I just ordered up some rear 18 x 8.5 rear wheels and now I'm doing some shopping for 18 x 8 for the front. Then it occured to me, why am I trying to find a matching, smaller set of wheels for the front when I can just square up the wheels? Less hassle when rotating tires, easier to buy the tires, etc.

My question is are there any concerns I should consider? Doing a search I see people are saying that 245x45 18R tires in the front actually performs better, with neutral steer in rather than understeer. My other concern is that I have a 1 inch drop on the car and I'm unsure about the tires clearing. That extra .5 doesn't seem like much until it hits something.

Edit: My Z is not equipped with VDC

 

If it helps any I was at about a 2” drop on my coils with stock wheels on 255’s all around.

I had feet (no literally) before I was even close to rubbing. To give you an idea how low I was before I would bottom on my very very neutral and low driveway sidewalk. Speed bumps dented my exhaust. That’s about how low I was.

Now I’m much higher and have tons of room before I even come close to running. Also with your drop you will gain camber. Sinking the top of the wheel in away from the fender.

TL don’t care; you should be fine with a 245 18x8.5

 

Nice, thanks. I found a company that moves reconditioned wheels and I was able to get a set of refurb Rays forged V.1 track wheels for $215 / ea. Not bad when people are selling their beat up Rays for around the same price.

Just ordered them up, four 18x8.5.

Right now I'm running 17" stock 7 spoke wheels with that 1" drop and I can barely put my shoe under the front bumper. It's just too darn low for a dd so it'll be nice to have some more clearance up front.

 

Any issue with the 45 aspect ratio on the sidewall? Or should I be running 245/40? Difference in overall height of the tire is a full inch. I'd like to go with 45's for ride comfort.

 

For that I’m not sure. One of the other guys can answer the tire size in full detail.

 

245/40-18 front
245/45-18 rear

Or

245/40-18 all around

Or

255/40-18 all around


All combos I mention will be great on an 18x8.5 square setup

 

Cool, going with 245/40-18 front & 245/45-18 rear. Thank you for that.

 

Why wouldn't you go find a 9.5 for the back and get 275/40 rear and 255/40 for the front like a normal person.

 

I like the stock look of the Rays forged wheels.

 

I did also, till I put them on my car... They are good with a 25mm spacer

 

It's not as if you're lacking examples of what they look mounted on the car. Did you think they would look different in person?

This is what I'm going for: someotherforum dot com/forums/attachments/wheels-suspension-brakes/31563d1129326539-350z-track-wheels-fs-tires-save-pics-150777356_l.jpg

Mine should look almost identical less the brembos.

 

I use them in the winter, I just couldn't remember how crummy the offset is compared to my summer wheels.

 

I was thinking 245/45-18 all around but I've seen some examples where that looks funny in the front, almost as if it has a front lift. Seems like the front of the car was designed for lower profile tires than the rear.

 

The car WAS designed for different (staggered) diameters. Whether that's from a 225/45 (OE size) or a wider-but-shorter sidewalled 245/40 (with almost same diameter as the 225) is academic.

terrasmak gave THE best solutions in post #6, above.

 

Yes but he also mentioned non staggered diameters (same tires all around) which ends up looking odd on a stock Z as you confirmed since it's designed for staggered diameters (shorter up front).

I'm going with Tarrasmak's staggered diameter suggestion: 245/40 front and 245/45 rear on four 18x8.5" Rays. That should give me about 0.35" more clearance up front and fill out the rear well better than it is now with 235/45-17's. All this while having the frame sit nice and parallel with the ground or leaned just slightly forward.

 

Regarding TCS, stock difference between front and rear is .4" (25.9 front, 26.3 rear). If I increase the difference with the recommended setup (25.7" front, 26.7" rear) does it have the opposite effect on the TCS? As in, it won't kick in as quickly because it takes longer for a full rotation of the rear wheels to complete versus the fronts?

 

Your TCS will function as normal.

 

It will look like a ummmmm this

 

I like how it looks, minus the the car and the earth around it melting

 

Jesus bro lay off the lofi texture filter