considering how many V6 Mustangs I see rolling around on 20's it's a no-brainer.

Make 20's exactly like the prototype's wheels and people will opt for them probably in droves. In fact, make some other styles and probably a big chunk of V6 Buyers will opt for them.

For me, whatever is needed to clear the brakes and does not have a huge sidewall. I also don't want a huge gap between the wheel opening and the tire though.

 

Paging the Rim Militia. Rim Militia, please come to the 2010 Camaro Exterior Discussion forum.

It's called a wheel.

 

hhhmm. some useless posts in here. read the whole thread. my head hurts.

folks, base your assumptions on facts & past & present history:

-the Mustang V6 is the biggest seller = Camaro V6 has to compete to keep the V8 platform economically feasible.

-the Mustang V6 looks HOT but is cheap & easy on the wallet = Camaro V6 has to compete

-20's are a standard size, they are the only size an OEM would want to saddle a consumer with. Remember when the Mustang came out with a one off Metric sized tire, and it cost BUCKETS of money?
20's are on everything non GM: Hemi Rams, Chargers, SRT's, Mustangs, and aftermarket everthing else. the price of 20's is reasonable.

-remember when 17's were big money? but now they are the "standard" size rims & tire prices are really reasonable for low end tires. most consumers pick cheap stuff, no matter what. (I have cheapo Kumho's on my SS because it sits more than it gets driven)

-Camaros must have the same size tire front & rear, remember only the Corvette had staggered rims for years. it costs MORE money to have dedicated directional tires, and the Camaro has to be PROFITABLE. Staggered rims & tires make a platform expensive.
the Corvette almost always has smaller tires on front (easier to drive, don't follow ruts, less wind resistance) but the camaro has all 4 same (able to rotate, cheaper to replace, cheaper & larger selection)

history will repeat itself:
-the V6 will have to look cool,
-it will have some stripe/rim/tire/spoiler packages (RS?) to spice it up and boost profits.
-the tires will match front and rear to cut costs.


how many cars do you REALLY see with aftermarket rims?
think about it on the way home, watch the cars, and think of it as a percentage.
i bet less than 5% of cars on the roads have aftermarket rims.

it's just too expensive to buy a new car, insure it, feed it with $3 a gallon gas, and put a bucket of money into new rims.

everyone wants to "sign and drive" now a days, and GM will oblige them with 20's of some sort.

i don't think you will see staggered rims, even on a Z or SS, unless SLP puts them on.

 

Ugh... that's not the point. Bench racing?
What you've stated (ie "bench racing) is a perfect example as to why I SO look forward to this new generation and the ignorant who buys one because they'll learn the hard way it's not the fastest thing on the planet.
Most everything you state is hot air. You line up your barge w/ do's twennies against a car w/ a drag radial on a 15" tire you're going to get your *** cracked on the street or strip. Buy it, go to the track. Learn from your mistaken logic as you run your blazing 2.4sec 60' times, but oh I'm sure it'll be much tYt3r on tha street. Go ahead and have your ghetto "twenniezzz". As stated, it better to "look good" than to feel good.
If I'm a bench racer... what does that make you quoting magazine articles where damn near all of your posts are housed in this very forum? lol ... Sonds like a winner to me...
And yeah.. when you put king sized cartoonish oversized fender wells on a car, small wheels can look like ***...
If I do see a new generation camaro w/ tha twenniez on it I will laugh very hard and proceed on cracking that *** with either my 15's, 16's or even my 17's as they lamely attempt to tell me how their sooper twenniez are tyt3 wit tha traxion, y0!

 

depends on the car,

Mustangs, about 30 percent.
Corvettes about 20 percent.
Camrys about 1 percent.

Tahoes, about 40 percent.

 

good point, but you forgot ghetto fabulous wore out old police Crown Vic's & Taxi's

i thought the numbers on the side were the IQ of the driver, till someone told me it was to tell everyone the tire size....um, ok.....

 

my only point here, I can't think of any practical or performance reason why anyone would want a 20 in wheel, on a Camaro, or any passenger car for that matter.

Since I think form should follow function, I believe 20 in wheels are ugly as hell too.

I am sorry I posted here. Because I get e-mail notices for something I care little about.

 

Good thoughts.

There aren't any. Well, there might actually be a single functional one (think two flat tires on the same side of a lowered car, unlikely but possible). Unfortunately, it's really easy to sell 'bling' to people who don't know any better and make a ton of $ while you're at it.

FWIW, 20" is more appropriate for light/medium trucks. To put this in perspective, heavy trucks (those 80,000 lb GVW 18-wheelers) ride on 22.5" wheels.

And concept cars, all of which are at least a little bit exaggerated/cartoonish.


I've got a different grudge against the ever-increasing wheel size. It's essentially made performance tires in 15" sizes obsolete (eventually you'll have to shop at Coker Tire), new max performance offerings in 16" sizes are not as common any more, and there isn't even as much choice in the wider 17" sizes as there once was.


I imagine that there is a way to unsubscribe . . .


Just to toss another log on this fire . . . fairly careful scaling of the side view picture of the 2010 Mustang that was pulled from a Motor Trend preview article suggests that it was wearing 295/30-21's. The largest current OE Mustang tire size (rear only) is 285/40-18 . . .


Norm

 

I'm afraid that 20 is too big for that car, too (the base size is actually a 16, though you likely won't find many with those). In terms of proportion, I'm thinking that 1/3 of vehicle height and 1/6 of wheelbase or 10% of vehicle overall length are better guidelines to maximum wheel size. It's a function of wheel openings that are larger than necessary in the S197 that 20's 'work' at all. Take one inch out of the wheel opening radius as measured from the axle and 18's would work just fine. Why does a 3500 lb car need 27" tall tires, anyway? Take an inch or so out of that, too, and 275/40-17's (4th gen size) and 315/35-17's (autocross size) would work quite well.


Norm

 

I can't wait to see the first new Camaro with THIS treatment:


mostly so I can point and laugh.

Seriously, I have NO problem with 20's being an OPTION on the Camaro, V6 or not. I actually hope the v8 covertible comes with 20's. And for the record, I'm a 44 year old VERY white male that HATES rap and the whole Rap culture with the cocked sideways flatbilled hats and pants below the butt cheeks crap. But I don't have a problem with 20's at all. Now 24's+ like in the picture just get's ridiculous.
I don't care if they make wings for the Camaro an OPTION. I just won't be putting them on mine.

 

unfortunately, it's not a question of the best size for the car, it's what people want. Most people have no idea of the negative effects of putting heavy *** 20 inch rims on their cars. It looks good so they want it.

I think 17s or 18s are fine, but in actuality, they look small on a Mustang, and from the pics I've seen of the pre-production Camaro's it will have the same problem.

The original poster asked if 20's should be optional. If Chevy does not offer them, they'd be stupid, because people will be putting 20s on them regardless, through GM and added to their loan, or not. Regardless of what is best for performance (or even mileage) people will be doing it, so I think offering it as an option (even dealer installed option) just makes sense. Offering it as an Option means I don't have to have dubs on my Camaro unless I want them.

 

I always thought the 18's on the recent GTO looked tiny on that car. The car had such a fat a$$ I guess it made the wheels look small even though they were 18's.
That said, I think the Camaro can carry 20's and look good. It's still smaller than the concept. But since the trend is definately going bigger, it should be an option.
A side note, When I bought my 06 Daytona, the ONLY thing I didn't like was the wheels. (the style, not size) and they are 18's. The very next year, 20's were offered and looked so much better on the car.

 

well my '94 Z has 245/50-16...seems pretty good. I've put Bilstein TS kit on it. It's plenty firm, not sure I want the 17 in treatment just for the stiff ride & prolly no handling advantage.

If Chevy offers 20's on the new Camaro, I think they'll make it a moron car. No way I'd be seen in any model, Z, SS or anything else. Maybe GM should put wheel adapters on it & let it go a fooot wider. Maybe knobbies?

Chevy used to be about "GO". This bling BS isn't for the Camaro crowd.

 

New Camaro with 20"s looks just right to me

 

Ellwyn - understand that catering to the appearance crowd at the OE level dilutes the appeal of the car to many performance enthusiasts. It forces them to compromise, as the final styling of the car done to work well with 20's quite likely does not work as well with, say, 18's (and almost certainly not with 17's - BTW, I'd like to hear a sound reason why a 275/40-17 or 315/35-17 isn't enough tire for any "ponycar").

It says that the powers that be have lost sight of what the car once was, even after a measure of heritage styling was intentional. Appearance stuff can be short-lived fads that survive on little more than subjective whim, while performance is something that is relatively constant and can be quantified.


irocdreamer - you probably can find cheap 20's. But they won't be good performance rubber or have been developed with an eye toward the newer developments. If you never drive very hard, you'll never know the difference, and the inexpensive tires will serve their purpose for you admirably.

Maybe that's good enough for most folks, but on an enthusiast forum built around a performance car icon it is entirely reasonable to expect a far greater proportion of people who demand more from their tires than round/black/hold air/can be balanced. There can be a huge difference in driving "feel" among different mfr/model tires of the same size, if you drive a bit harder and take the time to notice it. I'll note here that the better rubber in the 255/45-18" sizes is already more than $200, so $300 for 20" rubber looks to be about where the good stuff there begins.


Norm