Has anyone upgraded their wheels and tires on their Versa?

[dalversajock]

Although the tires that I have are the OE when I first bought my Versa, I really don't care for the size of the wheel and tire. Plus, I can't stand these Continental Tires (very bad quality and they wear out fast). Has anyone upgraded their tires to 16, 17, or even 18? If so, can you post the configurations and suggestions (with photos if possible)? Also, what kind of wheels would you suggest? Enkei? MB? NEX-O? Exel? 5ZGEN? Drag?

One of my main concerns is that I don't want the tires to be rubbing against the inside area where the tires are installed. Plus I still would like enough clearance in order to get a good U-turn radius. Any information would really help.



Modified by dalversajock at 9:56 AM 1/9/2007
Modified by dalversajock at 9:57 AM 1/9/2007

[2K Marketing]

I have 18x7.5 Tenzos on my car with 215x35x18" Falken Tires. My car is lowered 2" and does not rub or drive funny at all. There was another Versa at SEMA that had 19" wheels on it. So the fitment is pretty open. Check the link below to see the wheels on my car. Keep in mind that it will mess with the air pressure sensor if you don't get a tire very close to the factory hight. I just ignore the blinking light. And the lug pattern is 4x114.

http://www.socalcustoms.com/Sh...2.htm

Modified by 2K Marketing at 9:35 AM 12/31/2006

[Ever Victorious]

http://www.tirerack.com can give you an idea of what will fit, and what your Versa will look like with aftermarket rims on it.

I'd personally look at rims marked as "light weight", especially if you are going plus 2 or more. That will keep the rims at the same or lower weight than your stock rims, so it won't adversely affect acceleration (remember, wheels are rotational mass!).

I've also seen a lot of "cheaper" rims that I like, some stuff from Fox or Kazera can look good on cars, and not cost an arm and a leg like some of the "designer" rims. Shoot, I had a set of ADR's that cost like 50 bucks each that looked pretty damned sweet on my old red Kia.

[M2Motoring]

any general offset 4x114.3 wheel will fit without a problem. try not to run too high of an offset but the universal wheels with a +40 thru +42 offset will work. for the M2 Sema versa we had 18x7 +40 TSW Cataluna with 215/35R18 Toyo Proxes 4's

[M2Motoring]

[maggiegirl714]

I've been thinking about it - the tires that came on the car slide on sandy surfaces - and since I'm living at the beach - not a good mix.

[dalversajock]

Ok, so I was at a Toyota dealership (thank goodness they were closed) and saw a Matrix M with 17" wheels and 205/50R Yokohama tires. They looked really good! At first I thought they were 16" wheels but looked at the tag again and it said that it was an upgrade to the 17" wheels. I think I'm going to go for the same configuration that I saw on the Matrix and was wondering if this would effect the TPMS. I really want this feature to continue to work but don't want to purchase the wrong wheel height and then find out my TPMS doesn't work. Your thoughts?

[red98s14]

These are 7.5 x 16, 40 mm offset. Tires are 205/55x16. I have a couple millimeters clearance to the strut at the front. No issues with rubbing on turns.

[Ever Victorious]

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

You can put in the size of your stock tire, then start going through sizes of replacement tires, to find which are the closest diameter match.

You should do this whenever you change wheel/tire sizes anyway, even if a car doesn't have TPMS. It helps keep the speedometer accurate.

[mkaresh]

These are 7.5 x 16, 40 mm offset. Tires are 205/55x16. I have a couple millimeters clearance to the strut at the front. No issues with rubbing on turns.

Those look good. I've always said it's hard to go wrong with a clean five-spoke design.

The Versa I test drove months ago had large wheels/tires on it, I think an attempt by the dealer to pump up the margin.

[dalversajock]

Ok, so I purchased my wheels and they should be arriving via UPS in a couple of days. I bought Enkei brand model Or52 (silver) through http://www.edgeracing.com. They were on sale and the sales person was very helpful. He suggested that I purchase the wheels from them and then purchase the tires locally to have them installed, balanced, etc. I ordered BF Goodrich GForce Sport tires from Discount Tire Warehouse (size 205/45/17). I'll let you know how things go with the changing and look of the tires. Here's a pic of what the wheels and tires look like. I'll also post pictures of the new tires once they are mounted.


Modified by dalversajock at 6:46 PM 1/9/2007

[dalversajock]

I finally got my new wheels and tires. I purchased the wheels online at http://www.edgeracing.com at a really great price! I got the Enkei brand model Or52 (silver w/ polished lip) for $89 each! They were regular $170! I got the 17"x7 (4x114.3) size. They work perfect with my new tires. I purchased new BFGoodrich G-Force Sport tires size 205/45/17 and they fit perfectly. I originally ordered Yokohama Parada Spec-2 tires but they didn't have any that they can find at their other stores so the sales guy sold me the G-Force SPort tires at the same price as the Yokohamas. I really like these new tires and they work great in the rain. They ride very quiet and stick to the road incredibly well.

The wheels are pretty cool though. They have a snap on lug nut cover that compliments the entire tire. I've had a lot of compliments on the wheels and tires. The guys at Discount Tire Warehouse were really amazed at how these Enkei's looked and how inexpensive they were.

I'm really not into the fix-it-up hobby with cars but I just wanted to make my Versa original. I still have the alloys from the original tires and plan on selling them to a Versa S owner. They are brand new and I really don't need them but would like to sell them. I would post some photos but I'm having a hell of a time figuring out how to post a photo on here.

[dalversajock]

Here's the link to view my new wheels!

http://web.mac.com/waltafalla/....html

Enjoy!

[Clipsed]

look good, needs to be lowered now, only one thing I wish, and that is that the new rim pics were as big as the others.

[Legacy40k]

I'd love to get some 17" copper or gold coloured racing style wheels for my Saphire Blue, unfortuantly, they arent cheap! I dont like the look of silver or black with the blue... or White unless you have white detailing.

[M2Motoring]

heres some more pics of the project versa at sema. it will have new wheels soon =) as well as a host of other mods. right now its currently still going from manufacturer to manufacturer

[Clipsed]

Is it just me, my comp? Or are those eyelids a different shade of blue than the rest of the car?

[M2Motoring]

Is it just me, my comp? Or are those eyelids a different shade of blue than the rest of the car?

its a different shade due to only roughly 5 days working on the car. the paint mix company messed up. its getting redone =)

[Clipsed]

o0o alright that sounds good then, I was about to be like damn all that money and they messed up on the eyelids!? DOH!

[JuneBug]

I did not feel safe with the continental tires that came with the car. I felt like the car was hydroplaning everywhere i went, even when it wasn't wet.

Versa's stock tires are 185-65's. I went to a tire place and kept the 15's but put some wider 205-65 yokohama's on there. they are 500 times better than the stock tires. they actually grip the freakin road, they're quiet, and they handle pretty well for being the widest I could get without changing my wheels. It has been icey and snowy so I went to an empty parking lot and did some donuts and messed around with the new tires and brakes at around 30-40 mph....they are definitely GREAT tires - and I highly recommend them, if you have the extra $4-500 to spare.

[Veilside Versa]

Rays Versus series (Turismo Spada) 17X7 4X114.3 38offset with Falken ZE512 215-45-17

[dalversajock]

Rays Versus series (Turismo Spada) 17X7 4X114.3 38offset with Falken ZE512 215-45-17

Just curious, what does that 'offset' part mean?

[Clipsed]

Just curious, what does that 'offset' part mean?

lol wait you bought rims w/o knowing what offset is??? Man you are lucky those rims were within the right offset otherwise they would have been rubbing against something or sticking out too far.

Here is some info you might want to read up on before buying your next set of rims bud.

http://www.americastire.com/dtcs/infoHome.dos

http://www.americastire.com/dt...s.dos

[proxim2020]

I did not feel safe with the continental tires that came with the car. I felt like the car was hydroplaning everywhere i went, even when it wasn't wet.

I feel totally opposite. Although I agree that the tires are crap, they held up pretty well in water. We've been getting a lot of rain here and I've been out running through the puddles pretty much everyday to and from work. The V with stocks seem to stay true to the course when going through large areas of standing water at highway speeds. I was amazed at how stable the car was and I didn't experience any hydroplaning at all (something that I always get in my large truck). Even though I can't stop the little squeal when shifting from 1st to 2nd, they are pretty good in the wet stuff.

[eganx]

... Versa's stock tires are 185-65's. I went to a tire place and kept the 15's but put some wider 205-65 yokohama's on there...

Since the ratio on these tires are the same, not only did you go wider but also taller (I calculate about an inch). This is about a 4.5% change. Did you notice worse passing acceleration or better fuel economy with the bigger tires?

[dalversajock]

lol wait you bought rims w/o knowing what offset is??? Man you are lucky those rims were within the right offset otherwise they would have been rubbing against something or sticking out too far.

Here is some info you might want to read up on before buying your next set of rims bud.

http://www.americastire.com/dtcs/infoHome.dos

http://www.americastire.com/dt...s.dos

Dude, I have no idea about tires/wheels. When I contacted the wheel company they suggested the tire size that I need. As for knowing what offset is, thats why I asked in this forum. Thats what this forum is for, right? Anyway, no need to ridicule someone who knows nothing about wheels/tires, etc. We're all here to learn. Thanks for understanding and also the information. I'll contact the guys who installed my tires to make sure I did the right thing. I appreciate the information though.

[CDA Versa]

What are the specs on these wheels? What kind of suspension is on the car?

[bluckycharmed]

Just got these yesterday, all I have to do now is lower it about 2 inches.

[M2Motoring]

What are the specs on these wheels? What kind of suspension is on the car?

lol im bringing a thread back from the dead. the wheels are 18x7 +40 offset. they are TSW catalunas which i actually have for sale lol. the whole set of wheels no tires. $350 plus shipping. the wheels only have about 60 miles on them to and from the transport which then sat inside the transport for the trip to sema =)

[proxim2020]

I'm glad you did bring this one back. I was looking for it to add to the faqs stickie.