Best size rims?

[505050Z]

Just bought my first 350 and want some non-stock rims. I have heard that anything over 18 is a nightmare to drive and also decreases performance. What have people found?

Thanks

[HKSPWRDZ]

18x8.5 and 18x9.5 245/40s and 275/40s........

[evildky]

Welcome to Nico!some trim levels of the Z came with 18' wheels stock, in gerenral the larger the wheel and shorter the sidewall on the tire the rougher the ride, but the rougher ride equalts less sidewall flex which is a good thing when talking about performance, there are limits to this, "dubs" are definitely over the top and add more weight than anything, also keep in mind most larger wheels weigh more and will serve to slow you down, which is where CCW and SSR and other brands come into play, you just have to decide if you want a cruiser or performance, if you are concerned about ride quality you should keep it on the small side, if oyu prefer the look of larger wheels you might be willing to sacrifice some comfort for the look or performance advantage of a larger wheel

[ZBAZ]

8 ½ X 18 in my mind will handle any size tire you want to place on your Z. All the odd size Wheels (19, 21, 23) have very expensive tires associated with them. Even numbers are the wheels that have reasonable cost to the tires. I just recently paid over $300.00 for Brigstone Protenza 040's. And put a newer recent set of Falken 452's on for $201 per wheel which is reasonable but a 19" tire is $100.00 or more for the same tire. It doesn’t matter what tire company the 19's are way more expensive. Something else to consider is top end, because the larger the wheels and tires the slower your performance is out of the hole and longer the gear ratio on your top end. Do you want a 130 mph sports car or one that is a rocket out of the hole shot? The larger the wheels and tires the slower the track performance. Do you want a race car or a street car? Another thing is I matched all the wheels and tires on my Z. I am running Falken 452's 245/18/45 on KMC SIXPAC Chrome Wheels 8 ½ X 18. that are not staggered. I know I am going to hear from a lot of the guys that they were designed to have staggered wheels but when I did that the tires only lasted 13,000 miles and by matching the tire I have on there now I rotate them every 5,000 miles and got 32,000 miles out of my last set got almost triple the wear time than a non rotated tire set. I use the staggered set of rear tires with 275's on the rear at the track only by just removing the matched rear wheels and put on the wider set for the track for better handling in a performance situation and afterwards I put the 245 rears back on for the street and daily use.


Modified by ZBAZ at 8:27 AM 3/16/2007

[gtnmwet]

you will find the newer coupes are optioned with the 19's so it can't be a bad thing even by manufacturers specs, the only problem is the the 19's are definately pricier tires!

[jabber87]

Just bought my first 350 and want some non-stock rims. I have heard that anything over 18 is a nightmare to drive and also decreases performance. What have people found?

Thanks

This all depends on what your application is, remember though that larger the tire the more $$$.

[BlackSmoke]

Go to this link and read and understand size and fittings and you wont have any trounle. http://www.350z-tech.com/zwiki...tions