adamkeaman

You could easily move those wheels to a different vehicle. My suggestion would be to sell those on ebay or craigslist or something of the sort and get yourself a set that are made for that vehicle rather than a common sized wheel that is made for everything.

Spike100

Have you considered 245/45-18” all square?

That would run successfully with your car (I believe you have VDC).

And yes… I know you always turn VDC off… but if you wanted it ON or forget to turn it OFF, 245/45-18” would provide better sizing.

--Spike

Gag83

iTrader: (1)

staggered wheels makes u understeer more?

Tubbs

iTrader: (1)

?huh? I said I wouldn't go back to staggered.

Tubbs

iTrader: (1)

Think about it.

Spike100

A staggered setup will understeer if the fronts are 225mm. If you go to 245mm on the front (and certainly if the rears are 245mm) you have neutral-steer. That is mainly because the fronts at 245mm grip better (i.e., better "turn-in") and don't plow.

And... I notice that 245mm on the front teamed with 275mm on the rear provide nearly the same neutral steer you get with 245mm all-square. I suppose tht is simply because the 245's on the front hold very well with the Z's weight.

My comments and experience is based upon personal experience driving a Z with stock suspension. I cannot say what effect happens when changing springs, shocks, and sway bars.

--Spike

Spike100

245/45-18" all around isn't staggered.

--Spike

KornerCarver

iTrader: (2)

Obviously I have little or no taste but I happen to love chrome wheels. The wheels in question are not what I would choose but I don't think hideous is a correct description. Overall, I don't think they look too bad.

Les

redlude97

iTrader: (11)

+1, its not really that a square setup is more neutral, its that the Z/G's are undertired up front. Someone I know who autocrosses religiously went from 275's all around to 285F/305R and doesn't complain one bit about understeering

Tubbs

iTrader: (1)

Here's your original question and my reply.


"Quote:
Originally Posted by Spike100
Are you still running 245/40-18" all-square?

--Spike


yep. would never go back to the understeer of staggered wheels."



This means that I like having the square set up, and would not go back to having staggered wheels.

Spike100

^^ You are not understanding my question, which is:

Have you considered running 245/45-18" all square instead of your 245/40-18" setup?

--Spike

Tubbs

iTrader: (1)

But I haven't had any problems with my set up since a year ago. Wouldn't change a damn thing.

Spike100

Glad to hear things are working now. I was referring to a post you made a while ago where you described a problem with your tire setup (all square245/40-18") and VDC.

I'm suggesting 245/45-18" instead of your 245/40-18" setup to avoid the problem you reported with VDC and 245/40-18".

Just wondering if you considered this all square size, but your response says "NO" (QUOTE=Tubbs: "Wouldn't change a damn thing.") So... I have my answer... thanks for the response.

--Spike

Tubbs

iTrader: (1)

Ya... i haven't had the problem since. I dunno?

Spike100

Thanks for posting your comments. I was beginning to think I was the only one noticing this.

40 years ago and driving a 911 Porsche, I (along with many other Porsche owners) noticed the horrible and dangerous over-steer of this car (with its engine and weight behind the rear wheels and 4 identically sized tires). If you “lost it” in a corner, you were into an unrecoverable spin since the rear end went out completely (due to the car’s horrible weight distribution that caused the over-steer).

Porsche fixed the problem over time by providing an exaggerated staggered tire setup to compensate for this problem that happens with a rear engine car (that inherently has poor weight distribution). And… the look (not necessarily the function for other cars) caught on. People really liked the flared rear fenders/wheel well and the wide rear tires. In fact, Porsche buyers preferred this look to the point that the company wasn’t able to abandon this weird car (a rear engine design is about as bad as you can get), and it still exists today.

That is not the case with the 350z which is nearly even weight distribution front to rear. But, to keep a rear wheel drive car easier and safer to drive, Nissan chose to put 225mm tires on the front and wider tires on the rear. That makes the car under-steer, and safer for less experienced drivers operating a powerful performance car with rear wheel drive. If you hit a turn too hard and you have the OEM tire setup (225mm front), you will likely plow and continue forward (which is the safest way to miss a turn). That’s under-steer.

Under-steer is good for a car manufacturer who must provide a car that just about anyone can drive safely in this litigious society. But, an experienced driver wanting a better handling car and superior experience will choose a different setup. The better drive wants a car with neutral –steer (it will “drift” when pushed very hard in a turn). Mounting 245mm tires (or greater width tires) on the Z’s front will do this.

The only instance you will get over-steer on the Z (since it is balanced very well) is running worn rear tires… and that is stupid.

--Spike

Gag83

iTrader: (1)

Ok so to get this straight. Itd be ok for me to put 18x7.5 inch rims on my setup right now without changing anything?!?!?!?

Spike100

Yes you can do this. If I have it right, the tires are 245/45-18". If that is the case, you are "good to go" with that wheel size (18x7.5").

Of course, the wheel size and the offsets you have are terrible for the Z... But you can mount your tires on these wheels... It's only that the result is really ugly.

--Spike

Spike100

I remember you saying that you will always turn VDC off.

Are you still doing this? (Always turning VDC off).

--Spike

Tubbs

iTrader: (1)

On road trips yes, general driving no.

Ziggyrama

iTrader: (15)

I switched to a square setup not too long ago from the stock staggered configuration and it's definitely the way to go. The handling is much better now. I will probably stay with this setup for a while and when it's time for new rubber, I'll just go up in size a bit but still stay with a square configuration. Staggered looks OK but if you go big enough in the front and the same size in the rear, it still looks good and most importantly, it performs