I'm picking up my 350ZR next Friday and I'm shopping for tires and rims. I've never owned one before but I test drove 6 of them so I'm aware of the handling characteristics of a stock roadster.

I've got a few questions...

1.) Did Nissan put the wider tires on the rear of these cars to increase grip for the lighter rear end of the vehicle?

2.) If so lets say you are installing a set of ultra high performance summer tires such as the Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas. Can you get away with a set of same width tires front and rear so that you can then rotate the tires and get them to wear more evenly? I'm thinking specifically about going with 235/35-19 tires on 19-8.5 rims for all 4 corners. If not then I'm assuming I should go with 225's on the front and 245's on the rear (w/ 19x9.5 rims).

3.) This car still has the the stock rims that are 17" and the tires are 225/50-17 front and 235/50-17 rear. I'm thinking that the larger rims will be offset by the lower profile tires and therefore the handling should be as good if not better than the stock setup. Is this good reasoning?

I'm including some pics of the car, rims and tires I'm considering. Which color rim choice HyperSilver or black/Machined Lip? Opinions and expertise are welcome.

 

 

Does that Roadster have VDC/Traction Control? Not sure if they offered a base Roadster, probably not. If it does have VDC then you will have to run a slightly taller tire in the rear to keep the VDC computer happy. Here's a little VDC reading you can do:

https://my350z.com/forum/wheels-and-...read-here.html

I would choose a different wheel than what you have posted but at the end of day it's your car and if you like it, it's all good

 

Thanks for the info. It's a 2005 Enthusiast model Roadster, not sure if it has VDC? I used the calculator and figured if I go to 19" rims the front tires I should get are 235/35-19 and the rears 245/35-19. The fronts will be off by +1.5% and the rears by +1.9% for a difference of only .4% The computer should not even recognize this as wheel slip.

I've been looking at rims for too long... I started out with these two as my favorites in my price range...

 

Learn about VDC and tire size here: https://my350z.com/forum/wheels-and-...read-here.html

 

The Axis Shines would look sweet but would stretch my budget...

 

^^^axis shine would look sweet, dude if you want nice wheels for a decent price why not buy them used?

i wouldnt recommend your first choice in wheels hyper silver or machine black. there's plenty of good wheels for sale in our market place at the end of the day, its your car so do whatever make you happy

 

^^^ I TOTALLY agree here! It's your car and taste, but these last wheels look so much better and are classier than those at the start of the thread. If you can't get them used, save up for new. You'll love it each time you see your car!