mewfis138

if i was to put new wheels on my tt ( most likely 18's) will i hurt the performance of the car if i go with same width in front and back? if anyone has done this let me know how it turned out

CanyonCarver

basically no, it won't hurt. I wouldn't go less than 8.5" wide all around. Going to the wider wheels in the front will change the handling characteristics a little bit when you approach the limits of tire adhesion. It will prolly make the rear end slide out a little easier (oversteer) than before. This versus the cars stock tendency to start sliding the front wheels first. (understeer)

mewfis138

so in a way it might be a bit beneficial to go with say 9" wide all around? it would definetly save some cash as well verses buying a staggered set one other question anyone know the correct offset to run thanks canyon carver

CanyonCarver

stock offset is +45mm. Not just any wheel will fit. The offset is independent of whether the wheel will fit or not.

aviatorb747

Bigger wheels WILL decrease rear wheel horsepower, expect anywhere between 10 to 30 hp loss. Bigger / wider wheels weigh more, bigger tires weigh more and have much bigger rotational inertia. Another drawback is higher unsprung weight, which negatively affects handling. Heavier wheels can't move up and down as fast as lighter ones, so suspension can't react very fast to road irregularities. Lower tire profile obviously provide punishing ride, especially combined with high performance or run flat tires. Wide, low provide tires feel " nervous" on bumpy roads, lack directional stability, in other words tend to cause car to yaw while going over bumps. Narrower, taller tires don't look cool but have superior directional stability. Positives? Surether are many. 18" wheels look great, steering gets more responsive.
Did I mention rim damage is much more likely with 18 or 19 " ???
Bigger wheels are FOR LOOKS. That is it. The best tires for everyday driving I have ever had on my Z were WINTER tires. 215 / 60 / 16.....I honestly hate to switch to summer tires ( Falkens ), because of above mentioned reasons...
I am not AGAINST bigger wheels, tough. Looks are important. I recently moved to a town where roads are almost as bad as Detroit and I will not go big until I move out of here...

CanyonCarver

I won't touch on all of your points. Most have room for some discussion. But 10 to 30 hp loss. that one I would beg to differ. A larger or smaller wheel has zero impact on the h.p. output of your motor. Show some dyno sheets. True, there aren't many wheels out there that are lighter than stock z32. Except for some real high $ ones. The effects on handling that you state show up at racetrack speeds. Not on daily drivers. The Z is not exactly a luxo cruizer in stock form, mine felt nervous on bumpy roads with stock wheels, not much change with the bigger wheels. One other thing to keep in mind, when you go to a bigger wheel, most of the increase in size is air space. Also when you do it correctly, a larger wheel means a little more wheel weight and a little less rubber weight.

My aftermarket wheels added 20 pounds of weight total over the stock wheels. I haven't weighed the tires, but since the sidewall is only 1/3 the height of the stock tires and only an inch wider, I'll bet they weigh substantially less than the stock tires.

91zxtt

Not to mention the fact that wider tires provide better grip; which is a good idea on a TT, especially as you increase HP. Anything over an 18" wheel is a waste and it will cause the handleing of the car to suffer. I wouldn't say the ride is punishing with 18's. I believe the ride quality improved when I changed my wheel/tire setup.

By keeping the wheels and tires the same size you will increase oversteer dramaticall on the TT. All ultra-high performance cars come from the factory with larger rear wheels and tires for a reason (except 4wd for obvious reasons).

aviatorb747

F1 cars ride on 13" high profile tires. So do almost all open wheel series. No 20" monsters there. Problem with weight is not just the weight, it is that on large wheels higher weight in concentrated further away from the centre of the wheel ( in this case 18" ). Moment = weight X arm. Therefore engine has to work harder to spin that mass. Few people run dyno test after changing wheels only. My buddy did that on his Acura, started with roughly 115 rwhp, changed intake, exhaust, wheels and got....115 hp. Muffler / intake gains were offset by wheels upgrade losses. But car sounded and looked much better.
Grip has nothing to do with tire profile, much to do with tire width, rubber compound, etc... You can mount wide tires on small rims, just ask any racer.
Wide tires:....Do you want a car that handles good or do you want a car that has a lot of grip? Two different things. What you want is a car that is nicely controllable and neutral at the limit. You can put 335 wide tires on a chevy cavalier, pull 1 G or more, but when car looses its grip it will stab you in the back.
I said it before and I say it again: big rims are for our eyes, guys. I love them too. BBS in particular. There is nothing wrong with that.
I drove my Z thousands of miles in the snow and it is a fantastic car. Superb balance, roll control, stiff chassis. But it is more a Grand Touring car than a race car. If you want to win races get a Caterham. It weights 1200 lbs and has...yes, small wheels / tires. It can run circles around 600 hp nitrus Z or anything else for that matter. Have you guys seen Ariel Atom? 1000 lbs, 300 hp....0 to 60 in 2.9 seconds...The only car able to beat $ 50 000 Atom was Ferrari Enzo Ferrari ( love that name )
I'll be glad to send video to anybody who wishes to see its test.

CanyonCarver

treaded tires at that on F1........ they're all bound by rules. No argument with most of your points. 115 h.p. acura bwhahahahaha... There are very few changes that you can make to any "engineered" system without tradeoffs. My tradeoff is a little more weight for a little more grip, a lot less slip angle, and a lot of personalization. If you want to maintain the same chassis balance then you increase tire width the same at all four corners from the stock size. If you want to better balance the chassis, from the stock tendency of understeer, you can increase the front tire size proportionally to the rears. Or you can play with spring rates, sway bars and tire pressures too.

Nycz Z32

hey, my boy is gonna gimme his stock g35 18" rims..what do you guys think? would it look good? i got a '90 red 300z 2 seater

Shameless

f1 cars also run massive sidewalls so the tires can last 50 or 60 laps at 200 mph on far more agressive tracks than the roads here. Thats more of the reason for them only running like 17's

CanyonCarver

I'd take them...............

bardabe

ok i'm lost. Let's say i got 18x10 on back and 18x8 on front. how good or bad woudl that be and what woudl I need to accomplish this set up?

CanyonCarver

Widebody? see Milo

bardabe

WIDEBODY??!!!! To run 10's on back and 9 on front?!!!!

91zxtt

It'll be very snug. I believe I have 8.5's in front and 9.5's in rear on mine. I can't remember, but that sounds right.

PNK SLP Z32TT

i have 10s on the rear and 7 on the front, but i have to use spacers to clear the front calipers. But the backs dont stick out all. Its just that when i reach speeds of 60+theres a slight shake in the steering wheel( i dont know why).

91zxtt

You only have 7's on the front? Thing must handle like a dump truck. Why did you choose to go that skinny up front?

bardabe

how does a dump truck handle?

91zxtt

Not well,...use your imagination.

Let me put it this way,....Oversteer won't be a problem with Pink's setup. It's setup more like a drag car than a road/street car. It may be fast as long as he doesn't have to turn.

entropy31

similar to a garbage truck.

PNK SLP Z32TT

yea i didnt do the set up...... the rims came with the car, my fault i have 8in not 7's in the front. It isnt really that bad to take turns on. How wide can u go on the fronts with out getttin new rims

bardabe

**** loadf of boddy roll?

DTOYSTT

hey i have 10s in back and 9s in front and i think it handles like a dream.

bardabe

ok I want these whells

18x9 for the front (12mm off set with a 5.5" backspacing)
18x10 for the back (30mm offset with a 6 5/8" backspacing)

will they fit my car. and most importantly will tehy rub?