Got 1337 miles on the new 08 and love it. Am already thinking wheel /tire upgrade - when these wear out some - here is what I'd like to do:
17 by 9 in the front, maybe 17x10 in the rear - why? Well, those stock 18's don't leave much sidewall between you and rough road! 17's w/more sidewall will have a little more give. Also, 17 rims, at the same width, should weigh less.
Tires weigh less than rims, so less rim, more tire should be a little lighter than more rim, less tire.
Don't track the car and don't have nanny-computer, it's a base. Just looking for wider shoes and a little smoother ride!
Any suggestions on rims and/or offesets?
Thanks for the help - my love to you all!

P.S. - Saw a 350 the other day w/285/30/19's in the rear, on Rays. Looked like it was on old time covered wagon wheels. Bet he has to tighten his sun visor every thousand miles to keep it from falling off! They were wide though- wow!

 

Maybe you are not aware of this, but most if not all 19" Volks are lighter than your 18" OEM wheels. So those "wagon wheel" Rays you saw were most likely lighter than the wheels you currently have on your car.

I highly suggest you do not downgrade to 17's. If you do then you are a f@ggot.

 

DAMN!! isn't that a bit harsh?

 

why would you do such a thing? Thats like people putting chrome rims on a lowered jeep wrangler. everytime i see that i want to laugh in their face.

 

i upgraded to 19x10.5 in the rear with 285-35-19 tires, my ride is not rough like you assume. I think your best bet is to ride in a Z with 19s then you will get a better understanding of how it rides. It's no where near rough.

 

whats with all the hate? 17s are nice! cheaper tires and plus much more selection on sizes. whats not to love. imo, they dont even look too bad. in fact, there are some pretty good looking Zs on this forum with 17s. i think i may be thinking about switching to 17s in the near future. 19" tires with desirable width gets really pricy.

 

I based my impressions on an early test of an an 05 that said the 17's rode smoother than the 18's - duh! More treadwall = less rough ride! Treadwall absorbes road roughness. Don't any of you 08 drivers envy your freinds in trucks with that smooth ride? I know I do!

 

To say my 08 Z rides like a truck - would be unfair to trucks!

 

Compaired to 19's and 20's , the 18's are actually very nice. Wide tire selection actually sucks for 17's if you want to keep the factory height tire. Going to a shorted tire and your running the same sidewall as your 18's.

 

Have noticed the wheel/tire online sites want me to go EVEN BIGGER! I don't think so! Surely the 17' crowd can get wide, affordable rubbers! Or has 17' size fallen that far behind the current norm? My last hotrod was a 16 by 8 inch wide Camaro I sold to a 50+ year old banker - have things changed that much?

 

Oh, yeah, the whole car was 16 by 8 inches, total, I had to shrink him to get him in it...

 

...and the check was tiny...

 

I have not seen anyone go smaller and I definitely would not but this is your car and everyone has their own opinion on what is important to them. I have not ridden in any Z yet that didn't have major suspension mods. On the other hand if a Buck Roadmaster ride is what you are looking, you may need to lookinto an Altima coupe. If that is to rough you might be in the wrong genre(sp) of car

 

so you bought a sports car and want a smoother ride hmm....where's that thread about raising your z? ...

anyways to be some what helpful you can always go with thicker tires for 18's and upgrade to some lightweight 18's like enkei, 5zigen, or rota

 

I wouldn't go to 17's for everyday use but i just bought a set of stock 17 wheels for track days as I can save almost $100 a tire. When your only getting 6-8 days out of a set, it makes sense financially. Of course, it doesn't look as nice but you have to give something to get something.

 

Proper tire size in 17 with with wheel sizes and goal would be 275/40 front and 295/40 rear. The rear tire or anyhthing sized in that area isn't plentyful.

 

Stop talking about it and do it.

 

Hey I got an idea ! ..................Maybe you should try and swap out the OEM stereo for an 8 - track ! ----j/k We Love ya !

 

this seems like a goofy idea, unless you're track the car nonstop...but hey, do what you want

 

it is going to look Terrible people plus size....no one minus sizes. Anyways get different springs, my eibachs ride smoother than my oem springs, plus get better tires my toyo T1R's ride smoother than my bridgestones.

and if you go 18, go wider tires and keep the same aspect ratio if you really want a thicker sidewall.


OR just put some 15x7's with a 225/65/17 and ban yourself from the forums.