Slappy said:
What did you get those for?..the Z? You gonna have 2 sets of wheels for Grip and Drift?
At Warminister, I was running 2-3 seconds behind other people in my class who had much wider and stickier tires. Also, after only six runs at Englishtown, I noticed my entry speed on the mall turn dropped almost 10 mph. I can't afford to burn up expensive tires, but I'm never going to have good grip tires unless I spend a little more money. Having two different sets of tires just seems logical.
In addition, I'm extemely pleased with the Direzza DZ101's for drifting. They're cheap, perform good, and don't chunk. However, I don't think they're a good grip tire. When they get hot, they get greasy and want to slide. On my last run at Warminister, I went through the finish line backwards because the rear came around! :eek4:
I had decided that i needed a wheel to accomadate a much wider tire, plus I was curious if a lower profile will stiffen the sidewalls. As for tires, I'm going to try either the new Direzza Z1 Sport or Potenza RE-01R in 255/35 & 265/35. I'm leaning towards the Potenzas, because they're only about $10 more a tire and a much stickier compound.
Reckless13 said:
Nice, are those just the front? ord you run same fitment all the way around?
Yeah, all four are identical, just like my 17's. I wasn't crazy about the front's (18x8.5 +30) that they were selling. For one, they would not have allowed me to run an any wider tire than I'm running now. Second, the offset didn't seem right, although, I could have fixed it with the 20mm spacers I ordered for the other wheels. It was pretty funny when I told the salesman I want to buy four rears. When he wanted to know why, I lied and said I already had a set of fronts. LOL. :dancingna
I've got this theory. You have to run a slight stagger on a 350Z to keep the ABS and TCS from going wacky. If I run a slight stagger on the same size wheels, it will cause the fronts sidewalls to be stretched (stiffer) and the rears are just a little less stretched, which causes the rear tires be less snappy (unpredictable) when they exceed grip. It really seems to work on the 17's, because when it comes to turn in, DZ101's are crappier than the stock RE040's, but when I switched wheels, the Direzza's turn in was
waaaay better!
Anyhow, for you five Lug S14 guys, there are tons of 350z wheels on clearance at the tire rack right now. We actually tried my 17x8.5 +35 SSR GT7's on the front of Brad's S14 and they looked perfect! Good steering travel, offset and everything! Just go to Tirerack.com and do a search for "2003 350z Base Coupe." Here's a couple of my favorites on sale now that will probably fit:
Gram Lights 57c 17x8.5 +30
Gold - 20 lbs!
Normally $301
Closeout $189 each!
SSR GT7 17x8.5 +35 (my wheels)
Silver with Machined Lip - 18.5 lbs
Normally $379
Closeout $119
SSR Professor SP1 17x8.5 +35 (+30 for $10 more)
Black with Anodized Lip - 21.2 lbs (+30 20.7 lbs)
Normally $399
Closeout $189
WedsSport SA-90 17x8 +35
Light Grey - 21 lbs
Normally $299
Closeout $149
WedsSport SA-90 17x8 +35
Bronze - 21 lbs
Normally $299
Closeout $159
WedsSport TC005 17x8.5 +35
Light Grey -
16.5 lbs!!!
Normally $359
Closeout $259
Disclaimer: Don't come crying to me, when you didn't check to see if these wheels really will fit and they don't. :nono
