Offset is all wrong, the wheels sit soooo far inboard and are too small for the wheelwells that the car reminds me of an old friggin bug. Wheels are absolutley the first thing to change on the Z.

 

I agree... I wanted wider tires. I figure, as long as I am swapping them out and getting wder rims, might as wel get some thing with some bling to them. I love the way nice rims look. I like knowing my car is a little different from yours too. Like everyone has said.. personal preferance + Performance are the reasons to change.

 

Either you get it or you don't...it's as simple as that!

 

stock sux, unless you got the rays. imo

 

BR, I'm with you, why change if you like the stock wheels? I have the 17s, so shoot me, and I like them. Also, they are 7 spoke and I prefer an odd, not even number. Its grounded in Asian mysticism and I don't have to tell you why. The Z already has the largest wheels and tires than any other car I've owned and I have to spend money on my other toys which aren't cheap, either. $4K for wheels and tires, no friggin' way, Lucille!!

Anyway, I still have people off the street say to me, "you have the most beautiful car I've ever seen"(I AM NOT LYING) w/17s. If it were just 1 person, I wouldn't be impressed, but 6-8 people? Something must be right and I know what it is, we own BRICKYARDS! Why gild the Lily?

 

LOL!

We "Bricks" are an arrogant lot!

 

Do you think we should be more humble? NAWWWW, forgit abou' it!

 

Do you think we should be more humble? NAWWWW, forgit abou' it!

 

I concur. The fender and the wheelhouse for Z is so big that rims are so far inside and they don't even look like 18's. I couldn't stand it (Although stock track rays rims look great) so I'm going with 19x9.5 front and 19x10.5 rear.
IMO, rims are the face of the car and it makes by far the most difference in terms of look/performance.
Maybe one of the best ways to personalize your car?

 

OK, I have read your responses, no more jokes. How tall are you? I'm being serious here and not doing short people slams. I'm 6'5" and I am always looking down on my wheels and tires. wheelwell gaps are invisible to me. Also, I want lots of wheel travel, up and down, to ride better in all sorts of roadways and surfaces. Too big and you scrape the inner fenders or outer edges. In a high speed run, you can get knocked off course and send yourself into a ditch, or worse. My other issue is width, how can your 9.5-10.5" tires stay on the road in heavy rain? Aquaplaning at 120mph is a scary image.

Does everyone live in S. Calif.? I know it rarely rains there, but superwide tires are a disadvantage when its wet, especially if its frozen wet. Do you keep narrower tires/wheels for certain seasons, like the snow belt folks? Or are you like 2003Z and have a set of tires for every known driving situation? Please tell me, how do you deal with adverse driving situations like I've described? I agree everyone's taste is their own, and I am not judging yours, I am truly curious.

Boomer

 

Rain? Whats that? (So Cal'er here)

To seriously answer your question though, I drive my beater when it rains, not for performance issues, but more for saving hours of cleaning/polishing/etc.

 

I've bought about 45 cars in my life and I've bought aftermarket wheels for around 35 of those. I think it's more about form than function but I prefer BOTH.

So far in the last 5 years, I've bought two set of HRE (546s for my Viper and 547s for my Z06), two sets of Volks (GT-7s and LE37T for my 350Z and I've only had the car for a month), two sets of OZ wheels (P1 Prodrives and Superleggeras for my WRX) one set of Forgeline for my WS6 and the list goes on and on.....

I am always looking for a certain "look" depending on the car I desire or have.... I think many people are the same way. Sometimes the way a car looks with AFTERMARKET wheels, makes me want to own one...heh

I absolutely LOVE the way my 350Z looks with the 19x9.5 fronts and 19x10.5 rear wheels and tires.... The GT-7s were nice, but not as nice as these so I sold them.... and yes, I had both sets at the same time with tires and installed them on the car for a week each...nutty? You bet

 

"Aquaplaning at 120mph is a scary image."

What kind of nut case would drive that fast in the rain??

My S03's ( 275'35'19' ) had just as good or better grip in the wet as the stokers. And the difference in the dry is insane.

And, your not going to be scraping anything like you were trying to explaine by having larger rims ( diameter is the same if you get the right size tires ). Even lowered a good amount you wont be scraping anything unless you get the wrong stuff then you will only slightly rub, in which case you roll your fenders that thats that.

Hey, you might not be able to see your gaps but every single person driving by can...

 

OK, I get it. Thanks for the responses, guys. Boomer

 

We have S-03s (275/35 - 19 rears) too, and I agree, the wet traction is pretty amazing. And I agree, I don't plan on doing triple digits if it is raining

 

The next time I run my Z at Le Man's for 24 hours and it starts raining, I will make sure to put back on my 225/235 tires that are stock. Ok, I am joking but he does have a point....

 

Thanks for the education, guys.

Prior to the Brick, my only concern with wheels was that they were reasonable round! LOL!

Buying the Brick introduced me to "plus size" wheels. When I first saw my Brick I did note the 18 inchers were pretty cool looking. But seeing the number of people on the Z forums posting about new wheels surprised me. Then I saw an article in CR dealing with larger wheels; big business.

Though there may be some performance improvements, in some circumstances, wheels are an image thing. Not one I'm likely to spend 3 to 4 Gs on but okay for others. Plus, most of the after market wheels seem to have "thin" spokes which I don't like.
To me these wheels look to "frilly/fussy" for the Zzzz.

On the other hand, ever since I saw CazzzZ's Brick with chrome wheels I've been tempted to have mine dipped. Maybe when its time for new skins I'll get "chromed".

When it comes to sports cars, I'm in the "what floats your boat" camp.

Finally, to the guy who posted that new wheels were his first priorty, I would say eithor you have a Bose system that works or you have a "tin ear".

 

Because all of you guys are great and you dont want to see me beggin for change on the street.

 

AHA! I knew it, marketing created the demand and as good Americans, we had to buy. It makes perfect sense to me now.

Also, I should have said 75mph instead of 120mph.

 

You are right. Wider tires/bigger rims won't help anything in bad road conditions. And for the wheelwell gaps, it's just everyone's different taste. In my taste, stock 18' rims are not big enough to fill the huge wheelhouse in the Z. That's it. I want something bigger, and wider.
And of course nice looks will almost always have to compromise with functionality somehow. And 9.5J fits with no problem in the rear wheelhouse of the Z whatsoever, and 10.5 with +22 offset, simple. Roll the fenders.
For someone, Z is the daily driver and can't compromise a lot with functionality for the looks, but for someone, Z is a toy and do whatever he wants to. (In my case, Z is still my daily driver but I don't any reason 19" rims will hurt the car's performance/drivability that much. Even if it somehow does, I'm ready to compromise) Z is already bad enough for the winter/snow as stock, so I don't think 19's will make it any worse. I don't drive my Z when it snows. Need to get a cheap 4wd beater. Fortunately, I'm still a college student so I can live with taking a bus to the class when it snows, but I will have to get another beater for sure.
Remember, no matter what mods you do to your car, it will be going far from the practical daily driver.
As I said, everyone has different opinions and tastes. Do whatever you want. Risk is yours.