Amnbex

What are the performance advantages to having 18" or 19" wheels as opposed to the stock 17"s other than unsprung weight for autox/track use?

I can see a higher top speed in each gear, but... why? It seems like it would slow the car down more on a road course than help it.

Sure, they're "BLING BLING" but I'm all for function defining form.

The Brickyard Rat

iTrader: (1)

I think "bling-bling" is it.

Lerxst

iTrader: (2)

Larger is usually heavier too... that's bad And tires seem to get more expensive...

flynnibus

No performance gain from going bigger.. typically a loss.

got to look at weight..
.. where the weight is compared to the center (rotational inertia)
.. and if you keep the rolling circumference the same.

smaller rotating circumference will actually shorten your overall gearing.. making you quicker at the low-end... but loosing legs at the high end of the gears.

That's why sometimes you see people with 16" rims at the track, etc. But the more power you have, the less desirable something like that is. You put too much power down and you actually need taller gearing to be able to not just spin the tires out of control

Nitrouz

iTrader: (27)

performance gains with bigger wheels...I can think of one.

bigger wheels slow down your acceleration.
Slower acceleration reduced your chances in getting a ticket.
Less tickets mean you will not get your license suspended after a short period of time.
Not getting your license suspended allows you to drive more.
Driving more allows you to want to go turbo.
Going turbo gives you PERFORMANCE GAINS.

see? going plus sizing in wheels may result in a 100rwhp increase!

SilverRSXJezus

heh, very thoughtful logic

Masterfulks

I wonder if anyone has done runs on stock 17's vs 18's, 19's or even 16's....

Someone should document and experiment with this.

overboost

Some people go to bigger rims to fit bigger brakes

anotheraznguy

iTrader: (14)

well..
bigger wheels are usually fitted to clear big brakes as overboost stated..
but another aspect is..
if people are looking to run a wide tire w/ a low profile.. without changing the speedometor reading.. then running a bigger rim is the way to go.

Jason@Performance

iTrader: (11)

19's / 20's are genearlly going to be heavier in weight... The ratational mass is now further out so your car works a little harder to put power to the ground... The Tires are more expensive on 19's then 20's... The compounds are usually softer and dont last as long... The side wall's do not have as much flex in them so in cornering, the rubber doesnt alway grab all of the road...

18's imho are the perfect ballance between looks, and performance... 18" wheels start at around 18lbs per wheel at a reasonably priced wheel... The mass of the wheel is ballanced and the sidewall will flex just enough to plant all the rubber on the road during hard cornering...

17's tend to look small in the wheel well of the 350z... but cost of rubber is very cheep and weight is very light... If you are planning on seriously tracking your Z a nice light set of 17" wheels are the way to go... and a set of 17" with race rubber is very affordable compared to a nice looking set of 18's for example...

http://performancenissanparts.com/ca....php?cPath=416