Question about wheels
 

I'm trying to get some light wheels for my 300. I use it for autocross and sometimes weekend driving. I like the weight of the Buddy Club p1 racing and Rays gram lights. The looks are okay but I'd like something a little more like OZ Ultraleggeras if possible. Might get a set of them but I'm looking for more ideas. Anybody have any suggestions? Also, does anybody know the biggest widths you can get away with on 300's and what offset goes with it? I'd like 'em real wide, especially in the back.

Do you have a particular budget? If you go with custom wheels I imagine you'd get the lightest available and also get help from the company with the fitment you want. Also, are you driving a TT or NA? That will make a difference with potential rear wheel/tire width. Some HICAS components get in the way.

I have an NA. No budget I suppose. I'd like to keep it under 2 grand but I could just wait a month or two and go more expensive. Trying to get it repainted too and save for a house though.

Well, custom wheels can go upward of $5000 I've heard. Maybe less too, always exceptions. But again a custom shop will probably be your best bet for a specific look/fitment, or if you contact certain non-custom wheel manufacturers they'll tell you whether or not their wheels fit. Most just won't say though to cover their asses.

Do you like how your current wheels look and fit? If you do and you know your wheel specs, you could seriously narrow down your search by comparing your numbers to the wheels you're interested in.

Tires, adjustable shocks, good brake pads, TT front sway bar, 2+2 rear sway bar, TT springs and poly bushings all around would be your best bet and besides tires would put you in less then $800 +/- and make a world of difference, that and it wouldn't bump you up a class in autox, scca and NASA events.

If you want another huge improvement, get a really light flywheel and an unsprung 6 puck clutch and a set of underdrive pullies. Not really much you can do for an N/A and power though, but those two mods will make the motor very responsive.

He was asking about wheels, so it is possible he's got all that down already. You bring up a very good point though if Yardjass hasn't thought about that stuff yet. I would hope that a paint job and nice quality light wheels are the final touches to his car, as they would be mine (performance-wise).

Hey guys,
Nope, I haven't thought about that yet but it does have upgraded pads and drilled/slotted rotors all around. It seems to be pretty much screwed for autocross classing but I'm just starting out and right now I'm running more to learn and have fun than to compete.

The reason I want the paint job so bad is it was a teacher's car and some kids hit it all over with a ball peen hammer before I bought it. It is killing me having it look that way. Repaint is by a friend and it is $2500 plus the cost of a front fascia and fender panels so I think I'm getting a decent deal.

I dunno about custom wheels. I like the OZ ones enough to save thousands and go that route. I didn't realize the stock ones were so light. They aren't wide but maybe I'll just have them powder coated gunmetal. They're spray painted right now and it is starting to come off. I read somewhere that the TT wheels are wider. Is that true?

hoov, thanks for all the suggestions. I would be getting new tires with the wheels and that other stuff is good to start looking into. $800 seems very manageable in small parts too!

Yup apparently the stock wheels are very light, for stock wheels anyway. And yes, the TT rears are 8.5 instead of 7.5, and I know for a fact they fit all around no problem (previous owner of my car did that). You can even put stupid 1/4" spacers all around if you want, but please don't. He also did that which caused poor wheel balancing since they weren't centered on the hubs anymore.

Even if you did use spacers, could you have them re-balanced? Plus ive heard some people have 9.5inch wheels but i don't know if they had spacers or not

The spacers didn't throw off the wheel balance, they threw the wheels offset from the spindles. The stock wheels mate perfectly with the hubs which keep them properly centered, so all the lugs have to do is keep the wheels on. The "stupid" spacers push the wheels off the hub centering protrusion giving the wheels a little play on the lugs, so when you tighten them up it's near impossible to get them properly centered.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg22/...jpg&res=medium

These type of spacers, on the other hand, aren't so bad. I still wouldn't get them, but if they're properly made and fit right, it seems pretty legit.

What do you think is the widest I can put on and still get away without spacers? I've heard 9.5" rear and 9" front. Not sure if its true.

That's exactly what I'm going to be putting on my car in a week or so, I'll let you know how they fit. I remember finding a forum thread a while back of someone who put 10's all around, said they had to adjust the camber quite a bit to get them to fit but it looked pretty good.

You have a TT, right? I read somewhere that the HICAS can get in the way and that you can get away with wider on NA's. I forget what width that starts happening at though. Let me know how it works out for ya. Pictures would be awesome!

Yup I've heard it's right around 9.5, and more likely with 17s and smaller than with bigger rims so I'm taking a bit of a gamble. And I'll definitely be posting pics if all goes well, if not I'll probably be too embarrassed and never speak here again haha.

Oh man, that's exactly what I'm considering. My friend has four of the 19's from the 370Z but I want lighter wheels and I'd rather not have to pay for those tires all the time either.