My car is a daily driver as well. It has over 60,000 miles on it and I will be driving it 90 minutes away to the track with these wheels on it!

But yes your point about it being a bit much for NA is definitely accurate.

my first choice originally was your inital set-up of 18x12's with 315 DR's.

found cheap set og ROTAs in that size for only $275 each but i heard they dont clear the rear brakes either. not interested in shaving the monblocks just for a few track runs lol

do you know of any 18x12s that'll clear?

worst case i may just give up and get the 305/30/19 mickey thompson DRs lol put em right on the sport rears

I dont know if any 18x12 will perfectly clear the sport brakes. I would recommend the Rota 18x12+20. They are cost effect and perfect size and offset to get the most grip youre going to get with your sport brakes on. Plus, I can confirm their fitment and function... I am the one who uses them on here.

They only just barely didnt clear the caliper. Grinding them down takes no time at all, and you dont have to take off a ton. They are just cheap akebono calipers and they certainly are not monoblocks! I feel no guilt grinding on them. Sure I would prefer not to... but I wasnt going to spend 3 times as much on different wheels and risk finding out the hard way that they didnt clear any better.

Since they are off the car right now... see for yourself:

Got my 305s for the rear today. Needed new tires before I was ready for new wheels so they are going on my 40th wheels. I really want to put them on but I still have 3/32s worth of tread left on my existing rears...not wasting that! Time to do some launch practices.

I love the flames. Man the rubber feels soft.

looks good. not sure if i could bring myself to grind the calipers personally lol

wonder how big of a grip difference is between 18" DRs or 19" DRs

Time for the 10s.
 

i'm running 305 RE-11s on my oem rays

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/08/19/azebaver.jpg

I have to believe 19s have more grip. They have more surface area on the ground. Look at dragsters. I have to believe 19s are better for the 1/4 mile and 18s for the track.

soooo find me a spare set of Ray rears for a couple hundred bucks and grab me some mickey thompson DR 305s lol

18s will give you better grip.

wheel diameter does not effect surface area on the ground, that is tire diameter.

smaller wheels give you more sidewall, and more sidewall gives you more grip. This is because it allows the tire more compliance. More sidewall also increases drivetrain cushioning, softening the blow to things like your axles.

The advantage 19" has over 18" is less/stiffer sidewalls and less compliance. This is ideal for responsive handling, but the opposite of what is ideal for drag racing. 19" is going to hook up worse and be more likely to break your axles... but it will feel more sporty and confident in the turns.

Most drag cars built from actual cars that use anywhere near typical tire diameters use 15" wheels for drag racing.

i know all this from growing up with a father in drag racing. sadly i just need to enjoy the Z as is and go build a full out drag car lol

that seems to be the move to make i feel.

That makes a ton of sense. So it is the sidewall of drag cars that makes them so sticky, not the actually diameter. Interesting. Thanks.

Yup.... most cars are no good for drag racing if you show up slammed on 19s. The 370z happens to be one of the worst to try that with. Coincidentally, 370z owners are generally not the type willing to show up any other way. Hence our really sad 1/4 mile registry for the boosted cars.

i was happy with my 12.89 for N/A and being 5th but that didnt last. hence why i was thinking about making some changes and taking a higher spot.

Its both!! Its everything! Diameter and Width create the available contact patch. Alignment determines how much of the available contact patch you get to use. Lots of sidewall gives the tire more compliance to smush into the ground and increase surface area while reducing drivetrain shock by absorbing energy that it releases/unwinds as you go.

Many other cars with the same HP as mine wouldnt need the 28" drag tire on 15" wheels. But the 370z cambers so hard when it squats that I need the big sidewall's added compliance to regain some of that lost contact patch. I am hoping it will smush down into the road and let the car grab some pavement for once.

With a proper drag racing suspension, these 28" tires on my Z are WAY overkill. The guy down the street from me who bought my old dyno is running high 7's and low 8's on the same exact tire with his Mustang.