ive tried searching but i cant seem to find my answers, id really appreciate some you wheel gurus answering just a few questions for me.

I know nothing about wheels and tires, but im to the point where i want to put some aftermarkets on and here is the thing. I love the look of those deep dish fat tires, i saw a picture of a car and i think it had 19x 10 in the back and 19 8 in the front and it just looked awesome. I have a 2003 enthusiast........
1)how big of a tire can i put on my car reasonably to get the look i want without having to modify anything (or very little modifying)
2) i see cars with different wheels and there will be this space between the wheel and the body, will i have to do something to the springs or lower the car to make it look right?
3) how about the question of tire wear. I just got free tires from nissan last year due to the latest problems with front end wear, will i need to go with the same kind of tire on the new wheel, will a new bigger wheel have the same problems the old ones did?
thanks for any help.

 

1. 255/35 front and 285/35 rear will fit nicely as long as your offset isn't too aggressive. For wheel width, I would run between 8.5" - 9.5" front and 9.5" - 10.5" for the rear.
2. Hotchkis springs have a nice subtle drop that takes away most of the gap without messing up your alignment too bad. Tein S-techs and RS*R springs will accomplish the same thing as well.
3. I never had feathering issues so I can't help you here. I think if you do any suspension mods (per question #2) then they won't replace your tires under warranty.

 

thanks for the reply.......when you say "as long as my offset isnt too aggressive"........do you mean the difference in wheel size front to back? What would "too aggressive" be? My car doesnt see alot of road time.....bought it new in 04 and i only got 11k on it. I dont want to change the handling characteristics too much, dont want any bumpier of a ride.....just want the look of the fat tire.

 

Offset is the distance between the physical center of the wheel and mounting surface. You can learn about offset by using one of the offset calculators above.

 

245/35 front and 285 or 275/30 in rear is also not a bad setup. This would be with 8.5 fronts and 10.5 rears. S-tech offers a nice suttle drop with no rubbing or alignment issues.

 

If you want a good idea of what different tires sizes with different rim widths looks like go to WheelExperts.com . They cars in there won't be 350z's, but they will show you more than enough pictures of 19's with low profile tires or everysize. The pictures will be in the gallery section. Each tire and rim size will also be listed.

 

ok thanks alot guys, this was just the kind of help i was looking for

 

Referring you to other references to study does not answer your questions, but the knowledge gained will help you to ask better questions. The simple difference between positive and negative offset and which numbers mean more or less can be baffling. I figured to out with a diagram of a wheel in front of me.

BTW the term staggered can mean several things: 18 inch wheels in front and 19 in the rear is staggered. 9 inches wide in front and 10 in the rear is also staggered. So you can have staggered diameter and staggered width.