deezo

iTrader: (3)

Is it for performance reasons or your just tired of them?

mbcp_tdogg

Two reasons:

1) I wanted better than the stock Potenzas because I was afraid of its wet performance

and

2) Someone was willing to buy my rims off me so it wasn't a costly venture.

Sonic

No, he said aftermarket. I've noticed this too, BTW.

mbcp_tdogg

Ooops...

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

I bet these are 18" rims you're talking about mostly, right?? Well, these are probably the main reasons;

1. Didn't like the loss in straight line performance when they upped their wheel size. Cornering ability went up, but acceleration and braking (in the wet) decreased.

2. The ride got worse. Going over a pebble probably felt like WHAM!

That's part of the reason I put 17*7s on my car. Stock SEs came with 16*6.5s. I didn't want the weight to increase that much, and the ride harshness didn't increase that much. It was an upgrade I could live with.

DW

Llfe

iTrader: (5)

yea...lots of people selling but not the rims i want...dammit

ryz

I got one
there is such a lack of mods people (with money ) do the same mod over & over .Rims are readily available so buy some ,sell some.Then again the longer you own your car the more likely you are gonna want to change the look;chrome then gunmetal then painted then silver then back to stock
I would love to get a set of the six spoke q45 rims ,anybody selling ?

Confused

iTrader: (4)

Nope

NickStam

iTrader: (3)

I want to go with a different design. That simple.

smrtazz_97

....something like this, maybe???

Shadow

iTrader: (15)

I just wanted something bigger. I have my 17"s for 2 years and just got tired of looking at how small they were. The Maxima is such a big car that 17"s just don't seem to be big enough, so I went to 19"s.

NickStam

iTrader: (3)

Umm, yes

smrtazz_97

Let's work it out.

mbcp_tdogg

Shadow...I dig your wheels. They look good on your Max.

Cumalot

iTrader: (8)

For me, two reasons:

1. wanted a different look. After I sell my 18" rims, I'll purchase new rims.

2. weight. These 18" ADR rims I got are HEAVY. They can't help when I'm at the track. I'm getting 17" rims, and they should be lighter than the 18s.

Dave B

I thought the stock 15s looked a little small, even with the drop. I then switched to 17s (anthracite-way before anyone else was doing it). I loved the look, but I hated the fact that they slowed me down .2 and 1mph. I then started switching my 15s on when I went to the track, but that got old quick. I thought long and hard and decidied that since I'm much more serious about performance and handling, I figured lightweight 16s was the way to go. I bought 16X7.5 Kosei K1s what weigh less than my 15s overall. I can hook up MUCH harder on the street than my 17s or 15s ever could. Same goes for the track. I also don't have to swap my rims for the track or winter.

Like I said, I'm far more concerned about performance than looks. Bigger wheels and lower profile tires don't necessairly mean better cornering. There is a limit to how big, low, and wide you can go before the setup makes handling worse. To me, 17s look perfect. 18s and 19s are all show, ride sucks, handling is ponderous on the bumps, and there are way too many potholes waiting to munch those things.


Dave

deezo

iTrader: (3)

Dave B, its funny you brought up the performance at the track with the look good wheels.

I have thought for a while now that if some of you guys are really serious about performance at the track, why not use 15" or 16" wheels. Smaller wheels will give you more acceleration with the lower overall rotating mass. I think if I was really looking into racing my ride, I would probably stay with my stock 15" wheels but go with a wider tire(which I am thinking of doing anyway) until I budget for some nice wheels.

Dave B

Thin spoke 16s that are wide (7.5") actually look pretty large. Even though my 16s are lighter overall than the 16s, I do give up more rotational weight with the 16s therefore I doubt they are any better than the 15s.

You're right though. If you were to get a slightly wider and quality Z-rated tire, you would be running CIRCLES around the guys with larger tires. It's just up to you if you can stand the look. I think it's a hell of a sleeper look and isn't bad at all. Larger wheels aren't all they are cracked up to be. If these guys with the larger rims were a part of autocross, they'd know only the truely fast guys on the coarse run 14,15, and 16 inch rims.


Dave

Shadow

iTrader: (15)

I would never take my 19"s to an autocross. I was told by several friends who autocross heavily that the tires would probably roll over unless I pumped them up to insane amounts of pressure. But I built my car to win shows, not race. It's an auto Maxima, not the best thing for all out performance.

My performance did get worse with the 19"s, the handling is more floaty, and the acceleration and braking are a little worse. Oh well, we all make our choices.

deezo

iTrader: (3)

I guess autos are only good in Grand Turismo 2.

As far as the rims go, with 19's you would need a high pressure tire with very strong sidewalls for autocrossing (I am sure you know this anyway}. I think most street tire wouldn't do the trick.

Not to chnage the subject but when I raced RC 1/10th scale Off Road and On Road events, you couldn't race with the look good stuff because they wouldn't look to good after a race and the parts were heavy. For people that wanted to show off good looks, there was a class they could enter into called Concourse. The average weight for a competion car was 3.2 pounds and the concourse cars were 4 pounds and over.

Either way you go there will be sacrifices that need to be made.

Chillboy

when i replaced my 17 se rims with 18" OZ rims... the oz rims were alot lighter than the stock rims. my handling improved drastically... i also feel faster off the line because my tires are wider now and dont peel out as much. my ride doesnt feel that bumpy either... and im running on stock shocks and eibach... i drive through DC like 3 times a week in morning traffic with killer potholes but i manage.

Dave B

Even if the rims are lighter, more weight is further out from the hub which means more rotational mass which in turn equals slower acceleration. Not being able to peel out as easily makes me think you've reduced the torque. You might be hooking up better, but I can assure you that your initial 100' of acceleration is slower. Low profile tires suck for off the line acceleration. The short and hard sidewall are horrible for biting the pavement. Cornering? yes. Straight line? No. Get a quality Z-rated on a SE 15" rim and you'll outhandle and out accelerate the +1 or +2 setup.


Dave

deezo

iTrader: (3)

I was watching TNN yesterday and there was a hot rod show on. The hosts of the show were showing people how to setup a drag car and one of the subjects they spoke about was tire size. They were telling people to go with a taller tire with a high sidewall because the tires do grab better. They also got into talking about weight distribution and power. A lot of people on this site want the go fast parts to throw on there Maximas but how many are trying to make the car lighter?
To everyone: More power + Less weight = Less work
Less work means you will be going faster and you will be happier with your 1/4 runs.

Dave B

Exactly.
Unfortunately, most people continue to believe that wide low profile tires on larger rims will help acceleration. There's also a myth that heavier rims slow you down initially, but as the wheels roll, the parasitic loss no longer exists. Wrong. At all speeds, coasting or not, the parasitic loss is still there.

I'm far more concerned about performance, however those that have seen my car think it looks pretty good. Personally, I thought it wasn't cost effective to run a y-pipe just to compensate for my heavier rims. When I first got my car, I thought the rims didn't make much of a difference. When I went to the track, my opinion quickly changed.


Dave

deezo

iTrader: (3)

I also wondered about the catalytic converter and I think this will be my first mod being that some guys were talking about the cons of installing a large diameter free-flow exhaust giving less back pressure for torque. When I installed a free-flow cat on my Toyota truck, I was able to get more power in the higher rpm range. It was a 4 banger tho. The cat made the engine feel stronger. I think I can get the same effect with the Max too while staying legal.

fast97maxse

I've been thinking about getting wheels for some months now.
Initally my concerns were stricly looks.
As I found out more, weight became more important.
And of course there's cost...

After lots of looking I decided on the Kosei K1s.
Low weight, nice look, not too expensive.

But I wanted Anthracite - which only came in the 16" size.
But I wanted 17" for the way the wheel and lower profile tire looked.

What the heck, I decided I wanted Anthracite more
and the 16" package would weigh less and cost less.

And now I just found out that they've come out with
the K1s in anthracite in 17".

So I think that's what I'll be ordering this week.
I don't race. One day maybe I'll log some track time
but it's mainly my commuter.

I'll keep my stock wheels and throw some snows on em
when the RSAs wear out.

Dave B -
are you still happy w/ your K1s?
I read a post somewhere once about supposed reports of cracking...?

What about the anthracite finish - how's it holding up?

What did you do for lug nuts?
I want black ones that lock.

Also, NE1 know where I can get (dark)blue anodized valve stems?

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

If you're gonna make a free flo cat your 1st mod, don't expect much. The only exhaust mods that really open up your car are Y pipe and, to a bit lesser extent, the B pipe. All others increase your hp marginally.

For things like a free flo cat, and muffler, you should be looking more to the total output, rather than the increase of that particular mod.

DW

Dave B

Deezo-
Forget the RT cat until you do the y-pipe and B-pipe. I didn't notice much of a difference with my RT cat, but I make a bit more torque than most 4th gens which may be attributed to the RT cat. I don't know.

fast97MaxSE-
My K1s hae been flawless. I have the silver since the anthracite wasn't out at the time. My buddy has the anthracite K1 in the 15" on his blue 2K Si. However, be warned that the anthracite finish isn't metallic and it almost has a greenish hue. I haven't heard many compliants about the K1s cracking, but I'm sure it's possible if you whack a big enough curb or pothole. Seeing that the K1 spokes are very thin, I'd almost have to say running them in a 17 with low profile tires might be a little dangerous. My 16s look a bit bigger than the 97 16" SE rims due to the fact the K1s are thin spoke, but are wide (7.5") and they fill the fender plus I've got a 1.7" drop and front spoiler.
The lug nuts the Tirerack gives you are black and the valve stem and writing is in electric blue. I still haven't bought locking lugs yet (I park in a garage). When I do get locking lugs, I'll scuff them and paint them with black high temperature engine paint. All should be good. Goodluck.

Dave

fast97maxse

Thanks
I keep going back and forth 16". No, 17". No, 16"...
Maybe I'll put 16" on the left and 17" on the right side.

"greenish hue"? hummm
Think they would look darker/grey-er on a "Neptune Blue" car?
I'd really like to see a K1 in anthracite - in person - before I drop the bucks...

BTW, when I was started looking on the net for Maxima related sites,
your home page was one of the first I saw.
Nice site, nice lookin car.