I'm going to buy the silver Volk GT7 rims for my black Z pretty soon and this will be the first time I've ever bought after-market rims. I love these rims and think they will look great on my car. So I'm thinking about getting the 19's but I'm worried about them taking away from my handling. How much do 19's affect handling or is it something I shouldn't even worry about? Also i'm thinking about getting the width the same on both front & rear rims...so that I can rotate them when the tires wear. Is it best to do that or does it make a difference having the rear bigger? and if i get the width the same what should it be, like 8.5?

 

One of the disadvantages of bigger wheels is a shorter sidewall which makes the wheel more prone to pothole damage. There are other disadvantages but no one cares.

Width does not matter. Tire height does. VDC wants to see the rear tires about 1/2 inch taller than the front.

 

What model do you have? I have the enthusiast so I don't have to worry about VDC! Secondly, I'm not a huge fan of 19" wheels. I think it will negatively affect the handling feel and slow down the vehicle since the weight is being pushed away farther from the center (hub). Tires will also be much more expensive so you will need another set of wheels for track/autocross/drift use. I believe you can stuff up to a 9.5 all around on the Z, but I think most of the ppl who do this use 17" wheels. I say get a nice set of 17 (if non-brembo) or 18" (brembo-equipped) wheels with a decent width (9" perhaps?) so that you can get improved handling on and off the track!

 

Mine is 2003 Touring model, 5 speed automatic. I could get the 18's, but I think the 19's look better. Might be a dumb question, but what is VDC? I don't drift or autocross or anything like that. I just road rage with the soccer moms on the freeway lmao!

 

VDC only comes on 6sp. models. On my touring i have a set of 5zigen 19x9.5 rear and 19 x 8.5 fronts. I can tell that they do lose a little traction and a little acceleration but those looks will compensate for that.