Shopping for some new tires and im leaning on the 17s and currently have 16s. i dont really think its gonna be that much of a difference. i slapped on the Tokico adjustable kit n its an inch lower but im afraid of a lil rubbin action when encounterin rough roads. whats ya opinion? what ya think i should go with? im currently buildin the engine around the 500hp range.

 

i say either 16 or 17 are cool but you should look into the width more.

 

yea i was thinkin the same but wanted to kinda see where this was gonna go first. I was thinkin from 7 to 7.5 width was fine. Maybe 8 in the back but then go with a 7.5 in the front. i dunno. hard decision to make. what ya think flacster?

 

I think that sounds pretty solid. I'd go with 8 in the back and 7.5 in the front. Or if u wanna stay stockish get the 86-89 rims. They are 16-7 and look cool. Especially the 86 ones.

 

Larger wheels throw the major portion of the wheel weight outward. You basically lose a little bit of power accelerating and braking by every inch larger in wheel size you go.

I once ran 18's on a Z and it was too much. I stuck with 16x8 the next time around and liked it much better. The sidewalls were also perfect and the tires felt like the grabbed the road a lot better. My opinion would be stick with 16x8 and 16x7

 

yea i think thats what im going to do. i just wanted to get an outside opinion first before i do anything. i want to avoid any miscalculation that could lead to inside rubbing on the strut assembly or some sacrifice in steering ability. i may just go with the 17's with 7.5 in the back and a 7 in the front. or like ya said 8 in back and 7.5 in front. what ya thoughts Flacster? which would ya prefer brother?

 

I didnt know about the acceleration and braking portion of it. I know bigger in wheels ya go the difference in speed it would be. Now that i think about that, it makes perfect sense but the braking portion im still a lil uncertain on that issue. ya dont think the 17's would be good enough? what did ya mean by "The sidewalls were also perfect"?

Thanx brother!

 

With the 18's the sidewalls (the tires as a whole) seemed rock hard. The 16's are not super tall and squishy but not super short and hard. They have just enough flex to grab good through the corners and not wobble around either.

I could take corners harder without hearing any tire squeal in my 280ZX vs the 18's on my 350Z.

Overall outside tire diameter is the same in all cases so that the speedo reads correctly. With every inch in upsize of wheel, you go with a lower profile tire.

Accellerating the larger wheels takes more power and as such, once that wheel is spinning really fast it takes more "power" (braking force) to slow it down quickly. I noticed huge changes going from 15's to 18's on a turbo 280ZX. If you go just from 16's to 17's you may not notice too much but its still there. Just throwing that out there...

 

Imo if I could get any rims, id go with the 86 turbo rims

 

I hope you are planning on buying new wheels at the same time. 17" tires won't fit on 16" wheels.

Really? That's it? There are far better options out there for some serious rubber under the car.

Ghetto Super Star. That is what you are. They're called wheels, not RIMZ, y0?!

 

I am buyin new rims and tires. why buy a cheeseburger without the cheese?

 

You gonna get spokes and hubs to go with the rims?