Help-wheel questions
 

I’m looking to grab some new wheels for my Sport package Z (includes the bigger brakes) and I have NO clue how to go about it. I’d like great fitment, but am unsure how wheel measurements work, and what will fit. I know I need to clear the calipers, and fenders. Is it possible to find wheels like such without using spacers or heavy modification? Can I have 3 piece wheels or only ones without lips? Any help is appreciated. Thanks everyone!!

Browse the Will it fit? sticky post in the wheels section of the forum.

Google: wheel offset site:the370z.com and youll find everything you need to know.

Just ask OptionZero. He'll give you an ear full and then some. :icon14:

Learning about wheel sizing is something you can do on your own. Wheel size cannot be considered without tire size.

First, a disclaimer:
You're gonna need to spend money. There's no wheel setup anyone here can recommend that will look good on a stock car with stock suspension. The car is too high, it's going to look like ****. Anyone that tells you otherwise was too cheap to do it right and is trying to make themselves feel better.

If you don't wanna spend money, keep your stock wheels and roll like the car came out of the factory. No shame there, and it's better than doing it wrong.

Onwards.

The simplest approach:

Read the threads on wheels pinned atop this section. Find one you like. Show us. We'll tell you how to copy that. No thinking required, just your credit card and the appropriate retailers.


The proper approach:

Learn how wheel fitment works. It's not hard. Follow along.

Every wheel has a diameter, width, offset, and bolt pattern, expressed typically like this:
18 (diameter) x 10.5 (width), +18 (offset), 5x114.3 (bolt pattern)

You need 5x114.3 bolt pattern. Not negotiable.

Folks run anywhere from 18 to 20 inch diameter. For aesthetics, 20s are optimal because the wheel arches of our car are quite large. The compromise is that 20 inch wheels are more expensive. 20 inch tires are more expensive. Pay to play.

https://live.staticflickr.com/7921/4...1bc814bb_c.jpg

This example has 20's. The tire is slightly tucked under the fender. The arches are completely filled up.

18 inch wheels are cheaper and lighter, with a greater range of options, and an accompanying cheaper and wider set of tire options to go with that. They will not look good but they will work. Track folks all run 18's for cost effectiveness and wider tire compound selections.

Example:
http://www.the370z.com/attachments/m..._181610-01.jpg

Alwakra's car has square 18x10.5, +18 CE28N's with 275/40/18 tires and tracks his car regularly. This is an ideal wheel setup for that purpose. It does not look good.

19's offer a compromise, to a degree. Tire selection does not approach 18's. Price leans closer to 20's. Visually, better.

Next, width and offset. These two aspects cannot be considered independently of each other as they affect how the wheel sits in the wheel well.

Width is self explanatory. It's how wide the wheel is.
Offset is the orientation of the wheel relative to the hub (mounting surface for the wheels. The more higher the offset is, the further inward the wheel sits. A lower offset wheel will sit further from the hub, and stick out from the fender.
Example:
This red car has stock nismo wheels, 19x9.5 +40 in front and 19x10.5 +23 in rear
https://www.boston.com/wp-content/up...-1-850x478.jpg

This white car has TE37's, 19x9.5 +22 front and 19x10.5 +12 in rear
http://www.the370z.com/attachments/w...429_214614.jpg

Compare how the wheels fit each car. They have the identical diameter and width, but but the white car has lower offset wheels that sit further away from hub, closer to the fender "outward."

Same width, lower offset = wheel sits further outward
Same offset, wider = outside edge also extends further outward.

That is how width and offset work; however, knowing the concept is relatively worthless without practical application to this car. Fortunately, the white car above illustrates a fairly standard drop and wheel size. That is a standard size for TE37's that any vendor would recommend you out of the box. You can fit it without too crazy and alignment, any many people have simply installed lowering springs and that size wheels and been "ok"

The more aggressive approach is to run even wider and lower offset wheels, with coilovers or air suspension that bring the car lower to the ground. This requires rolling your fenders (really not that bad, like $100 most places), as well as custom alignment achieved through adjustable suspension components. That is more work but lets you do much more, like be cool like this guy and run 20x11 +15, 20x12 +20:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...fe553ea3_c.jpg

Just don’t verbally attack him lol that’s a different ball game. It’s okay to disagree with him (I think?), but be mature about it.

Optionzero, how do you feel about 14’s on the Z? Kidding bro.

:rofl2:
Sometimes he's like 36 grit sandpaper. A bit rough...........really rough. :rofl2:

Dont forget to say thank you to OZ OP!

oh boy, now you're gonna get it. i'd run if I were you. time to re-register under a different username and start fresh lmao

There are free tools that help you do math regarding offset and width:
https://www.1010tires.com/Tools/Wheel-Offset-Calculator

Just input the width/offset of the current wheels and whatever size you'll considering and the calculator tells you how it will set relative to your current size

Now, let's talk about tire size

Tire size involves width, aspect ratio, and diameter, expressed normally like this:
315/25/20
315 is the width in MM
25 is the aspect ratio in PERCENTAGE of the width
20 is the diameter in INCHES

Don't ask me why there's different units or why they use a ratio, some clown decided thats the format and thts what we got.

Width and diameter are self explanatory. Aspect ratio is how "thick" the tire is vertically; think of it as how fat a donut is. The confusing part is that it is measured as a percentage of the width, so in a 315/25/20 tire, the aspect ratio of 25 means the the tire thickness is 25% of 315. It's stupid. i know

All that really matters is that this affects how tall the tire is. Fortunately there is again a free tool that does the math for you:
https://tiresize.com/height-calculator/

This tells us that a 315/25/20 tire is 26.2 inches tall

Why is this relevant? Because your front and rear tires need to be about 3% of each other (i think) for your speed sensor to work; going too far will trip warning lights.

A secondary reason is gearing. A taller tire will physically take more power to spin; this is generally bad; conversely, bigger wheels will in theory change your top speed.

The third reason is probably the most relevant to most people - how tall a tire is affects how it looks and how it fits in the wheel well.

The stock tire wheel diameter for a Nismo is 26.7 inches in front, 26.9 inches rear. Going bigger than that will visually fill out the wheel well, but depending on the height of the tire and stance, you aren't going to look better that way. It lends a 4x4 monster truck appearance. Going too small will create a gap, which is also bad. You generally should stay roughly close to the stock height of the tire

Stock wheels are 18 (base) or 19 (sport/nismo) They maintain the same height despite different diameters by changing the height of the tire. Again, use the tire height calculator to do the work for you if you're switching between 18/19/20

Next, we should examine the concept of "stretched" tires. Ignorant folks will recoil at the idea because they were raised in a different car culture. It is not a bad thing by itself, but like all things, too much can be dangerous.

Every tire manufacturer recommends a specific wheel width (or range of width) for a specific tire size. For example:

https://www.toyotires.com/tire/patte...res-proxes-r1r

Scroll down to say, 265/35/18 on this Toyo R1R. They recommend between a 9 or 10.t inch width wheel for this size, with a 9.5 width as their "ideal." Every manufacture, despite adhering to the same tire size format we discussed above, has slight differences in how their tire fits a wheel; there's nothing you can do about it, it's just the process.

Stretching a tire means putting a tire that is narrower than the "normal" width for a particular width tire.

For that same 18x9.5 wheel described above, a tire that is less than 265/35/18, would be considered by many people, a "stretched" tire. Putting a 225/45/18, for example, is much more narrow a tire than is normal for that width wheel and would be "stretched" tire sizing.

Why do people do that? To create more room for a tire to clear the fender. Example, 265/35/18 on an 18x9.5 wheel:
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/at...s-dsc02516.jpg
This would be considered a normal or "square" tire fitment.

Now look at at 225/45/18 on the same 18x9.5 size wheel
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...ba72785726.jpg

Look at the difference in how the tire size on the wheel. The additional space created by now the tire shoulder angles inward is space needed to fit under a fender.

if anyone ever wanted to know anything about wheel sizing in our cars....show them this thread

Aaaah......I got thick skin.

OZ has good info for rims. He just needs to soften his touch a little sometimes.

This legit needs a sticky. You see these questions asked all of the time on here. OptionZero did a great job of explaining what all the numbers mean, and even provided examples. Well done sir.

:iagree::tup:

Lastly, let's talk about camber. This diagram illustrates what camber is:

https://images.tirebuyer.com/visual-...er-diagram.jpg

Camber is the "tilt" of the wheel, measured in degrees. 0 camber is a wheel that is straight up and down. As the top wheel moves inward, the measurement is a negative number; if the top of the wheel moves outward, the measurement is positive.

Folks freak out whenever camber is not 0. These folks are stupid. Negative camber is not bad. Negative camber does not "increase" tire wear. Negative camber helps a car turn; how much camber is good depends on your suspension and the type of driving you're doing. There's basically no situation when positive camber helps. Most cars will operate better with more camber in front. Negative camber will cause "uneven" wear (as more weight is put on the inside of the tire), but it doesn't really cause the wear to occur faster. Another alignment setting, "toe" is the actual camber killer when done excessively

Example:
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Sws4lxs68...tiveCamber.png

Not a perfect example due to the exotic suspension, but look at the extreme negative camber of this Formula 1 car. They turn so hard and so fast in part due to camber (and many other factors). The point is simply that camber can be good when appropriately measured.

Forget this performance bullcrap tho. Camber is essential for wheel fitment when combined with the proper height, wheel width, offset, and tire size.

Consider Wiggin's old setup:
https://www.gtrlife.com/forums/uploa...1460484960.jpg

This is a front wheel setup of 20x10.5 +24, with a 285/35/20 tire, which a much more aggressive wheel spec and much wider/taller tire spec than stock (which is 19x9.5 +40, 245/40/19). How does he cram all that under the fender? Negative camber, which pushes the top of tire inward so it can clear the fender.

Wiggins is an unusual setup because he is running such a tall tire; he was forced to by a Toyo sponsorship. Nonetheless, it illustrates what is possible with the appropriate alignment - thats a pretty fatass tire, not much stretch, and it fits

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7452/...ea8218c2_c.jpg
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7431/...0fdcc0d6_c.jpg

CarbonFZ's white Z is probably a more practical example. I believe those the first pic is Work Meister, 19x10 +10 in front, or more aggressive. I forgot the specs of his white faced 20x10 VSXX. You can see the stretched tire and negative camber that allows him to clear the fender. He's running a static set up, so that height is what he drives at.

Again - you should know the general concepts of wheel size, tire size, and camber. As a practical matter, study what folks have done before so you get a ballpark of what is possible with what type of work.

In general, aggressive wheels require a simple formula:
Coilovers to adjust height
SPL Parts suspension arms to adjust camber and other settings
Aggressive wheel size
camber and tire to fit

(you should also roll your fenders. Pay a guy $100 and it'll be done)

I have literally just become the tire/wheel/camber expert after reading this thread.

i think carbon fz is running a 10 et -2 if im not wrong

sounds about right. he has had many setups, i was too lazy to search

LOL! Appreciate the giggle.

First of, FANTASTIC thread. So much gooood info. However, the more I research about it, the more I think 0 people are running what I want to run. I have a V2 Nismo. I am lowered on BC ER series coils. I am tired of spending money on rubber every 6 months. I want to have a true square setup that would allow me to actually get 45 to 60k miles out of a set of all-seasons. Im trying to have 18x10 all around with 285/35 tires all around. I want to have a flush stance and budget is not really an issue. Im pretty sure the rears will work fine since I have a set of SSR GTV01 18x10.5 +22 and I have a 12 or 15mm spacer that give me just about flush. I also have the same wheels but with a 9.5 barrel width in the front and 275/35 rubber. All wrapped in NT05s. No rubbing in the front at all.
However, im having a problem figuring out if I can fit the 18x10 with 285/35 rubber in the front without rubbing anywhere and if I can have a flush stance as well. im ok with running spacers in the front as well if I have to but I rather not. My camber is not aggressive or anything. I live in Washington St so up here in Oak Harbor we have a lot of twisty roads to drive spiritedly. Am I looking for a unicorn? Does anyone run this setup without altering the OEM fenders? Please help.

The life of tires is going to be determined by three things:
- tire compound
- alignment, primarily toe
- driving style

You said your tires are NT05? Those are 200 tw, max summer tires meant for track duty with some streeetability. They will of course wear faster.

We don’t know your alignment specs but you should probably have it checked. As repeatedly mentioned, full adjustability requires SPLparts components

285 all around is very possible, the tracks guys favor that setup. Rear is no problem. Fronts generally need camber.

Your post is pretty garbled, you need to take the time to post more clearly.

If you have 18x10+22 the fronts can work with some camber. The reads will clear but will be very sunken.

If you want stance you will need better sizing and SPL parts. You should not be married to those wheels.

Thanks a lot for the response Option Zero. My camber in the front is -1.47. My alignment is perfectly within the green. Truline in Seattle did that + corner balanced it. I have all SPL parts in my suspension for maximum adjustability. I have heard from various people that +30 offset work and wouldn't rub in the front but I dont know how much their camber is. My SSRs (18x9.5 with 275/35 +22 in the front) fit perfect. No rubbing, no issues, just about flush. My SSRs in the back (18x10.5 +22) are just about flush with 12mm H&Rmm spacers.
My problem is to determine if I can fit 285s on a 10inch wheel in the front without rubbing and have a semi flush or flush stance. I've seen a couple of guys with RPF1s (+30 offset) on pictures, but I dont know their camber.

If i understand correctly, you want to run 18x9.5 +22, with a 285 tire in front?
Absolutely.

Hotrod, Alwakkra, and others all run 18x11 or 18x10.5 +15 or +18 with 285s in front on their track cars. They are probably at closer to -3 front camber tho, but you should be more than able to get a proper fitment. camber will also depend no your height

in any case, with the SPL FUCA you can run . . . basically any size wheel/tire you want. The adjustability is enormous.

Just gotta roll your fenders too for that extra space . . . but you can definitely do it.

Hell, Hotrodv is running 18x11+15 and a 315 tire on the track.

Thanks for the response Option Zero. I'm trying to fit 18x10-285/35 in the front with my current camber -1.47.

Probably gonna need to make that more than -2

There is no reason to be stud at -1.47

Negative camber is good within limits

You will need more negative camber to make that wide a tire fit on the front. As mentioned by others in the thread, what really kills tires is the excessive amount of toe that results from the change in camber when you lower the car. Once you fix that you should be good.

I am one of the folks running close to your ideal setup and with -3.7 of negative camber in the front it clears my fenders just fine.

I was able to know this would fit by researching the 18 inch wheel thread. The info and plenty of examples are out there. ;)

Didn't catch this the first time. The "green" range is the acceptable range for the MANUFACTURERS RECOMMENDED SETTINGS.

Nissan is not in the business of helping you fit more aggressive wheels. Nissan is in the business of increasing tire wear for the secretary that buys the sportscar to put put to work. Nissan is in the business of building in understeering so your below average minion doesn't spin out and sue them and/or whine about it

You want your camber to be even side to side, and to be sufficiently negative for your wheel/tire setup not to rub. Not to obey Nissan, who didn't even bother to build in any adjustibility into the front camber due to cost cutting.

There is no reason to stick to the factory alignment unless you love understeer and crappy wheel fitment, or are a lawyer for Nissan.

Gotcha. Thanks a lot guys. I really appreciate your help. I finally got some concise info. I'm going to start playing with that camber and see what I can do. Thanks again.

if im not mistaken, a general rule is you dont really start to sacrifice performance until you exceed -3 and even then its questionable. I currently have -2.3 front and -2.6 rear and it rides like a dream

there's drift cars running way over that

it depends what you want to do that determines how much camber is optimal for performance

for looks? run what you need to make the wheels fit

Alright guys, I have done my browsing and been in contact with some people at fitment industries.

Currently I am running stock suspension, and stock wheels (19's) with the Big Brake Kit.
I'm looking for an flush-almost flush fitment, WITHOUT SPACERS (unless very minimal) as they wear and tear up your car, and this is my daily. I would also like to keep the staggered stance.

WHEELS INTERESTED IN:
*ESR SR01....Aodhan AH02....XXR531....Aodhan DS06...Varrstoen Es1
Color - WHITE with chrome/machined deep dish lip

IF ANYONE has any of those wheels, please get ahold of me so I can get an understanding of what you have done for them to fit. The ESR SR01's are a personal fav and really would like to make those work, but fitmentindustries said ESR was not able to find the caliper clearance on the Z.

did you . . . skip all of my posts and instead contact Fitment Industries of all places?

and everyone of your choices is a garbage fake three piece split spoke design

mother of god this is terrible

Oh...? I read every word of your posts and no where did it tell me what the brake clearance distance is from the bolt points. I understand all of offset and backspacing and so on...didn’t mean to upset ya

Brake clearance is wheel specific

Those wheels have terrible clearance because they are cheapass fake 3 piece

Get a real wheel like the Work VSXX/MX or SSR MS1/MS3 and they can get you a specific face to clear your brakes

send over $3800 and I'd be glad to. Not everyone can afford such wheels right off the bat...hate to argue but you seem to only like the best and bash people who cannot pay for such. Very helpful information but we can agree to disagree on the wheel choice :)

You do realize the wheels you're looking at are worse than the stock Rays in every measurable metric, right? They're weaker, heavier and fit worse than stock. You would literally be far better off doing nothing than buying the wheels you want.

XXR/Varrstoen/etc are the shitty brands that retards and ricers buy. Don't be that guy. Your car deserves better.

Save up and do it right
Or
Get out of the game

Buy my 20" 3-piece HRE :eek: