Hi folks,

Just as the title alludes to: Will larger wheels necessarily increase my ground clearance?

I currently have the OEM 17's with an Eibach Pro Kit, and I bottom out A LOT. Plus, I cannot take my car to a car wash (I know... boo, hiss from some of you).

I currently have OEM 17" wheels (c. 2003) , and I am looking to upgrade to OEM 19" wheels (c. 2006) this year.

I know the tire plays a serious factor in determining such, but just assume that I will be rolling with the factory recommended rubber.

Also, as a side note: Are the 19" OEM wheels heavier than the 17" wheels? Just curious how a change may affect my performance... rotational inertia, bla, bla, bla.

Thanks,

Clint

 

umm i guess ill give it a shot but i think the 19" maybe a little bit heavier or there lighter im not so sure on that part but yes bigger wheels do give you more ground clearance......your performance should not be affected

this is what i think but if im wrong someone correct me

 

this is incorrect, the OEM 17s and 19s have almost the exact same height so the ground clearance will be no different. The only way to gain ground clearance is to swap your springs

 

yeah, I had 17's stock, switched to 19's and it seems almost a touch little lower - could be wrong though.

 

No real difference in ground clearance between 19" vs 18" vs 17". The tires on a 19" have a lower profile/shorter sidewall when compared to an 18" or 17" tire, but the rim makes up that difference. Overall diameter of the 3 sizes is approx the same.
You need a less aggressive set of springs if you're scraping all the time.

 

right. If you keep the overall diameter of the new tires the same as the OEM, ground clearance won't change. The sidewall ratio will change to adjust for that.

Since the OEM 19's are forged, they are lighter than non-forged and should weigh about the same as the 17's. I doubt you would notice.

 

Not only they don't give you a higher clearance, but they *shouldn't.* If they did, that would mean you changed the overall diameter of your wheel (tire+rim), which is bad. This changes your speedometer reading, can affect VDC, brake performance, and more.

(If you want to be specific, it's only bad if you changed your speedometer reading by more than 3%).

 

It can even though you keep the same overall diameter. Remember, lower profile tires usually have stiffer sidewalls, so the car might sit higher because the same amount of weight isn't compressing the side walls as much.

 

True, but I'd say that's negligible. The sidewalls on the original 17'' don't compress that much. I'd say less than 2cm, at most.

 

Please see this picture to see how little ground clearance I have.

I have ~ 3.75" of clearance on my side skirts--enough to prop up my Blackberry against a side skirt to give you an idea. Is this normal for just an Eibach Prokit to drop a G this much?

 

Yes, my suggestion? swap to z s-techs, slightly less drop and better linear springrates

 

Here's a good tire calculator to show you how close your new tire height matches your stock tire height.

 

Is that correct. I thought the prokit gives you a closer spring# compared
with OEM or maybe thats on the Sport Suspension.?

 

Check out Gsedan35's thorough thread about nearly every available spring and coilover combo available, with the stock spring rates.

https://g35driver.com/forums/brakes-suspension/65190-g35-350z-aftermarket-coilover-springs-shocks-spec-s-w-updates.html

 

WOW..thats a ton of info and also something I've been looking for.

Talk about killing 2 birds with 1 stone

thanks!