370Z 19" Rays (Why such a blackhole?)

[tdawson]

I've seen a few threads on here about this subject that haven't gone beyond the speculative stage. I've also scoured Google for any kind of photographic or even anecdotal evidence that these wheels can be successfully installed on our cars. I've done some of my own research and obtained the following numbers from an online calculator:

Stock 18's
Width: 8"
Backspace: 6.27"
Frontspace: 2.72"
Offset: 45mm

370z Front Sport Wheel
Width: 9"
Backspace: 6.85"
Frontspace: 3.14"
Offset: 47mm

According to this the wheels would stick out 10.7mm or 0.42" more than the stock wheels. This might be close to the fender on the front, but I think it would be on the inside in the back (not taking into consideration negative camber). I've only included the front wheel specs because I would be going with four front wheels as that's the only reasonable configuration. I'd also be going with a modest drop (the most consistent I've seen are the H&R which drop around 1.5" back and front). Another thing to consider is that they'll be 0.58" closer to the inside of the wheel well.

So has anyone done this, seen it done, or know why it can't be done?

I've also noticed that the only shopped pictures around are pretty poor, so I tossed one together:



Thanks!

[seldomseen]

As you indicated Interior rubbing is where you may experience issues due to the high positive offset and wheel width. Will you be using the OEM tire size for the 370z wheels? You will need to take this into consideration as well. In many cases folks simply have to test fit the wheel/tire combo they desire to see if fitment truly works.

[armandescobar]

rear 370z rays are 19x10 i'm pretty sure. i put my friend's on my coupe to test fit before i even had coilovers and it stuck out a good 3" from the fender

[tdawson]

@Seldomseen - I'd use tires with the same diameter and most likely a smaller width to further reduce and chance of rubbing. If worse comes to worst I'll probably just move ahead with ordering them and hope for the best.

@Armandescobar - I wouldn't be using the rear wheels. I've seen a few Altima Sedans online with the rear wheels installed and they looked downright silly, and funny enough both cars I saw them on came from threads trying to sell the wheels. Good to know though that they do in fact look bad on the coupe.

[SanoSuKe]

What's the point behind running a square setup? You're not AWD lol. Unless you give a reasonable answer as to why you want to run 4 370z front OEM wheels on the coupe.. I think this is just a waste of money.

[tdawson]

What's the point behind running a square setup? You're not AWD lol. Unless you give a reasonable answer as to why you want to run 4 370z front OEM wheels on the coupe.. I think this is just a waste of money.

What else would I run on a coupe? I'm not going to put 2 larger wheels on the front if that's your advice, or have wheels sticking out like a matchbox racer. I'd consider purple wheels a waste of money, but to each his own, yeah?

[SanoSuKe]

Run a staggered setup like 99% of the people with coupes. Put the smaller wheels on the front and the larger wheels in the rear. You'd need at least a +20 offset on a 10" width wheel for it to start sticking out "like a matchbox racer" lol. Seems like you didn't do a complete research and/or don't know how offset works.

You asked for opinions and you got it. Don't get so defensive. And I don't understand what you mean by purple wheels.

[RicerX]

lol that pic is my old car up there! Wheels look cool. Would be awesome in a charcoal gray color in the NISMO pattern... you should photoshop that so I can send to my brother for giggles

Here are the specs for the Rays Sport Package wheels for the 370z:
Front: 19x9, +47mm offset.
Rear: 19x10, +30 offset.

Basically, if you want that style wheel, you need to run the fronts all around on the Altima Coupe, so he has a point for wanting a square setup. I'm not into fender rolling and all that stuff, so that's where I'm coming from. I'd rather get the fronts and a set of 10mm spacers all around and have a clean, even look and not have to worry about two different size tires for a daily driver (which most of these coupes are).

[nismogxs21]

i'm currently running 19x10 all around with +20mm offset in the front and +16mm in the back. These should fit as long as you run spacers with them. The only complication i can see from running this setup is the wheels will grind against struts (when you dont use spacers).

[seldomseen]

Run a staggered setup like 99% of the people with coupes. Put the smaller wheels on the front and the larger wheels in the rear. You'd need at least a +20 offset on a 10" width wheel for it to start sticking out "like a matchbox racer" lol. Seems like you didn't do a complete research and/or don't know how offset works.

You asked for opinions and you got it. Don't get so defensive. And I don't understand what you mean by purple wheels.

How does a staggered setup affect a FWD vehicle's driving characteristics and what benefits are there aside from aesthetics?

[metalmagician]

Run a staggered setup like 99% of the people with coupes. Put the smaller wheels on the front and the larger wheels in the rear. You'd need at least a +20 offset on a 10" width wheel for it to start sticking out "like a matchbox racer" lol. Seems like you didn't do a complete research and/or don't know how offset works.

You asked for opinions and you got it. Don't get so defensive. And I don't understand what you mean by purple wheels.

How does a staggered setup affect a FWD vehicle's driving characteristics and what benefits are there aside from aesthetics?

people will always tell you the wider the tire the more the grip. its more complicated than that. it is more about cornering forces. in simpler terms wider rear tires were originally put on rear wheel drive cars during races so they would have less chance of breaking traction around corners. they actually dont do anything for straight line grip. wider tires in the front were deemed useless because under braking around the corner about 70-80% of the weight is immediately transferred to the front and because of the fact that there is no torque trying to rip the wheels from the asphalt. plus wide tires all around added too much unneccesary weight. that is where staggered wheels originally came from. now a days on the street it is more of an eye catcher. you will get better response entering a corner but not enough to warrant putting them on in my opinion. and since our cars are fwd they do next to nothing on our cars.