Always been a motorcycle guy who drove winter beaters.

Just put a deposit on an 04 350Z but previous owner has 19" axis fat wheels 295 rear, 275 fronts. It's got new Toyo tires on there and they look great.

Never been one for pure looks, but love anything that's configured for optimum performance (relative to price of course, because I'm not rich by any means).

I'm a n00b to cars but heard big wheels and low profile fat tires are purely for looks. From what I've been hearing, those sizes decrease a stock Z's performance and bigger wheels are more prone to damage if I hit pot holes.
Most importantly, I looked up replacement tires in that size and they're RIDICULOUSLY expensive.

So if I side towards function over form, I should trade these things for OEM's right?
Is it possible to trade with someone with OEM rims/tires? If so, I don't know how much my set is worth so I don't know how much money to charge for the trade!?!?! $500? 1000?

 

I'll trade you straight up for my 06 oem wheel and tires 18's

 

haha your so generous!

 

19s are not necessarily bad, but heavy 19s will indeed affect performance. With 275/295s, you'll of course have greater handling limits.

Those are expensive sizes though, so when you need new tires, you can choose to move to smaller sizes without any problems.

You can buy an OEM set of 18s with tires for less than $1000 U.S.

 

Depends on the widths of the wheels, but I run 245 fronts and 275 rears sothey are a little less expensive to replace than your 275 and 295s.

 

The stock 18's are pretty heavy without knowing the wheels they may not necessarily be heavier then stock. I generally prefer 18's and if you don't like the 19's look or weight then trade them for some better lightweight 18's not the stockers.

Good wide tires will always be expensive, 18 in tires will be cheaper but still pricey for good tires in that width.

 

Why don't you drive the car & form your own opinion.

 

Agree. Get the 350Z and drive it. You can figure out the details later.

 

I guess I can do that, and form an opinion about the oversized 19"s, but I won't have any idea of how it compares to 17 or 18's.

 

Hey Mr valentine. Check out the East Canada forum on this site. A bunch of guys will help you out. There are advangaes and disadvantages to everything. How much do the wheels weigh compared to stock? With all sports cars, wider rubber is better, and sometimes a little weight is tolerated to have more traction. So for pure affordable performance, get some really wide light weight 18's. 19's look better in many peoples eyes, they have room for bigger brakes, and theorhetically decrease the side wall flex, which can be good or bad depending on what traction limits you are looking for. A soft sidewall tire will be better for drag racing, a stiff sidewall will be better for grip racing. There are many other variables...

In the end, I say go with the wider tires you have now. The difference in cost between those and stock is not that insane.