any wheel experts here?

[THANATOS]

I recently went into a wheel shop to order some rims for my car. i have a 03 m45. the rims i want are 22 inch hypnotic c-notes they are 9.5 inches wide.the guy at the wheel shop said that they would fit my car, without anykind of body work. But i doubt that a 9.5 wide inch wheel would fit in the front without some kind of fender work. what do you guys think. and if i did go to a body shop to get some fender flairs put on how much would something like that cost?thanks for any information

[THANATOS]

any help would be nice.

[exbmwdude]

22 inch wheels will make your car look silly, it will ride like crap and you'll blow sidewalls out on the terrible Chicago roads. Don't do it.

There - was that helpful ?

exbmwdude2005 M35S

[CakeDaddy]

22 inch wheels will make your car look silly, it will ride like crap and you'll blow sidewalls out on the terrible Chicago roads. Don't do it.

There - was that helpful ?

exbmwdude2005 M35S

Come on now! Lets be nice. I can only give advice on the 20's, but the reason you didn’t get any real replies is because no one here has the 22in setup on the 2003-2004 akaY34. I’ve seen them on car domain, but no much detail was given on the dimension, offset, etc... I would not go as far to say that the 22’s look silly, but I’ll say they appear to be a little robust and donk for my taste. In my opinion the 20’s look best suited for this body type.

I haven’t heard of anyone here with custom fender flares on this forum or fresshalloy.

I recommend you reach out to some of the member on cardomain. I've seen atleast 3 member with 22's. good luck my man!

[exbmwdude]

Sorry, I just hate to see a nice car - designed to ride and handle properly -ruined by fitting way oversized wheels. Because they look cool ? To who?Making cars faster I get. Following some new-school fashion craze that thinks bigger wheels are better I don't. At all.

exbmwdude2006 M35S

[THANATOS]

Sorry, I just hate to see a nice car - designed to ride and handle properly -ruined by fitting way oversized wheels. Because they look cool ? To who?Making cars faster I get. Following some new-school fashion craze that thinks bigger wheels are better I don't. At all.

exbmwdude2006 M35S

22 INCH WHEELS FILL THE WHEEL WELL UP WITHOUT HAVING TO LOWER THE SUSP. THEY ALSO GIVE THE CAR A MUCH MORE AGRESSIVE LOOK. THATS PROBLEY WHY SO MANY CONCEPT CARS HAVE 22S ON THEM.

WHEN PEOPLE SAY THEY DONT LIKE HOW 22S OR ANY OTHER AUTO FAD/STYLE, I WONDER IF THEY REALIZE HOW OLD THEY SOUND....THINK ABOUT YOUR YOUNGER DAYS WHEN YOU PROBLY HAD A "HOT ROD" AND HOW THE OLDER PEOPOLE TALKED ABOUT HOW "SILLY" IT WAS LOL

[THANATOS]

22 inch wheels will make your car look silly, it will ride like crap and you'll blow sidewalls out on the terrible Chicago roads. Don't do it.

There - was that helpful ?

exbmwdude2005 M35S

lol...just because you dont like a particular style you dont have to make up phantom issues about that style.

Your car wont ride like crap and you wont blow out side walls. Sure you youll have to be more carefull with pot holes, but you have to do that with any size rim with low profile tires.

Your will not ride like crap i have 22's on an olds aurora it rides better than stock, because of more tire on the road

if you dont reprogram your trannys computer your speedometer might be off a little, but thats with rim/tire mod that is not stock.

the only drawback, is weight, if you dont pic a foose style rim, you are probly gonna add another 20 pounds to your car.

[THANATOS]

Come on now! Lets be nice. I can only give advice on the 20's, but the reason you didn’t get any real replies is because no one here has the 22in setup on the 2003-2004 akaY34. I’ve seen them on car domain, but no much detail was given on the dimension, offset, etc... I would not go as far to say that the 22’s look silly, but I’ll say they appear to be a little robust and donk for my taste. In my opinion the 20’s look best suited for this body type.

I haven’t heard of anyone here with custom fender flares on this forum or fresshalloy.

I recommend you reach out to some of the member on cardomain. I've seen atleast 3 member with 22's. good luck my man!

Thanks for the advice. Ill check it out. I didnt even think to look on cardomain yet....

[mrmark]

I am one of those who don't think 22's fit the size of the car. You need to consider proportion of the wheel to the car. Maybe an LS460 or 7 Series can pull off 22's, but not the Y34. That's just my opinion....

Concept cars have 22's because that's what they are....concepts.

Oh, the theory that 22's fill up the wheel well without lower means you're using a larger diameter tire to fill it out which means your changing the rolling diameter....speedo...handling....etc. Not a good idea.

To me, aggressive is not running 22's, but running a set of Japanese multipiece 20" wheels with an aggressive width and low offset to fill out the wheel well.....like this...

http://s16.photobucket.com/alb...2.jpg

That's aggressive......

[szh]

I am one of those who don't think 22's fit the size of the car. You need to consider proportion of the wheel to the car. Maybe an LS460 or 7 Series can pull off 22's, but not the Y34. That's just my opinion....

I agree with you ... see here for an earlier discussion of this topic: zerothread/288148.

My opinion remains that even 20" tend to overpower the look of the car from the side a bit too much - 22" would be way wrong for it, IMHO. The stock 18" has a well-balanced look!

Z

[THANATOS]

I agree with you ... see here for an earlier discussion of this topic: zerothread/288148.

My opinion remains that even 20" tend to overpower the look of the car from the side a bit too much - 22" would be way wrong for it, IMHO. The stock 18" has a well-balanced look!

Z

I MUST ADMIT, THAT DOIES LOOK GOOD... WHAT ADJUSMENT DID YOU HAVE TO DO TO THE REAR TO GET IT LIKE THAT? THAT MUST BE SOME KIND OF AIR RIDE TO SIT SO LOW

[THANATOS]

I am one of those who don't think 22's fit the size of the car. You need to consider proportion of the wheel to the car. Maybe an LS460 or 7 Series can pull off 22's, but not the Y34. That's just my opinion....

Concept cars have 22's because that's what they are....concepts.

Oh, the theory that 22's fill up the wheel well without lower means you're using a larger diameter tire to fill it out which means your changing the rolling diameter....speedo...handling....etc. Not a good idea.

To me, aggressive is not running 22's, but running a set of Japanese multipiece 20" wheels with an aggressive width and low offset to fill out the wheel well.....like this...

http://s16.photobucket.com/alb...2.jpg

That's aggressive......

WOULDNT 20 INCH RIMS CHANGE THE STOCK RIDE HIEGHT TOO? UNLESS YOU CAN FIND A WHEEL TIRE COMBO THAT WOULD HAVE THE SAME OUTER DIAMETER AS STOCK?

[mrmark]

The whole point about proper wheel/tire fitment is to get the OD a max of 1.5% from stock which is what I tell my customers.

Stock tires on the Y34 are 235-45-18 which are 26.3 OD. You would have to run a 225-25-22 tire which is 26.4 OD or .3%, which is perfect. Problem is that I don't know too many manufacturers with that size tire and I guarantee you'll bend a rim in the first month.

On a set of 20's, I run 235-35-20 (or 245) and 275-30-20 which are very close to stock.

Now wheels size/offset/disk type/backpad are also key to an aggressive fitment. But that's a different topic all together.........

Use this tool to calculate proper tire sizing...

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Use this tool to calculate wheel size/offset:

http://www.1010tires.com/WheelOffsetCalculator.asp

[szh]

WOULDNT 20 INCH RIMS CHANGE THE STOCK RIDE HIEGHT TOO? UNLESS YOU CAN FIND A WHEEL TIRE COMBO THAT WOULD HAVE THE SAME OUTER DIAMETER AS STOCK?

A gentle request ... please ease up on the Caps Lock key in your posts!

We consider all caps text to be SHOUTING in the forum, and what you are saying is not a yell!

And, yes, as long as you make the rolling diameter be the same as the stock 18" wheels/tires rolling fine, it will work out fine. However, you still have other considerations to look at: wheel offset, tire profile, section width, tread width, etc., to deal with when checking for fitment.

Z

[szh]

Use this tool to calculate proper tire sizing...

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Use this tool to calculate wheel size/offset:

http://www.1010tires.com/WheelOffsetCalculator.asp

These are good starting points, but also look at the manufacturers specs for rolling diameter (or revs/mile ...) to see what will and will not work.

Check out my tire spreadsheet info in one of the stickies to see what calculations I use. If anyone wants a copy of the original Excel spreadsheet (has the formulas in them), drop me an e-mail ...

Z

[m45staggered22]

DONT LISTEN TO ANYONE HERE 22S LOOK SICK ON THIS CAR JUST CHECK MINE OUT AND IM IN CHICAGO YOU JUST HAVE TO KNOW HOW TO RIDE ON SOME RIMS AND TIRES LIKE THIS. MATTER OF FACT I HAVE THE STAGGERED RIMS SO I HAVE AN EXTRA INCH WIDTH IN THE BACK[IMG][/IMG]

[Manok]

DONT LISTEN TO ANYONE HERE 22S LOOK SICK ON THIS CAR JUST CHECK MINE OUT AND IM IN CHICAGO YOU JUST HAVE TO KNOW HOW TO RIDE ON SOME RIMS AND TIRES LIKE THIS. MATTER OF FACT I HAVE THE STAGGERED RIMS SO I HAVE AN EXTRA INCH WIDTH IN THE BACK[IMG][/IMG]

WHY ARE YOU TYPING IN ALL CAPS?

[CakeDaddy]

DONT LISTEN TO ANYONE HERE 22S LOOK SICK ON THIS CAR JUST CHECK MINE OUT AND IM IN CHICAGO YOU JUST HAVE TO KNOW HOW TO RIDE ON SOME RIMS AND TIRES LIKE THIS. MATTER OF FACT I HAVE THE STAGGERED RIMS SO I HAVE AN EXTRA INCH WIDTH IN THE BACK[IMG][/IMG]

I disagree, please listen to us I'd love to see your ride with the stagged 22's, but keep in mind that most member here are sold on the idea that 20’s look the best on this car. I somewhat agree. I've only seen one or two with 22's and I wasn't too impressed. The two cars that I have seen looked very Donkish. Oh.... as for the the caps lock being on, it makes it seems as if you are screaming at us, so as a common courtesy it may be a good idea to turn it off


Modified by CakeDaddy at 6:10 PM 5/26/2008

[paperfootball]

With corect offset 22x8 and 9 will fit. I am sure that 9.5 could fit with the correct offfset as well.

I might put 22's on mine some day and I am lowered. To me, it all depends on the wheel. Some wheels with say a step lip will look one inch smaller on a car IMO as the spokes don't go all the way to the tire. Most 22's that look too big have spokes that go all the way to the tire.

I would do a set of 21's if the tires weren't so expensive.

Folks get awfully bent out of shape when it comes to putting 22's on this car. Who cares? It's all subjective and wheels are temporary anyways. Hell, I have had my car 10 months and have already changed the wheels twice.

[szh]

It's all subjective and wheels are temporary anyways.

Yes, it is subjective! ! Beauty is in indeed in the eye of the beholder.

But ... but ... why do you think wheels are temporary?

Usually, it costs a lot of money to replace wheels, and there is usually little to no improvement in performance or handling. On the contrary, the result is often a reduction in performance (heavy rims) or an increase in problems (tire wear, suspension component failure) or an increase in road harshness, or a reduction in safety (after-market wheels tend to be poor quality, unless you buy expensive products).

My personal bottom line: I'd much rather spend my money on getting the best tires I possibly can ... for the stock 18" x 7.5" wheels!

Regardless, I totally agree that it is up to the owner of the car - some people will like the results and some will not.

Hell, I have had my car 10 months and have already changed the wheels twice.

Why? Was it worth it? (I ask out of curiosity, not pejoratively.)

Z

[maxnix]

One has to consder not only the OEM specified tire diameter but the minimum load rating.

Then when one considers a wheel, on has to consider strength, hubcentricity, offset, weight and strength. Excess unsprung mass will quickly wear out the suspension. Why the big caster wheel cars are always in the driveway, parking lot, or being driven r-e-a-l ssllloooooowwlllly. One never sees them out on cross country trips.

[paperfootball]

Yes, it is subjective! ! Beauty is in indeed in the eye of the beholder.

But ... but ... why do you think wheels are temporary?

Usually, it costs a lot of money to replace wheels, and there is usually little to no improvement in performance or handling. On the contrary, the result is often a reduction in performance (heavy rims) or an increase in problems (tire wear, suspension component failure) or an increase in road harshness, or a reduction in safety (after-market wheels tend to be poor quality, unless you buy expensive products).

My personal bottom line: I'd much rather spend my money on getting the best tires I possibly can ... for the stock 18" x 7.5" wheels!

Regardless, I totally agree that it is up to the owner of the car - some people will like the results and some will not.

Why? Was it worth it? (I ask out of curiosity, not pejoratively.)

Z

How much would *I* notice the difference in handling between OEM wheels/tires and the staggered 20" set up that I have now? How much worse will the ride be? These are all questions that I considered when replacing my OEM wheels. The answer to that question for me was "I don't really care." I wanted the ride to be decent, but that's about it. I would rather it look good than drive like a perfectly tuned car. How often do people admit that?

I don't drive the car hard, I don't whip it around corners--I just generally cruise and take it easy. So for my needs and goals, just about any wheel that looked good to me would work.

I think wheels are cheap because I buy cheap wheels. I spent about 1K on the last and used the same tires that I had. I buy at cost typically, but I haven't always. I like wheels, I like changing them up, and I really just buy what I think looks good.

[mrmark]

I really don't understand what the fascination for oversized cheap wheels is....

An aggressive fitting set of 20's on a lowered Y34, in my opinion, is the best look. I know it's only my opinion, but this looks much better than a Donk-mobile...

http://i16.photobucket.com/alb...p.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/alb...7.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/alb...8.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/alb...1.jpg

Specs in these are:

Junction Produce Heritage III (made by Work Wheels)

20x9 +25 in black/polish20x10.5 +26 in black/polish

[tnasiti]

I see validity in both points of view. I'm old-school but I'm planning on going to seventeens, possibly chrome, with 235/45 shoes. Now at my age, some folks (usually women) say-"on that old car?" I have a '97 J30t you see. I'm also a little shy about the overly-chromed look too. But then I went back into my past and realized that my first car was a Triumph TR6 that I put a stripe on at 16. I later built and rode a couple of custom choppers, both British and Sportster. They were both low, hard-tailed, fast and slender beauties too. I also had a lonnnng '67 two-toned Cadillac Coupe that I put chrome wire wheels on.

I realized that I've been 'personalizing' my vehicles all my life. And what you like is just that-personal, and not subject to other people's sensibilities. Many things of value in life involve a trade-off. If you're willing to have a harsher ride and handling for the look, then go for it I say!

After checking out these posts and photos, I'm beginning to think 18's. Shnitz-after all that research on 17's.

Modified by tnasiti at 3:56 AM 7/7/2008
Modified by tnasiti at 3:59 AM 7/7/2008

[tnasiti]

Thanks for the links!

[JoeyJ]

Not to mention proper spelling.