ArcticW

Has anyone noticed a performance decrease when they went from the stock 15" to a 17" or higher rim size? I was looking at a 2001 SE style rim for my white SE, but ive run into some advice that having a bigger rims will saddle the car. Ive seen some lightweight rims , but they are $$$, plus this is Chicagoland. Dont wanna damage expensive rims on a curb lol.

Any practical knowledge of people who have upgraded their rims without a serious performance slowdown? Thanks.

dgeesaman

iTrader: (10)

It all depends on how big of a rim and how heavy. Do some googling (there are a couple of websites with raw wheel weights) and get a wheel that's not a major pig. The problem is that if you buy on cost and appearance alone you can easily end up with boat anchors on the corners, and it WILL slow the car down. Both in acceleration and handling.

The 2001 SE wheels shouldn't be a large change, but I don't know the specs on them to verify it.

Dave

mindlessoath

iTrader: (1)

if you get 17"s expect them to be heavy and you will loose performance, feel, gas milage etc.

even with the larger size and light weight, you will notice some down sides to it.

go for 15 or 16 lightwieight wheels. i belive our wheels stock (at least me 97 SE rims) are 19lbs not including the tires.

www.edgeracing.com has wheel weights on there site, or goto wheelweights.net or whatever that site is called (google it : )

sweetjackal82

I have a '95 BONE STOCK... I took the OEM 17" wheels off my '02 and put them on with 245/45/17's I like it A LOT!!
It looks sooooo much better and there are not any noticable performance drawbacks. In fact the car feels more stable and better traction off the line with that fat 245/45 on 'em. Again, bone stock so maybe if i had done some work to it and added some power you might notice a slight loss. Either way i dont care it is slow as hell compared to my '02.

Ceasars Chariot

iTrader: (16)

bigger heavier wheels do slow you down. to say that they dont would be like saying, your car is faster with 3 fat people riding with you, versus when its just you the driver?

further more, i did a test an tune with my new ssrs (back when they were new) versus my old stock se rims. the outcome was SSR .3 faster in 1/4 mile.

505max94se

iTrader: (15)

Heavier wheels definitely slow you down especially the faster you are going. In other words, they drastically hurt your top end.

dgeesaman

iTrader: (10)

Actually it's both. Heavier wheels slow your acceleration, regardless if you're accelerating from 10mph or 80mph. (More technically speaking, heavier wheels usually have a higher rotational moment of inertia, and MOI is exactly what is slowing the acceleration.

At the top end, you will notice the wheels don't respond as easily to steering input. Not that you'll see this often on the street, but if you autocross or make an emergency swerve you'll need to put a little more into the steering wheel to get it there.

Finally, your suspension and handling will lose some with a heavier wheel because it's just more weight out there getting bounced around under the shocks. For handling performance you want the wheels/unsprung elements as light as possible so they respond to the road at instantly as possible. The the Maxima doesn't exactly have a refined suspension, so I wouldn't get too worried about that.

If you want a very light/fast/cheap wheel, look into 93-95 RX-7 wheels. 16x7.5 (good for a 225/55R16 tire). The rim weighs around 16lb.

Dave

ArcticW

You guys forgot about speedo error hehe...Thanks for the advice,Im looking at at nissan 2001 OEM SE rims ,plus a lowering kit.RX7 rims are a good idea but I cant roll tacky with mazda logo rims on a nissan lol.

nismology

iTrader: (8)

It's the opposite. The higher the rate of acceleration the more the performance hit (going with heavier wheels) or gain (going with lighter wheels). The fact that lightened flywheels help alot in the first couple gears and not so much in the longer gears is based on this principle.