Alloy wheels were now standard all Corvettes. The ’84 wheels
measured 16x8.5 front and 16x9 rear. From 1985-’87, the front
and rear wheels measured 16x9.5. The wheels were directional
and the outer fan blades pulled air through the wheels to cool
the brakes.Turbine-style wheels were part of the 1990-’92 mid-cycle
refresh. The front and rear wheels measured 17x9.5. The Kelsey
Hayes-designed wheels were cast in one piece and made
in Japan. Like previous C4 wheels, the fan blades pulled air
through the wheel to help cool the brakes.Because engineers were concerned about the ability of the
base suspension to handle the 9.5-inch-wide wheels, the new
six-slot wheel width was reduced 1 inch to 16x8.5. However,
17x9.5 wheels were part of the $970 Z52 Sport Handling option.
Seventy-percent of 1988 Corvettes had the Z52 option.The ZR-1 was the C4’s King of the Hill. All 1990-’95 ZR-1s had
17x9.5 front and 17x11 rear wheels. ZR-1 wheels from 1990-’93
had the turbine blade-style design. 1994-’95 ZR-1s had painted
silver five-spoke A-Mold wheels. 1995 Indy Pace Car replicas
had the same wheels.The 1996 Grand Sport had
ZR-1 front and rear wheels.
Rear fender flares were added
to cover the wide tires. The
Grand Sport’s ZR-1 wheels
were painted black and had
a polished rim. The 1996 Col-
lector Edition Corvettes had
ZR-1-style wheels painted silver;
front 17x8.5 and rear 17x9.5.56 VETTE 19.11
[FEATURE]
WHEELS HISTORY