a question regarding tirerack.com regarding the fit of their wheels/tires

[wjm3982]

after reading countless threads on here about new wheels and tires for the altima coupe, i learned that there are several factors that need to be taken into consideration when buying them, including overall diameter of the combination, wheel offset, lugnut size, hubcentric rings, etc. quite frankly, a lot of it confused me, but i was definitely happy to see that one of threads had broken down the math of the measurements and what the numbers actually meant, something that, as an engineer, was very helpful in getting me to understand gearhead speak

my question is, if i go on tire rack and pick wheels/tires based on my specific car, are those pretty much guaranteed to fit properly without having to worry about all of the crazy measurements? the only warning i've seen on there when looking at wheels was regarding the TPM sensors on each wheel, and all that says is that i can use the original factory sensors, or buy new ones from them

i'm most likely going to deal with this site specifically because i have a friend who works at a dealership and can get things for me off of there for an unbelievable discount, so hopefully i can find some wheels that i actually like on there

[marlin29311]

tire rack says that they specifically recommend things to fit for each vehicle that choose and they are normally correct. A quick glance at all of the wheel/tire combo's that they approve for the coupe shows that they are all generally in the same ballpark. By picking a recommended wheel/tire combo from them, you should have no problems. They also recommend whether or not you need certian things with each combo.

[NissanAltimaGuy]

Once you punch in the year, make, and model, all wheels listed should fit the application.

Mine required what I think they called hubcentric rings installed in the wheel. They arrived with the required parts installed.

[wjm3982]

good info, thanks guys

how does the ride feel with your new tires? i know the stock wheels aren't all that great, but the sidewall-to-tire ratio on the bigger tires is smaller, and i know i read that smaller sidewalls can lead to a less comfortable ride. i'm hoping that some new tires will handle turns a bit better than the stock bridgestones

[marlin29311]

good info, thanks guys

how does the ride feel with your new tires? i know the stock wheels aren't all that great, but the sidewall-to-tire ratio on the bigger tires is smaller, and i know i read that smaller sidewalls can lead to a less comfortable ride. i'm hoping that some new tires will handle turns a bit better than the stock bridgestones

Even if you were to put a high performance tire on your rims right now, you would feel a difference in the way the car turns - you'll have much more grab with them. You can do two things - you could buy new wheels and tires, or you could opt to put a different tire on the stock wheel.

If you put new wheels and tires on, you will notice it more when you put a larger wheel on, aka 18", 19" etc...Usually these wheels are thicker, so you can put wider tires on - 235, 245...etc. The wider tires will give you much more road grip and it will handle turns much nicer. The other part to this idea is that you will also have to get a tire with a smaller sidewall, which will improve your ride stability, but also increase what you feel. Running over a pothole with your stock setup will not feel as harsh as if you did with 19" wheels.

You do have the option of changing on the standard rim. Since you have the 3.5se, your standard wheel size is 7.5". You have the ability to safely mount a larger tire on that - a recommended size would be 235/50/17, as this almost matches the stock tire exactly. You could also do 225/50/17, as this is not far off either, and you can save a few $$$ on less rubber.

You then have to choose if you want to stay with all-season tires or summer tires - summer tires will give you the most amount of grip you can get, but won't fair in the snow or real crappy weather. There are a lot of good all-season tires out there that perform almost exactly the same, but come with the added ability of mud and snow (the M+S thing listed on an all season tire). Personal recommendations since you are in Philly and get fun weather and lots of Philly pot holes - don't go over 18" wheels, get all-season tires (i would recommend the Goodyear Eagle F-1 All seasons, the Pirelli Pzero Nero All seasons, or the Michellin Pilot Sport A/S - these are all tires i have used and work amazing, but i am sure there are other tires that people can speak for that i cannot)

[wjm3982]

thanks man, that's some really good info. i definitely need some tires that can cope with some crappy weather since you never know what in the hell we're gonna get around here

[PhillipRumans]

Did you ever put the 235/50/17's on your stock rims? If you did, how did it handle?

[wjm3982]

i haven't gotten around to getting my new wheels yet. i'm most likely going with 19s with 255/40/19 tires