I have 245/35/19 and 285/35/19 without any problems. With the larger diameter tire/wheel and the taller sidewalls, I clear everything. I am lowered about an inch and I never scrape on anything. My speedometer is also much more accurate now. With the larger setup, my speedo is off by .5 MPH with GPS.

 

Get some nice All-Terrain or Mud Tires with minimal backspacing and a high profile and a suspension lift... that's what I did, because it helps me with ground clearance on my G35 Coupe for when I'm plowing with my car and pulling stuck trucks out of the snow in the winter.

Plus it's really great for running over fat chicks without them getting stuck under the car.

 

Autogear makes a billet air cup kit that fits over coilovers to raise the car. There's a video and more info about it on their webpage. I've seen these in person, by the way. http://www.autogearracing.com

 

Ok, a bit of an update here (that seems to be the trend here on the board, yes? Start with the problem, then let folks know how it turned out!?)

First, thanks again to everyone who has helped out here - this has been a great first experience on the board.

Currently, the car is with the Infiniti dealer overnight, and tomorrow there will be series of small issues resolved. (Service is inspecting the car, front license plate mounted, new keys, etc.) During it's time there, my hope is that I'll get a call telling me it had been lowered at some point in the past, but honestly, I doubt it.

The service rep at the dealer and I went round and round on the problem. Infiniti will sell me OEM 17, 18, or 19 inch wheels, and tires to match - but only to their specs, which doesn't get me anywhere. They declined to place "larger tires" on the stock wheels and suggested I visit the local Tire/Wheel shops up the road.

Furthermore, as was predicted here, they refused to do anything to the suspension, springs, etc... if the concept of "a sedan spring in a coupe raises the car" is true - Infiniti isn't going to help me find out!

I also asked about "spring spacers" and was told, if I used them, I would invalidate the warranty on any suspension component and possibly more.

So, off down the road I went to the tire shops.

First stop, after explaining my problem, they looked at me like I was from Mars. The guy behind the counter said that he didn't think he could go any bigger than what was allowed by Infiniti, but would check and call me later.

I doubt the call is ever coming.

Tire stop two. Very helpful folks - the kind of store with all sorts of stereo components, plus wheels, tires, lift kits for SUVs, just all sorts of stuff. After again explaining my problem, I was told that the store could order Capital/Falcon tires for my existing 17" wheels that were 225/55 frt, 235/55 r (so simply going from a 50 series to a 55 series) and that this would increase the overall diameter by 9/10ths of an inch - roughly giving me 0.45 of an inch more clearance on the car.

They then also brought up the discussion of "spring spacers" saying that they could, and would, install them once the car was in for tires, and that I could expect to get a full inch or more of extra clearance. Recalling what my service rep had just told me I figured I had better pass.

Still, I left encouraged that for approximately $500 I could at least get a half inch more room.

Third stop was a wheel shop recommended by my service rep from Infiniti. Class act all the way - the sales guy (and owner I think) sat with me for an hour, staying past close to run different numbers. Eventually, we've came to the following plan...

Tomorrow, I'm taking the car in and he will "test fit" a set of OEM Infiniti 19" wheels and tires on the car. Using this as a gauge, we'll then order the largest tires we feel can fit safely.

Currently, there is hope that 245/45 R19s will fit in the front. This would take the current 25.9" to 27.7" giving me just under an inch more clearance. Should this prove too large to accommodate the wheel well, body trim, etc. there is a high level of confidence that 255/40 R19s will fit, which still increase the 25.9" to 27.0" buying me a half inch or so of increase.

In the rear, the plan is to replace the stock 235/50 R17s with 275/40 R19s, taking the 26.3" to 27.7", buying me three quarters of an inch or so more clearance.



So, as you can see - option A was to buy 4 new tires and use the existing 17" wheels. This looks to, at best according to Tire store folks, get me a half inch gain in the front and rear. Option B is to buy new 19" wheels, and then tires that will, at worst, get me the same half inch gain in the front and rear, but that may accommodate up to an inch more in the front and 3/4 of an inch in the rear. (The sales guy assures me the car will not look "odd" with this arrangement, as apparently it already slants forward, and that at worst the car would now be "level.")

We did talk about the "coil overs" displayed on the store's wall - he was very hesitant to dicuss them, saying that we would only "go there" as a last resort. He felt rather certain that the new wheels/tires would buy me some much needed height.


Finally, to answer VA 04 g35's comment, I had a look around today - and among the trucks and SUVs downstairs are late model Acura TSX Sedans (3 of them), a rather new looking Toyota Camry LE Sedan, an older Honda S2000, a 99 Lexus IS300, a G20, and go figure - a Nissan Altima 2.5S Coupe - which according to the all-knowing Internet has a ground clearance of 5.2" - 0.3 inches LOWER than my G35! (Now doesn't that make you scratch your head? All I can guess is that the wheel base being 7 inches shorter than the G35 helps it out? It seems most everything in that list is 105in or shorter on the wheel base, and I'm 112.)

At any rate, again - thank you to everyone for the help - if there are any more smart ideas, I'd love to hear them... lord willing the extra inch or so on the car will be the answer - but I'm not convinced.

Cheers,
Josh

 

I sincerely hope this works out for you! You have put a LOT of time into this. It might have taken less time to pack up and find a new place to live! Also I'm glad that you have had a good first experience on the board. In general most people are helpful......as long as you make use of the search function. You wouldn't believe how many issues get asked over and over again, but I can honestly say you made the first thread I have seen on lifting your car!

 

try this link if for wheel tire combos. The left side is your stock tires or rim and the right side is what your trying to get to. http://www.rims-n-tires.com/rt_specs.jsp

 

Yeah man, I'm also pulling for you. Hopefully the car situation works out. It absolutely sucks to hear your car scrape going up or down anywhere. One of the worst noises for sure.


Let us know how things go down the road. This is the first time I've also seen the "I want to raise my car thread".

I'm not particularly sure, but does anyone know how the Lambo system works to raise the nose of the car. I think a cousin of mine had this on his old 3000GT, very cool stuff, especially if there is a possibility that you can do a retrofit.

I think you'll like the coupe 19's though.

Best of luck to you.

 

The Lambo uses a hydraulic system to raise the car, according to a Lambo dealer anyway. If the OP went that route he could get the gangsta lean driving down the road.

 

Good luck with this! Looks like your gonna be able to pull this off without a problem. Either way you go I dont see how it could not work out, Bigger tires on the 17's is just more rubber to play with while the 19's are gonna look clean if you go with them. Thats what the forum is supposed to be for! Help and information. Im glad to see even with this bizzare request theres people willing/able to help with this.

 

can i please see how your driveway looks like because my car is slammed and i make it up some driveways and over speed bumps that otherwise would trash my front end if i didnt go in on an angle. the stock clearance on the coupe isnt low at all...

 

So you want to raise up your G...
Do you dress like these fellas?

 

Good luck. But you could have saved yourself some time and trips by checking out the tire size calculator I posted earlier, or by calling the Tire Rack! By talking to the Tire Rack, you'll also get some more (and better) tire options.

 

why buy a sports coupe and then want to RAISE IT? just buy a truck.. is that so hard to understand?

 

Good luck with the tires, but airbags still would have been the best thing to do IMO

 

This is a really old thread, but I was thinking about this as I've been a bit surprised with how easily the bumper scrapes against the ground (my car came with a pretty trashed front bumper). I got this car not expecting I would have to be as careful with scraping as e.g. a Porsche Cayman S.

The stock clearance seems to be something like 5-6", so I am looking for something like a spring seat spacer to just give it another half inch or so while not stiffening the spring and reducing suspension travel. Taller tires would be an alternative that can also get there, which would probably be smarter, but I'm most likely not going to make it through this set of tires any time soon... I don't think effectively taller gearing would be an issue as I find the tires breaking loose very easily with my '04.

I see lots of spacers for trucks and I would bet one of them probably has the right diameter, but it's hard to tell lol.