The only complaint I have of the G35 is that I've broken the back end free both accelerating and hitting corners hard. I've seen that plenty of folks have put 18s, 19s, and even 20s into their cars, but can we use wider rubber? Is it possible to get a 17 wheel that will accept a wider, stickier tire - or maybe put wider tires on my stock 17s?



-townsley-
2003 Brilliant Silver Premium Sedan

 

I think you can go as wide as 235 on the stock rims. 235/50R17 seems to be a popular replacement size for stock rims. You don't want to go any wider than that on the front, but if you're willing to not be able to rotate your tires, you can get wider rims and put wider tires in the rear. You just need to keep the diameter of the front v. the rear very close so the VDC system doesn't go haywire.

2003.5 G35 Sedan Desert Platinum/Graphite Premium/Sport/Aero/Nav/Winter

 

Ok, I did my wheel and tire buying after a ton of research. My goal's were, rims have to weigh less than oem and they have to have a 45mm offset so I could toy with wheel spacers if needed to stuff the fattest possible tire in the wheel well's without rubbing on either the suspension or the fender lips. I'm running 245/40-18" all the way around. In the front I have 2mm clearance from the suspension, If I use my H&R wheel spacers I think I might be able to stuff a 255 tire in the front. In the rear with the 45mm offset rims I can run a 255 tire no problem, could run a 265 tire no problem to, except a 265 tire should not be run on a 8" rim. If someone was willing to pay big $$ they'd likely be able to find a rim setup with a high offset and 9" rear's.

In any event when these tires need to be replaced I'm going to run 245's in the front, but upgrade to 255's in the rear. My own testing confirms the fact that the car should have been equiped oem with a staggered setup.

 

Are the stock 18"s narrower than the stock 17"s? Maybe I'm doing this wrong, but rim to rim my 17s measured at least 9.5" wide, if not 10". The selection of custom wheels wider than 10" out there is pretty small. I'm not sure about wider tires, but I think if you're running 17s like mine you simply want better tires rather than wider.

One thing you can do for straight line acceleration is let some air out of your rear tires. The dealership tends to overinflate them for presentability purposes. My G with 17s was delivered with 38 psi in back, which is just a little less than what people use for autocross.

-Jack
Obsidian/graphite '03 Coupe premium nav

 

jdman:
methinks we have sedan vs. coupe thing here.

 

JDMan, the orignal question was posed by a sedan owner. The sedan has 17x7 rims. There are no stock 18's for the sedan. Our stock tire size is 215/55R17. Your coupe is a bit different. I can't find the coupe rim widths published on Infiniti's site, for some strange reason, so I can't answer your question.

2003.5 G35 Sedan Desert Platinum/Graphite Premium/Sport/Aero/Nav/Winter