18's or 19's? Help!
 

Ok, I did a search and could not find a similar topic. I need some opinions on wether to go with 18 inch wheels or 19 inch wheels. Also, if you guys got some pros and cons that would help. I thought about a staggered fitment, maybe 18x9.5 (front) 19x10.5 (rear). Would that work?

What do you mainly use your car for? DD, TRACK?:icon8:

main reason im holding off on 19s is because rubber is way more expensive than for 18s, and thats almost a regular ticket item for me, the way i drive lol.

Why wouldn’t it work?

I mostly use it for daily driving, track every now and then.

I dont know, as you probably guessed im not too wheel/tire savvy...

I'd say it depends to wheel type, what you're gonna do with it, and price tag. If you get a rim with a nice lip and the center is inside the barrel (like volk sf challenge) I say 19 because I think 18s look too small with that kind of design. However if you get something like the lmgt4s you can get away with an 18. If you want to track it an 18 will be nicer because there's better selection of track rubber for 18s. Weight is another factor, you can get light 19's but it will cost you more than a light 18. I wouldn't let tire price sway you too much, I don't think there was that much of a difference between my tires in 18 and 19 maybe $100 difference between all 4?

As for would staggering work? Offsets are really the determining factor for a given rim width. I have 19x9.5 and 19x10.5 with a +28 offset up front and a +23 in the rear and the wheels pretty much sit flush against the body. You can do 18's up front and 19's out back but just be sure to take into account the difference in circumference when you go to purchase your tires so you don't confuse the TCS.

Well put, my concern is ride quality, and pot holes. Funny thing, I was looking at the SF Challenge and possibly going with those. As far as the staggering, what what width do you think I can go with so the the wheels remain flush with the fender. 18x9.5 (front) 19x10.5 (rear)?

this has been the topic of conversation for me as well...........I love the way 19s look but i dont want to bog the car down with heavy wheels.........so i think I will go with 18s 18x8 front and 18x9 rear with stock tires........what do you think

I forget what offsets come with what sizes on the sf series, 18x9.5 and 19x10.5 would be fine width wise, you just need to match for a good offset. On a 9.5/10.5 setup I like my +28/+23. I would probably do a 285/35/19 in the rear and 255/40/18 in the front

You will not bog the car down that much with "heavy" wheels, my car still feels very responsive in a straight line. It's not like you are putting on 22" chrome spinners. My volks are about the same weight as my stock wheels, I just gained some weight with the wider tires.

And honestly the ride on 19s isn't awful, if you expect good ride quality out of the z, you should have gotten a g35. Stock the z isn't very smooth, and it shouldn't be IMO. Although I think the ride got better after putting on my hotchkis springs.

Thanks a lot for the input, very helpful.

I personally like 19s. with 18s you're gonna have a huge fender gap and fatter tires that will make the wheels look even smaller. The flushness with the fender depends on the offsets you use, not the width of the wheel itself. I have the axis hiros (19x9.5 and 19x10.5). A lot of people like to use offsets in the +20ish range but the hiros only come in +28 (9.5) and +35 (10.5). I like the way they fit with the fenders as is. Also, if you run too agressive an offset you may run into rubbing issues if you drop your car. Also keep in mind that +35 seems a lot more than +22, but its in mm and 13mm is only like .5"

i want lighter than stock.......stock or better ride

18s will have no more fender gap than 19s if you size the tires appropriately. In fact I would argue fender gap looks worse with 19s because you have less tire profile so it can make the gap look larger without a drop. There is a difference in ride quality but not much. Once again if that's what you want get a g35 or cadillac the z was never a smooth driving car.

I would do anything less than 8.5 front with 9.5 rear.

why not 8 in front and 9 in rear.....u keep stock tire profile......and as far as the ride goes I love the ride of my z the way it is that is why I am thinking of 18s first that way the ride stays as stock as possible.......

You already have an 8 in the front , and your rear is an 8.5. If you get wider wheels , you can put bigger rubber on then later on.

true but do you really need to go wider on the front

I would say it's more important to go wider in the front. If you just go wider in the rear, unless you just care about straight line the z will understeer even more. When I go for a new set of tires I'll probably run 265 up front and 285 out back, and if I can get away with it 275 up front.