C8 Corvette Stingray wheel fitment guide

Today we’re talking about the USDM Ferrari, also known as the C8 Vette. Factory C8 wheels are cast, which is not what you would expect on a flagship sports car that starts at 70 grand. It seems that Chevy ran out of money toward the end of the project. Today, however, we’re going to fix this by showing you the best wheel and tire combos for your C8. All of these will be lighter, stronger, and in our opinion, look better than the factory options.

This guide is specifically for your narrow-bodied Stingray C8 and all its respective trim levels. This won’t be covering Z06, E-Ray, or the crazy 1000HP ZR1 model coming next year.

Quick links

• Basic fitment info
• Stock sizing vs upsizing vs downsizing
• C8 factory sized wheels
• C8 upsized wheels
• C8 downsized wheels
• C8 drag pack

Basic fitment info

• Lug pattern: 5x120
• Lug thread: M14x1.5
• Center bore: 66.9mm
• Lug torque: 140 ft/lbs

A lot changed from the C7 to C8. First, the lug pattern went from 5x120.65 to the more widely supported 5x120, the lug nuts were bumped to M14, and the center bore is a few mils smaller. The bad part is that your favorite retro Vette wheels won’t be cross compatible, but the good news is more doors are opened for aftermarket wheels.

In our shop, we have over 100K possible wheels in the new lug pattern, whereas there’s only a fraction in the old one.

Shop all 5x120 wheels

A bit more about the lug pattern

120 vs 120.65mm, how much of a difference could it really make? If you were to drill out M12 wheels to M14, they would probably fit, but it's a matter of whether you can vs should. The proper way would involve redrilling along with boring out lug holes; add a 66.9 to 70.3 hubcentric ring and everything will operate as normal. Or, skip that hassle and get yourself 5x120 wheels.

Upsize, downsize, or keep factory sizes

Factory Stingrays come with the classic Vette double stagger - 19” front and 20” rear. Most of the time double staggered wheels will be optimal for looks and performance - that’s what the car was designed to have after all. But, you don’t have to keep the 19/20 sizing, you could upsize or downsize

The argument for upsizing is mostly about looks. A 20/21 setup fills out the wheel wells better and gives you Z06 stance. Comfort shouldn’t be affected too much but depending on the tires you go with, some trimming might be required. Oh, and plan on those rear tires costing a pretty penny.

A misconception is that downsizing is only for the track. We’re here to tell you that 18/19 setups can look amazing if done right. They give the C8 a super nice ride height on stock suspension. You shouldn’t sleep on the 18/19 combo and we’ll show you why later when we look at examples. If you do plan to use your car on the track an 18/18 setup will give you the least unsprung weight, but the rear arches are left a little empty.

If you wanna keep things super simple, stay with a double staggered set of 19/20. This allows you to retain the factory tires, keeping the original form factor, just with better fitment and a cooler design.

C8 wheel and tire fitment

C8 19/20 setups (factory size)

Starting with the most common. Again, you can reuse your factory tires if they still have life, or switch them out - we’ll look at both.

Fitment Facts
‎	Front	Rear
Wheels	MRR GF5 19x8.5 +38	MRR GF5 20x11 +48
Tires	Michelin PS4S 245/35R19	Michelin PS4S 305/30R20
Notes	Z51 suspension set at stock height

MRR is a popular brand for this platform. This Z51 is rocking their GF5 model. These are flow formed so they’re super affordable, yet still outperform the factory trident or 5-spokes. These come in at 23 lbs in the front and 28.2 rear, saving about 3 lbs per wheel.

As far as the fit, these aren’t too different from factory, using the same size and width. The lower offset is what gives them a better stance. This is still pretty tame compared to what these cars are capable of. The Z51 comes with factory adjustable suspension, but this one is still at the default height.

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Fitment Facts
‎	Front	Rear
Wheels	BBS CI-R 19x9 +44	BBS CI-R 20x11.5 +52
Tires	Toyo Proxes RR 235/35R19	Toyo Proxes RR 315/30R20
Notes	MCS 3 way custom coilovers with custom spring rates

The switch to 5x120 PCD opened the door to new possibilities - BBS wheels are a prime example. These CI-Rs are offered in specs that are pretty much tailor made for the C8.

Instead of only changing the offset, you can easily go wider too. This 2LT is running 9” fronts and 11.5” rears. This was paired with wider, Toyo Proxes RR tires to match. This wheel and tire combo doesn’t cause any clearance issues, even with this car being lowered on MCS coilovers.

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Fitment Facts
‎	Front	Rear
Wheels	Weld Ventura 19x9 +38	Weld Ventura 20x11 +40
Tires	Michelin PS4S 245/35R19	Michelin PS4S 305/30R20
Notes	Stock pilot sports stock suspension

Now, if you want a super iconic look for your C8, how about some Weld Wheels? These Weld Venturas look awesome on any generation of Vette, and the C8 is no different.

Compared to the last car, this one has a lower offset in the rear, which brings the wheels a bit closer to flush. Once again, the factory PS4S tires were reused. Really, there isn’t a huge motivation to ‘upgrade’ when you have factory tires this good.

This car is on stock suspension and has zero rubbing issues. Rubbing probably won’t be a factor on 19/20 setups unless choose wider and or taller tires.

C8 20/21 wheel setups

If you wanna upsize to 20/21, be aware that keeping the same tire profiles seen on smaller setups might cause some issues. These can usually be solved with some trimming to the mudflap area. Alternatively, you can use a smaller sidewall tire, the only catch is these tend to get a bit pricey (even more so than stock sizes).

Fitment Facts
‎	Front	Rear
Wheels	Avant Garde M520R 20x9 +38	Avant Garde M520R 21x12 +52
Tires	Pirelli PZero 245/30R20	Pirelli PZero 305/35R21
Notes	Lowered using Z51 suspension

Here’s a look at a 20/21 setup. The tires come out around the same as the factory 19/20. With this, the fitment will be identical to some of the previous ones we looked at. While these won’t be as light as the previous group, they still weigh less than factory wheels.

This car is lowered on factory Z51 suspensions, which give about a .7” drop. No trimming was required.

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Fitment Facts
‎	Front	Rear
Wheels	ForgedLite DC5 20x9 +35	ForgedLite DC5 20x12 +52
Tires	Michelin PS4S 255/30R20	Michelin PS4S 325/25R21
Notes	Eibach Pro lowering springs.  Minor trimming needed to stop rubbing.

Pairing larger tires with lowering is where you might run into some issues. In this case, the 255/30R20 fronts are not only wider, but slightly taller than stock. This causes some interference between the mudflaps and tires when turning close to full lock. You could probably just leave it, but if you want zero rubbing you can use a dremel to trim the abs plastic mudflaps down a bit.

Again, this car is lowered on Eibach Pro lowering springs. At stock height, no trimming should be needed.

C8 18/19 and 18/18 (downsizing)

The main motivation for downsizing is performance, but that’s not to say it can’t look good too. For the lightest, grippiest setup, go for 18/18 instead of double staggered.

Fitment Facts
‎	Front	Rear
Wheels	Apex EC-7 18x9.5 +43	Apex EC-7 19x11 +44
Tires	Continental ExtremeContact 275/35R18	Continental ExtremeContact 315/30R19
Notes	Z51 suspension at normal height.  No tire rubbing but front lip scrapes frequently.

If someone says 18/19 setups look too small on these cars, just show them this Z51. Believe it or not, this car isn’t lowered, the smaller overall height of the wheels and tire package are what provide the lower ride height. The wheel specs are similar to what we’ve already seen, but note that 9.5” fronts were chosen in order to fit ultra-wide tires.

As far as those tires, the widest fronts we’ve seen are 255, but this car was able to fit 275s - the same as a Z06. Out back we see a 315/30R19, which measures almost an inch shorter than factory tires.  

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Fitment Facts
‎	Front	Rear
Wheels	MRR FR43 18x10 +39	MRR FR43 18x12 +42
Tires	Nankang CR-S 285/30R18	Nankang CR-S 315/30R18
Notes	18/18 staggered setup

Rather than the factory double staggered setup, this is a normal staggered setup using 18x10 +39 fronts and 18x12 +42 in the rear. You’ll typically see 18s all around for dedicated track wheels. As we can see, the front looks pretty good, but the rear has excessive wheel gap. Then again, these are track wheels, so who cares, right?

If you’re looking for track wheels you wanna hear about weight. These forged MRR wheels don’t disappoint in this category. They come in at 18.8 lbs in the front and 20.2 lbs in the rear. In other words, about 6 lbs lighter in the front and 10 lbs in the rear - and they’re also significantly wider.

Just like the last car, 18s let you run a super wide front tire on par with the Z06 (or even wider in this case).

C8 drag pack

While the C8 might have been designed with circuit use in mind, that doesn’t mean it can’t lay down some decent ¼ mile times. We’re not going to fully break down drag setups here, but we thought we’d show you one example in case this is what you’re here for.

Fitment Facts
‎	Front	Rear
Wheels	Forgestar F14 Drag 17x5 -26	Forgestar F14 18x12 +50
Tires	M&H R 4.5/26.0-17	Mickey Thompson R 325/35R18
Notes	Smallest wheel combination on Stingray without aftermarket rear brakes.

The Stingray can fit 17s in the front, while the smallest you can fit on a Z06 is 18”. In the rear, the smallest you can go on all C8s is an 18 without doing an aftermarket rear drag package with spindles, brakes, and a bunch of other parts. So, if you’re wondering why the wheels were sized as such, it comes down to brake clearance. 17/18 is as small as you can go.

Otherwise, this is a pretty standard dedicated drag setup with 17x5 skinnies in the front and 18x12 rears. The rear tires are D.O.T compliant Mickey Thompson R compound sized at 325/35R18. The overall diameter comes out close to the stock 20s but with a whole lot more sidewall. If you really want something that hooks like crazy, you could consider a 40 sidewall instead.

Mickey Thompson R compound tires

Wrap up

So, are you going to upsize? Downsize? Keep the 19/20 factory setup? All of these can look good, so it comes down to how much you prefer performance vs big, bold wheels. Once you figure out the size, half the work is done. While the factory C8 wheels are heavy, the fitment isn’t terrible. All you need to do is go a bit wider, lower the offset, and either reuse your factory tires or get something similar in quality.

This guide was all about the Stingray. If you have a Z06, don’t worry, once the ZR1 comes out we’ll be cooking up a guide for all widebody C8s.

If you have a C8 with some awesome wheels, be sure to share it in our Fitment Gallery. Show off your ride and help others in the process!