I'm torn with what wheels and tire size to get. For some reason my brain says to go 245/40/18 on 8.5" front and 265/40/18 on 9.5" rear.

I see a lot of people go 255/40/18 on 9.5" front and 275/40/18 on 10.5" rear. I feel that extra rotating mass would end up making the car less tossable and fun.

Though with 8.5" fronts and 9.5" rears I can't really go wider with tires later if I wanted to. But the 9.5 front and 10.5 rear seem awfully wider for those 255/275 section tires. Are guys just doing that for looks and to maintain diameter for their precious stability control system (which I don't have at all).

I know I'm probably spilitting hairs but I really only want to purchase one set of wheels rather than change my mind later and have to spend more dough.

 

Just because a wheel is wider doesn't necessarily mean it will be extremely heavier, good wheels are light, wider tires grip more. One important thing is tire choice, a good tire will grip more so you technically need less of it.
if you don't have any traction or stability control I'd get the best I could so you don't get cocky and wrap the car around a tree or pole.

 

As with anything else, there's a tradeoff to be considered. Grip versus steering response. Wider wheels with bigger tires equates to more overall grip and SOMETIMES at the expense of steering response. The key there to attain both is to go light weight, ALMOST without regard to width.

However, I've played with enough wheelsets/tires on my Zs that I can unequivocally tell you that you CAN have a good balance between grip and steering response on a Z33 by going with the widest tire/wheel setup (and more rubber) for the grip portion while maintaining high steering response if you pay close attention to overall weight at each corner. Comes down to wheels that are strong and light then coupling it with the stickiest but lightest rubber your environment allows.

Here's an example: Buy a set of cast replicas in 18x9/18x10 sizes with, say, 245/40 & 265/40 no name tires. Each corner will likely come out to be close to 50lbs. While performance won't be terrible (and likely still much better than OE wheels - except Track V.1s), you can have more cake to eat by spending a tad bit more for, say, a set of 18x9.5 / 18x10.5 Enkei RPF1s with a set of Conti Extremes in 255/40 and 275/40 and gain more grip and maintaining OE like steering response because the overall weight at each corner goes down to low-40lbs and the wheels are very stiff so as to transmit steering input into solid footing.

So, the long and short is that weight is the KEY factor in making your decision. For a large percentage of drivers, it's more about how the car looks. And nothing wrong with that at all. But if one wants to actually increase performance, one pays attention to the details.

There's a lot of talk about how big to go both width and diameter. Forget about that. Concentrate on weight. My 19" LMZ5 S-Tune wheels (19x9 / 19x10 with 255/275-35s) handle better than any other wheel I've run (including the 4-5 sets of 18s - with the exception of my RPF1s and the Track V.1s). Why that is: my LMZ5s are only 20lbs each with very light weight tires; and the only better responding tire/wheelsets are the two I just mentioned, as they are both overall lighter.

The good news out of this is that it takes a fair amount of weight to throw the Z off its game meaning you're pretty safe with any of the combinations you mention. Heck, my Nismo 33 was very well behaved on steering response and grip despite the super heavy Nismo V3 wheels. Those rear wheels were boat anchors! But the fronts were only 20lbs so steering response was still phenomenal with the right tires.

EDIT: Or... "what DarkZ03 said in less words." I gotta learn how to type faster.... Hahahaha....

 

Lol, I wanted to get super light wheels until I had a change of heart. The work wheels i got shouldn't be too bad but definitely heavier than the advan GTs I wanted to get. I have reps now on pilot super sports so I'm hoping I won't be too far off on weight.

 

The replicas I was looking at were 21 lb for the 8.5 and 22 for the 9.5. They were the lightest I could find that were also pressure cast and not over $1000. Those enkei RFP1 I have considered. They are like $1000. Which is reasonable. But they look like crap IMO. So if I went 9.5 front 10.5 rear the wheel weigh would be more like 22 front and 23 rear. About the same as OEM.

So back to my original question of is the wider wheel setup 8.5x9.5 vs 9.5x10.5 a better option or does it not matter?

 

It does matter but not a heck of a lot. Those wheel weights for both sets you're looking at are respectable. The 9.5/10.5 set gives you the ability to go to a larger tire but as I mentioned the 8.5/9.5 combination is also tried and true.

 

In all honesty if you were only going to a 8.5/9.5 I would just try to get a nice set of V1 rays, 18lb forged and put sticky rubber on them

 

Here's what I'm looking at. Let me know what you would do. These are the best deals I have found and I actually doubt these companies are making much of a markup on either set considering the prices I have seen elsewhere

Avid.1 Av06 (pressure cast): $566
Front 18x9.5 +24 23-26 lb based on who you ask
Rear 18x10.5 +22 24-27 lb based on who you ask

Konig Ampliform (rotary forged) : $1080
Front 18x9.5 +25 19-20 lb from manufacturer spec
Rear 18x10 +20 19-20 lb from manufacturer spec.

One thing my friend (who is like a suspension guru and goes racing all the time) says is that lightweight forged wheels work really well at the track but are much more likely to fall prey to a pothole here in Chicago. Our roads are trash. Like, really really bad.

So are the forged worth literally double? It's only a few pounds. It's not like they are double the weight or something. I mean, I could spend that other money on some bilstien b6 struts and probably end up with a much more comfortable and sporting ride than the forges alone.

 

Konig Ampliform without hesitation.

Here's why...

Executive summary: The Konigs are - as you've found out - are lighter, stiffer, and while stiffness doesn't necessarily mean "stronger", it does have the effect of improving road control at a significantly lower weight than other wheels. Diversion/analogy: The Enkei RPF1 is much vaunted for their light weight and stiffness; which is why they make for a good racing/performance wheel. The reason for this is the technology used to build them called flow forming (or "rotary forging"), a similar but distinctly different technology than purely forged wheels. Enkei calls this "MAT" (dumb acronym standing for "Most Advanced Technology", laff....)

What does this have to do with the Konigs? Konig INVENTED "MAT" technology, originally licensed by Enkei). The Ampliform and a number of other Konig wheels (Dekagram, Hypergram, Telegram , etc,) are rotary forged.

And, since you brought up price, the Konigs, at about $300/set LESS than Enkeis (which are still a great deal pound for pound) are an even better bargain for the performance given. This explains why you see more and more people running Konig rotary forged wheels on track. Similar performance, less money than Enkei.

I said this in another thread just yesterday: Unsprung weight (pretty much everything hung off the chassis like wheels, tires, most of the suspension) is the enemy of steering response, handling, and acceleration. What may seem like "only a couple of pounds" shaved from each corner of the car can make or break a car's ability to handle at its maximum potential.

However, in the real world of driving real roads (not racing), you're correct, the weight doesn't matter that much from a driveability perspective. Stock wheels (non-forged) are already in the 24-28lb range so anything lower (ones you mentioned) will benefit the driving experience.

S'far as the ability to withstand the rigors of pothole laden roads, forged or rotary forged are still a better proposition given their tendency to BEND rather than break. You can still control your car with a bent wheel. Not so with a cast wheel. Pressure cast is a step up from basic wheels for sure but not nearly as good as rotary forged or forged in overall strength.

But all in all, if you're not subjecting your car to extreme use, e.g., track/racing. The lower cost wheels are likely OK.

 

forged are fine in Chicago, I had rays and never had issues, remedy is don't go in potholes lol

 

With a few phone calls I located the Konig flow formed wheels for $890 shipped to my door. Now it's only a $300 gap between the reputable flow formed wheels and the relatively new to the market low pressure cast wheels. For the cost of me working a single extra Saturday..... I'm going tk buy the Konigs. Thanks for your guys feedback. It was helpful. I mostly value the "feel" of my sports vehicles so for $300 I would rather not cripple the feeling of lightness and agility the car has.

 

Really good deal, I wish mine were that cheap, I think mine were like 3k that JDM tax is a killer.