New rims for the Z, help please!

[digitalwanderer]

I just posted up at my350Z.com about this and at EB, but I'd like to hear the opinions of some people here too.

I'll just quote meself verbatim:

Thanks in advance for any help/advice posted, and thanks again for all the help this board has brought me....this place has made owning a Z a much more pleasurable experience for me. (And that is saying a LOT! )

We just got a settlement resolved with my insurance company over some damage to our Z's front wheels, and they're cutting us a check for $1,414.39 to cover the new replacements.

If we go thru our Nissan dealer and trade in our botched up front wheels they can replace both ours for the amount we're being given...but I'm wondering if that is really the way to go. :icon43:

I saw this front replacement wheel for $345, but now I'm paranoid about it's color not quite matching the rear ones....so I'm wondering about just buying four new rims and swapping them all:

Discount/America Tires

Discount Tire Direct

Tire Track

Some stupid questions about swapping all four rims:

1. We have the tire pressure sensor thingies, will new rims mean we won't have that anymore?

2. Sizes. So long as all the numbers match will we be cool?

3. Any other options. If anyone has any recomendations or suggestions please feel free to post up, I'm a hopeless newbie when it comes to our Z and any kind of nice car in general.

4. Any good online places to buy rims I'm missing?

5. I found a few dozen tire/rim bargains, are those horrible scams with cheap rubber?

Again, thanks in advance and if this is a reposted question please feel free to slap me down as I should really know better.

Anyone got any input?

 

[Bigus Dickus]

If you're considering aftermarket rims, then be aware that more than just diameter and width must match. Your Z has a specific hole/lug pattern, and also a specific. Aftermarket rims should match all these for the suspension to function as designed (some might of course argue that in some cases you want to alter the stock rim so that you improve stock suspension performance and handling, but I think that's probably a different issue that you aren't addressing).

Not sure about the new Z's in particular, but sometimes front/rear wheels are not identical. This is most often the case for offset and width (that is, in cases where there is a difference, which isn't that often in general but is more common in sports cars than in others) but sometimes for width or offset (cases where it's just offset are the ones you have to really watch for - the others are pretty obvious).

Usually, when you go shopping for aftermarket wheels, you'll find them listed for your car (i.e., most aftermarket manufacturers make several versions of each style specifically targeted at various popular cars), so this isn't such a big deal. Just be careful that you don't snatch up a set of rims because you really like them, only to find out later that they were made for a BMW.

As for rim/tire combos, nothing wrong with that at all so long as (1) you know the rim from previous research/searching and (2) you know the tire from previous research/searching. Best advice there is to put together a short list of what tires are acceptable to you (pretty easy to narrow down a list based on what is important to you - wet, dry, top speed, handling, wear, price, look, etc.), and then use that list when looking at combo packages. Sometimes you can get a combo package with any rim and tire of your choosing (I think tire rack usually works that way).

In general, factory rims are usually way more expensive than aftermarket rims, and you shouldn't expect any better performance from the stock ones (often, the opposite is the case). Aftermarket rims from reputable and popular manufacturers are pretty good these days wrt balance, weight, strength, and manufacturing repeatability.

Sorry, but I don't know the answer to the tire pressure gage question. I've never had to address that one before. I would be suspicious of aftermarket rims here, but I can't speak from knowledge.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Yeah, my front & back aren't the same size....225 front 245 rear.

I was curious about aftermarkets and how they performed compared to the stock, thanks for confirming my suspicions.

Oh, and I was awarish of the lugnut pattern....I knew enough to know I should check with the guy I'll have installing the wheels before I order them.

I think that's my next step, I was gonna mosey on down to the garage a couple blocks down the street from me and talk to them about putting the rims on for me and advising me in advance on buying 'em. They're a solid garage that has always been good to us, I think I'd prefer them over Nissan on this.

 

[ninelven]

I've always been partial to this kind of style.

 

[Bigus Dickus]

One thing to consider since you have staggered wheel widths is whether you want to use a directional tire or not (perhaps you have already had to face this question?). Since you can't rotate tires from front to back, you are left with only swapping front left/right and rear left/right (which is still pretty good for extending tire life). If you use directional tires, they will be effectively locked to a specific wheel for their lifetime (unless you want to pay to have them dismounted, remounted, and rebalanced every time they are rotated), so any uneven wear on the tread (which is especially common in sports cars where toe and camber are not always neutral) will significantly reduce the tire's effective life.

 

[Moloch]

Get some spinnahs nigga

 

[digitalwanderer]

These are tempting me.

 

[micron]

These are tempting me.

Are those used?....they could be skinned up(from being on a girls car).

 

[digitalwanderer]

Are those used?....they could be skinned up(from being on a girls car).

Yeah, but it's only about a 50 mile drive and I could see them before I pay for 'em.

 

[dukmahsik]

gotta get staggered rims, HRE or volks!

 

[digitalwanderer]

What are "staggered" rims?

Also found another fun site.

(Oh, the site works MUCH better after you add "http://www.custom-wheels-car-rims.com/Zcode/AllowRightClick.js" to your adblock list... )

A nice selection of rims/rubber all mounted & balanced for around a grand.

 

[dukmahsik]

What are "staggered" rims?

Also found another fun site.

(Oh, the site works MUCH better after you add "http://www.custom-wheels-car-rims.com/Zcode/AllowRightClick.js" to your adblock list... )

A nice selection of rims/rubber all mounted & balanced for around a grand.

staggered rims are rims with different offsets for fronts and rears. Esp cars like 350z/G35/etc where in the rears you can fit much wider rims and tires. Staggered rims offers better looks, better traction where the car needs it most, just the WOW factor alone makes it worth it.

here are examples: (notice the rears are much deeper)
http://www.importhookup.com/wheeloptions/pics/images/volk_racing_le28n_gold_350z_jpg.jpg

 

[dukmahsik]

These are tempting me.

I would not get those rims, they don't appear to be specifically specced for a 350z. What offset are the rims on? What is your stock offset? Buying rims is almost hard as buying a HDTV

 

[digitalwanderer]

I would not get those rims, they don't appear to be specifically specced for a 350z. What offset are the rims on? What is your stock offset? Buying rims is almost hard as buying a HDTV

That's what I LIKE about these rims, he has pictures with his car with them on and they look fine even though they're a little wider. I think the offset is setup to compensate for the wider tires.

 

[Bigus Dickus]

Just don't forget that opting for wider than stock rims/tires will change the feel, ride, and handling of your car. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, usually a combination/tradeoff of the three. The engineers at Nissan chose the stock wheel and tire size carefully to try and achieve what they though was a good balance between performance, ride smoothness, road feedback, fuel economy, tire longevity, etc. Changing that will almost always change that balance. With wider tires, you'll likely pick up more road feel, a sense that the car is "on rails" (even if skidpad or track times don't necessarily reflect that), and better looks in exchange for a bit rougher ride, less straight line stability, and likely tire life.

If that trade sounds tempting, go for it! Just be aware of what your choice means. I opted for larger and wider wheels/tires on my last car (a Benz SL) than stock, and while I liked the trade I was aware that many people who drove my car (especially women) noticed the difference in a much more negative way.

Also, do be careful that you have researched the offsets properly. Just messing with the offset without changing anything else (width, unsprung mass, tire size, etc.) will have a non-trivial effect on the suspension response.