[cre8fun]

For my SS 1LE, I recently switched from stock 20" wheels with SC3's to Apex 19" with ZLE 1LE sized 3R's. here is what the relative weight changes were (I say relative because I doubt the bathroom scale is dead on accurate.)

So the SS 1LE stock set up.
Fronts with 285/20" - 56.8LB
rears with 305/20" - 59.8 LB

front - Apex 19x11 with 305 3R's - 53.0LB
rear - Apex 19x12 with 325 3r's - 54.8LB

so larger, stickier tires and less weight. if I had it to do all over, I'd probably do 19x11's all around with 305's. I'd get a lot more tire wear. currently the rears last 6+ days and wear flat. the fronts wear hard on the inner and outer edges and only last 2-3 days. Goodyear engineers say part of that is that the 325's in the rear contribute to more understeer/pushing up front making it harder on the edges, but they also said the 3Rs are only designed to run 2 tanks of gas. so what is that maybe 4 sessions?!? crazy

If I had it to do all over again, I'd run 19x11s front and rear. that would allow me to run tires up front for 2 days, then move to the rear to run out the rest of the tread. of course given the slow wear rate on the rear, I'd end up with tons of used front tires waiting for their shot at the rear.

[kropscamaro16]

nice ive been looking at same setup why did you do staggerred vs square?

[cre8fun]

Originally Posted by kropscamaro16

nice ive been looking at same setup why did you do staggerred vs square?

yeah, really good question. I came out of a C5 gutted caged race car. on that car, when I went from square to staggered, the rear was MUCH more settled under heavy breaking. so I looked at the ZLE and figured I'd just do what GM planned for that car as that's their top dog configuration.

after 6 track weekends with the car, here are my thoughts.

- my rears last forever - like they have 6 days on them, are wearing flat and still have some meat on them. I've been having a conversation with myself about tossing them only because they have like 30 heat cycles on them and I can tell they are greasy.

- My fronts are the opposite. I wear the inner and outer edges hard and usually toss them after 2-3 track days. when I do, it's because I'll get tread to carcass separation at the edge of the tread (sometimes inner, sometimes outer) but at that point the tread is still in great shape. seems like a great plan would be to run 305 square. 2 days up front, then mount them on 19x11 rears and wear the middle/main tread off.

- why have I not done that? I've not tried it on the track as I don't have a set of 19x11s with a rear offset and honestly, now that I have the 19x12 rears, not sure I want to give up the surefootedness of the 325s back there. part of me says I'll get more wear out of the 3r's, but the reality is if I'm getting 6+ days out of the 325's, and I decided to go 305 square, I'd still end up with a stack of tires that were done for front use, but have not been able to get on the rears yet. I mean let's say instead of 6 days for a 325 REAR, I got 2 days up front and then 4 on the rear with a 305. well, I'd still end up using 2 fronts for every rear, thus they'd stack up. I guess I'd save something like one pair of tires every 6 track days. but I've got 2 sets of track wheels, so I'd have to buy 4 more wheels to try it. who knows. maybe one day.

BTW - Goodyear engineers were at VIR one day and my friend talked to them about the square versus staggered set up. their opinion was the square works better because the smaller tire in the rear does not push the front as much. so less understeer and possibly better wear/longer life up front. Maybe. never tried it. Of course they also said the 3Rs are made to last 2 tanks of gas on the track. I think that's like 1 day!

[N Camarolina]

Can't beat the weight savings by using Apex wheels!

Don't mean to highjack the thread, but had a question of my own regarding staggered vs squared handling characteristics while on track. If you'll permit me:

I have square setup as my DD wheel set (Apex 19 x 10 with Conti ECS 285x35). I bring these to the track as a back-set in case I have an unexpected puncture in the stock OEM wheels with SC3, or if there is significant rain (I really don't like the SC3 in the rain).

What do you think the acceleration and handling characteristics would be with my square set up on track? Would 285 in the back be sufficient for good acceleration out of corners? And how much more loose would the back end be during cornering?