Has anyone tried to fit the Nismo LM-GT4 9.5" rims (typically used in the rear) up front? Just wondering if the offset would work without rubbing the fender or suspension bits. (It's a 9.5" with 30mm offset.) I've seen some folks with Volks using 9.5" rims up front but using 22mm offsets. I didn't know if this was a required offset or just what Volk decided to use for aesthetic purposes.

I'm basically considering doing 275 width tires all the way around, and I *really* like the LM-GT4 rims. (I have a set now.) I might try jack up the car and bolting a 9.5" up front just to eyeball the fitment. Figured I would ask here before I went through the effort, though.

Some quick math shows me that a 9.5" rim with 30mm offset with stick out .3" further on the outside, and .7" further on the inside. The .3" on the outside doesn't sound like it would be too much of a problem with the fender (I'm not going to lower my car), but the .7" on the inside sounds like it might be a problem with the suspension bits.

 

Hmm... I know that SCC magazine put a 275 up front, so I just double-checked the specs on their setup. They ended up using a 9" rim up front with a 30mm offset.

So, the Nismo rim itself would be .25" wider on both sides, but the tires wouldn't. (We're talking 275 in both cases.) However, a slightly wider rims will pull out the tires a tiny amount. It looks like SCC's front tires *barely* cleared the uprights in the front. A 9.5" rim might just pull the tire sidewall out a *tiny* bit too much.

Hmm... looks like things would be so close with the Nismo rim that there's really no way to tell without trying it out.

 

(Geez, here I am talking to myself again like I am wont to do in these late-night posts of mine.)

Just read the SCC article more closely. Found this sentence:

"We found, conveniently, that the rear tires Nismo uses on the Z--275/40ZR-18 BFGoodrich g-Force KDs mounted on 18x9.5-inch wheels with a 30mm offset--actually fit the front perfectly."

Eh? This suggests that they actually *did* find that the 9.5" Nismo rims fit the front. If that's the case, I wonder why they didn't just go with that rather than dig up a 9" BBS wheel with the wrong offset then use a spacer to make it match the Nismo offset. Hmm...

 

I'd love to try this myself. Keep us updated with pics if possible.

 

I think the offset will work alright, but it's more a question of tire choice more than anything else - I really don't think a 275/40 is going to fit in the front without it rubbing on something... I would recommend going with a slightly narrower 255/40 in the front and using the common 275/40 in the rear...

 

Yeah, 255 up front will definitely fit with no problem, and that's what I plan to do if this fails. I can put a 255 on my 8.5" Nismo rims perfectly. No need to even get the 9.5" rims in the front for that.

However, I know that a number of folks (including SCC) have fit a 275 up front with no rubbing issues. It's a tight fit, but it works. I imagine you just can't lower the car, which I don't plan to do anyway. Also, I don't want the tire sticking out past the fender at all, as I'm not a fan of that look. If that's how it turns out, rubbing or not, I'll abandon the idea.

 

Considering SCC got the 275 to run up front with no rubbing (save a very slight tire polish at full wheel lock, I think it is safe to say it will fit. But, the offset is critical, and +30 is what they said worked. The article is great for talking about their tire setup.

 

Yup, I use that article for most of my reasoning in this matter!

 

jreiter, I think if you use 275/35 up front you might have a better chance of fitting them.

 

The only problem with a 275/35/18 is that the tire diameter comes out to about 25.6", which is much smaller than the stock 26" diameter. Of course 275/40 is 26.75", which, although stock for the rear, is much bigger than the stock fronts. However, I just don't like the look of the front wheels when such a small diameter tire is used. Looks kind of anemic.

(As much as I'd like to say that I'm in it for performance and not looks, this is primarily a street car so looks do matter to me *somewhat*.)

 

well, to make you feel any better the amuse car uses 265/35-18 tires all round, and it looks good.

 

Have you found a way around the VCD issue? If so, what are you doing?

 

AFAIK, there is no VDC issue when running equal sized front and rear. I've run non-stagger all last winter on winter tires (and trust me, I used VDC every day), and all summer with 245/40 all round and 10+ Solo2 events.

Best part is you can rotate the tires and it gives the car a more uniform look IMO.

 

bringing this back from the dead......did you actually do this with 9.5 all around with 275/40 or 275/35?

 

werd, any updates?

 

Right now I am using SSR Comp-H 18 x 9 (+31mm offset). I run a 265/35 Kuhmo MX without issue. Recently Kuhmo started selling a 275/35 MX which I plan to try once my current tires are done (probably 4 more track days and they are toast).

I run a 18 x 10.5 Comp-H in the rear with a 295/35 Kumho in the rear.

 

I never personally got around to it. Even if the 9.5" rims fit up front, I can't really spend the money on new front rims at the moment. So, I'm just going to go with as wide of a tire as I can on my existing front rims.

 

I'm running 17 X 9.5 comp-h's all around with 275 40 17's. They are +35mm. I got 5mm spacers up front because the tire was very close to the suspension. +30 would be ideal for front and rear offset.

 

Keep in mind that a 275/40/17 is quite a bit shorter in diameter than a 275/40/18 which is what we'd be using in the configuration we're discussing above. The smaller diameter tire you're running would make it even easier to fit in there.

 

I use the same set up as Skrill. Except:

SSR Comp H 265/35/18 F on 9.0
SSR Comp H 295/30/18 R on 10.5

Michelin Pilot Sport Cup Tires

For road racing I think that this is one of the best set ups possible. You turn like your on rails. The Michelins are simply the best tire short of slicks (Hoosier) There is plenty of grip in the front to stop the understeer and for highly modified cars, the power is transfered effortlessly in the rear, heck I would even think of going to 305's or 310's if they made them!