Aftermarket 18's over 19's + Vice Versa and why?
 

Sometime in the future I plan on purchasing a set of new wheels for my coupe. I am having trouble deciding if I should go 18's or 19's. If someone has the time to answer, I have a few questions:

Ideally (for financial reasons) if I went 18's, I would like to use the same tires I have on my coupe now. I have the 18's with Bridgestone Potenza SOS Pole Positions. Tires are VERY expensive and I can't afford 1000 dollars a year to replace them.

1) how likely is it I will be able to find rims that allow me to use the tires i have now? Or at the very least, use tires that cost the same amount of money?

2) How much more $ is it for a 19 inch tire? I'm not asking anyone to look up exact numbers, a simple answer of:
Out of my league, A lot more or about the same will do fine.

3) I live in NY (not the city) but there are still potholes galore and it is an issue. How will the 19 inch rims AND tires hold up compared to the 18's?

4) Cosmetically, 19's will look better than 18's, do you guys think it is worth spending upwards of 2500 dollars on aftermarket 18's anyways?

These are just my specific concerns and I'm sure everyone here purchased wheels and tires with different concerns in their minds. So even if you purchased bigger or smaller wheels for different reasons than me, please post and share why you made the decision you did.

Thanks,
Evan

Re: Aftermarket 18's over 19's + Vice Versa and why?
 

I'll do my best here Evan

1) Well if you stick with 18's then you should be able to use the tires you have now as long as you don't get a really wide rim. Obviously if you go with 19's you would not be able to but they do make the S03's in 19" as well

2) 19" tires are more expensive but certainly not out of your league. I think the 19" S03's are around $260 (not positive). I'm pretty sure they are within $40 of the 18" tires

3) The 18"s will have a better chance of with standing a big pothole but that is not to say "19's are always in danger. As long as you go with a "forged" 19" wheel, you shouldn't have to worry too much more than you would with 18"

4) This is subjective but in my opinion the answer is No. If I decided on sticking with 18" wheels, then I would just stay with the stock setup and use the money elsewhere.

Well that is my two cents on everything. Hope that helps.
One more thing, if you do decide on getting rims, PM revhighonline, he will treat you right!!

http://www.sinurgy.com/alice.jpg

R.I.P. Pat Tillman 1976 - 2004

Re: Aftermarket 18's over 19's + Vice Versa and why?
 

Evan,
I agree with Sinurgy and would only add that $2500 is a lot of money for a change in appearance. Personally, I enjoy the 18" wheel that Infiniti provides, and I love cleaning them. It takes about 10 minutes TOPS!

You asked for personal reasons, well mine is that I valuve performance over looks to a degree. I happen to like the way the wheel looks, and if I want to differentiate my vehicle from others, I'd prefer to do it with something that actually improves it's performance. A 19" in my opinion, will degrade the performance by making the ride too rough.

If I had $2500 to blow (I do), I'd spend it on plenum, cats, headers, exhaust (which I'm currently doing), and then, I'd spend it on audio upgrade.

In other words, I don't see it as a gain going to a 19" 1) it's not that big of a diff between the 18" 2) it's performance degrading 3) for a given amount of money you can get a much bigger bang for your buck with other mods (assuming you haven't done them already).

My .02! If you do decide to go with the 19"s, by all means post pics. Don't forget, depending on the condition of the 18"s you will recoupe some of your losses selling them on ebay, but the dealer won't care that you have the 19"s when you trade. Your car is worth the same to most dealers, either way, and some might prefer you had the stock wheel.

2004.5 Coupe/5AT/Ivory/Everything but chin spoiler/Z Tube-Popcharger/Crawford V5 Plenum on the way

Re: Aftermarket 18's over 19's + Vice Versa and why?
 

Amen........
Exactly what I would have said......but Cat beat me to it!!!!!

"Remember.....If you drink,don't park....accidents cause people!"

Re: Aftermarket 18's over 19's + Vice Versa and why?
 

I like the way the 18's perform as well and dont really want to sacrifice any of the performance for bigger wheels. Also, if i went with 19's i would keep the 18's for use during the winter.

After the warranty runs out in roughly 3 years, i plan on supercharging or turbocharging my G along with installing a nice bodykit from either Top Secret or Greddy.

If i have a choice between the body kit and upgraded wheels, which way would you go?

Do you guys think it will look sort of wierd if i have the 18 inch stock wheels with a body kit and turbo?

What about aftermarket 18's? or should i just strike the number 18 from my vocabularly altogeather and go with the 19's?

What tire setup are people with supercharged G35's currently using?

Thanks again

Re: Aftermarket 18's over 19's + Vice Versa and why?
 

If I had the money for a body kit (and/or wheels), and a blower after making payments for four years I would just buy an M3.

But to answer your question more directly, no I don't think it would look weird. What looks weird is a street luxury sports sendan rolling around with 1 cm of tire. What feels weird is needing a Lortab everytime I hit a pothole :).

Ask yourself what makes YOU happy and do that. If you like 3 wheel motion, and 20's do that. Not my thing, but there's Yugo drivers out there that look at me like I'm crazy for even buying the car I did without the mods. Personally, I think the 18"s are very well suited for this car. Everything is compromise, and at some point there is a point of diminishing returns or an optimal point where compromise nets what your mission is seeking to fulfill.

Do you want to go fast in a straight line, turn with the most Gs, look cool (if so, define cool first), or merely get from point A to point B?

If it's the first, then a body kit or wheels won't help you. But tires will. If it's the second, then tires and wheels. If it's the third, then define who you want to emulate and get what they got. Basically, define your mission and do what makes you happy.



2004.5 Coupe/5AT/Ivory/Everything but chin spoiler/Z Tube-Popcharger/Crawford V5 Plenum on the way

Re: Aftermarket 18's over 19's + Vice Versa and why?
 

Very insightful information, ill keep that in mind, thanks