PS - There is also at least one good set for sale in the Classifieds section, and they might be close to make it worth your while to pick them up.

[WhiteMale]

I use the Alpin PA4 Winter Performance Tire as an upgrade over an A/S as I want more snow capability. On the stock wheels I run 275/35 and 285/35 which has a minimal variance over the stock diameter.

[Snake_Eyes]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm going to hang up the stock rims over the winter, it gets too nasty here for them to be on the road.

I chatted with TireRack yesterday and the guy was helpful in giving me size recommendations but I couldn't find several of the tires he recommended on the site, it was really kind of weird. What I came up with is 245/45R19's which they have, and they don't break the bank, I am thinking of a square setup. Thoughts? I know they're not going to look great but narrower is better in the snow.

I had to input an LT1 with the 6-piston Brembo option in order to get rim recommendations for 19's. They came up 19x8.5 with 28mm offset and that makes me nervous for clearance.

Thoughts?

[DeuceCam]

The stock LT1 wheels are 20x8.5 all around with a +25mm offset. The tires are 245/40/20. No idea if they clear the 6 piston calipers, though. You could prob find used takeoff wheels for a decent price. I believe the non-V8 camaros use the same size wheels and tires, but don't quote me on that.

[Msquared]

So again, the stock 18x8.5 et32 wheels clear the front 1LE brakes, so 19s definitely will; and a 28mm offset will fit fine. 245/45/19 tire size is the right size for this wheel. The stock LT1 wheels (20x8.5 et25) will also work fine with a 245/40/20 tire size.

All of these tires are a little taller than the 1LE tires, which is a good thing for winter weather. You can change the section width on any of these combos to a 235, too, which will be slightly narrower and slightly shorter but still a great fitment. The narrow wheels/tires won't look as bad as you think, especially with these offset pushing them out a bit over stock.

[Snake_Eyes]

Originally Posted by Msquared

So again, the stock 18x8.5 et32 wheels clear the front 1LE brakes, so 19s definitely will; and a 28mm offset will fit fine. 245/45/19 tire size is the right size for this wheel. The stock LT1 wheels (20x8.5 et25) will also work fine with a 245/40/20 tire size.

All of these tires are a little taller than the 1LE tires, which is a good thing for winter weather. You can change the section width on any of these combos to a 235, too, which will be slightly narrower and slightly shorter but still a great fitment. The narrow wheels/tires won't look as bad as you think, especially with these offset pushing them out a bit over stock.

Thanks Matt. How about the rear if I run those tires/rims as a square setup? I think the stock offset is 43.

[DaveC113]

Originally Posted by Snake_Eyes

Thanks for the info guys. I'm going to hang up the stock rims over the winter, it gets too nasty here for them to be on the road.

I chatted with TireRack yesterday and the guy was helpful in giving me size recommendations but I couldn't find several of the tires he recommended on the site, it was really kind of weird. What I came up with is 245/45R19's which they have, and they don't break the bank, I am thinking of a square setup. Thoughts? I know they're not going to look great but narrower is better in the snow.

I had to input an LT1 with the 6-piston Brembo option in order to get rim recommendations for 19's. They came up 19x8.5 with 28mm offset and that makes me nervous for clearance.

Thoughts?

When I dd'ed my Camaro I got 19x10 square with 265/40/19 Michelin PA4 N-Spec (Porsche) tires. Worked great, as performance snow tires they maintained decent performance at the expense of deep snow/mud traction, but I think it's worth it as you won't be plowing snow in a Camaro anyways.

My new dd is an Elantra N and I went with 245/40/18 Michelin PA5, these tires are ridiculously good and a significant upgrade over PA4. As performance snows they'll still compete with dedicated snows in ice/deep, but the performance on cold/dry pavement is shockingly good. Pretty much all tire manufacturers are copying the Michelin CrossClimate / PA5 tire tread pattern since it works so well and is so versatile.

If I were to buy a new snow setup for the Camaro I'd probably go with 19x9 to 19x10 square and 245-265 width Michelin PA5 tires. The 245s will be slightly better in deeper snow and slightly less good on dry pavement, 265 vice versa... On packed snow tire width actually doesn't matter all that much.

[Msquared]

Originally Posted by Snake_Eyes

Thanks Matt. How about the rear if I run those tires/rims as a square setup? I think the stock offset is 43.

No problem at all. The 18x8.5 et32 I use and the 20c8.5 et25 are both used as square fitments from the factory on 6th-gen Camaros. The offset puts the wheel centerline only 18mm further outside with the 25mm offset. The wheel itself is 63.5mm narrower than the stock rears, so there is 32mm less width on the outside of the rim's centerline. Therefore, at 25mm offset, the outside edge of the wheel is still 7mm further inboard than the stock 1LE rear wheel's outside edge. You could even go with 20mm offsets square if you wanted. The 32mm offset I have puts the outboard edge 14mm inside of where the stock wheel's outer edge sits.

[Snake_Eyes]

Thanks again for the great info guys, I really wish this forum had a "like" feature like other forums I'm on.

[Snake_Eyes]

Well, I found Blizzak 6's in 265/40/19 with some cheap rims that are 19x9.5 5-120 with a 30mm offset for a not so bad price. Based on input from you guys, I think that'll be my pick.

A little off topic, can the front splitter be removed and reinstalled without a lot of hassle? For example, is it using any sort of adhesive along with the bolts?

[Camaro Fanatic]

Happy you found a set up for a good price!

Unfortunately, the splitter is glued on (also bolted) and a bit of a pain to remove.

There are threads on removing it though. Not sure if anyone has found a "quick" release solution by possibly removing all the adhesive to make it strictly bolt on (with maybe some padding so the plastic isn't rubbing on the paint.

[Msquared]

Originally Posted by Snake_Eyes

Well, I found Blizzak 6's in 265/40/19 with some cheap rims that are 19x9.5 5-120 with a 30mm offset for a not so bad price. Based on input from you guys, I think that'll be my pick.

With the extra inch of rim width vs the 8.5" wheel options, and 30mm offset, these wheels will have 0.14" more backspacing than your stock SS 1LE fronts. You may need spacers to clear everything on the inside of the front wheels (rears will be completely fine without spacers for sure). I doubt it, because I know someone who used 19x10 et23 wheels with 305/30/19 tires and no spacers on his 1LEs and it didn't touch anything. If you do have any clearance issues (mainly thinking about the strut), you may be able to slightly clearance where the wheel touches and avoid spacers. If you need spacers, 3mm should be enough, and I think you can run those without installing longer studs.

[Snake_Eyes]

Originally Posted by Msquared

With the extra inch of rim width vs the 8.5" wheel options, and 30mm offset, these wheels will have 0.14" more backspacing than your stock SS 1LE fronts. You may need spacers to clear everything on the inside of the front wheels (rears will be completely fine without spacers for sure). I doubt it, because I know someone who used 19x10 et23 wheels with 305/30/19 tires and no spacers on his 1LEs and it didn't touch anything. If you do have any clearance issues (mainly thinking about the strut), you may be able to slightly clearance where the wheel touches and avoid spacers. If you need spacers, 3mm should be enough, and I think you can run those without installing longer studs.

Edit: Msqured, I found these on eBay and are exactly what you mentioned in your first post https://www.ebay.com/itm/167550873139, since I haven't pulled the trigger on anything, yet I am thinking of picking those up and getting Michelin X-Ice 245/50/18's, thoughts?