? i tried www.rim1.com can i find it cheaper than that?

 

 

thanks for being so helpful...

 

Dude, try KC Trends. They usually have some pretty good deals. Hell, I'll meet you there if you've got time today. They close at 6pm.


Dave

 

damnit dave, if i would have seen this earlier i would have went.... i was already considering going out there today too since it was my only day off this week! what kind of wheels do u have? i think i decided against the caffienes because since they are discontinued i can no longer get any warranty with them BUT i like these ADR kasai http://whalentire.com/wheeldetail.cf...51435S&size=17 they weigh the same as the caffienes do (19 lbs) what are your opinions Dave? would 19 lb rims hurt my performance? if so than i may just go with the plainer konig sub-zeros since they only weigh 16 lbs... http://whalentire.com/wheeldetail.cf...51442S&size=17

 

Vs. 15" steelies? Maybe a LITTLE. Becuase the rim is 2 inches bigger, any 17 inch rim has more rotational mass and requires the engine to work harder to rotate it.

But on the other hand it will be 1.5 inches wider with alot better gripping tires(depending on what you get), and in actuality for the 5spd maxima, that's what you need for better hooking up on launches. So it could very well HELP performance. As we all know the FWD combined with the Maxima's sweet power & 5speed = hard launches. With these bigger and fatter tires you will be hooking up better and will improve times.

BTW those Kasai's look phat...a copy off the MOMO sports...either rim is tight, but if you wanna be like mr. mack get the Caffeines

 

Actually, hooking up is much harder with 17s. Sure, the tread section is wider, but the tires have very little flex due to the sidewall. Low profile/wide rims are good for lateral acceleration, but horrible for straightline. With low profile tires, the contact patch is wide and narrow. Good for turns, bad for straight line. Taller and narrower tires (to a point) have a long and narrow contact patch which is better for straight and worse for turns. I use to have 17s with 235/45 summer tires and getting off the line was horrible and wheelspin into 2nd was rediculous. My 16s with all-season performance tires are much better off the line.

Going with 19lb 17s along with 17" Z-rated tires (~25lbs), you're looking at a 44lb combo or 3-4lbs more than the 15" SE combo. The rotational inertia is about 15% more with the 17s over the 15s plus the extra rotational weight of the 17s. Expect to add about .1-.2 in ET and loose about 1mph on average.

Dave

 

That makes sence.

But then why do muscle cars such as z28 SS's and Cobra's come with huge rims?? (17x9.5 in the new cobra's case)

 

The SS, WS6, Cobra, and such come with 17" wheel packages because these are cars equipped with upgraded "handling packages" which almost always include larger wheels and tires. These cars usually outhandle the "base" models by a few MPH and G's on the road course. Straightline acceleration might be hurt a little, but these cars are usually equipped with 5-20% more power so the straightline numbers aren't easily comparable to the "base" models numbers.

The Dodge Viper team leader said that the Viper is actually a few tenths quicker in the straightline and road course with slightly narrower 16" rims vs the 17/18" combos. He said the buying public wouldn't go for the looks of the 16s on a Viper nor the tall tires plus the clearance of the brakes was extremely close.

Too many people see "tuner" and Rally cars on Speedvision running 17-19" wheel combos and automatically assume that larger wheels help on the road course. This isn't entirely true, instead most tuner/rally cars run large rims so that they can run very large diameter brakes. If large wheels were so great, F1 cars wouldn't run 14"-15" rims. I'll be the first one to admit larger rims (to a point) do look much better than smaller rims.

IMO, the ultimate in handling and acceleration for a Maxima would be a light set of 15/16s with summer performance tires. This combo should easily out handle/out accelerate a Maxima with a 17+ combo.


Dave

 

I see.

Very Nice write-up Dave.

Now I can tell my friend with a Lightning that his fat 9.5" tires aren't the main factors in his awesome launching...the 450lb.-ft. of torque don't exactly hurt either.

 

hate to tell ya
but caffeines are no longer in production
it will be hard to find them new anywhere now
the caffeines are a popular style so you can find others similar
try ebay or www.wheelmax.com

good choice on the caffeines tho

 

get the motegi MR5's they look better

http://www.motegiracing.com/MR5Silver.html

http://www.konigwheels.com/catalog_p...yName=Caffeine

you be the judge

 

nope, motegi's look plastic

 

they look shinier in person

 

well i decided against the caffienes anyways because you can't get warranties on discontinued rims. besides i saw a friggin chevy malibu (newer one) with a kit and caffienes i refuse to have the same rims as a malibu anyways the search continues.........

 

Ever consider the Konig Rated-Rs? They weigh ~19lbs in the 17". They kind of look like VolK TE37s. I've seen them on a few other cars including some pics of a 5th gen Maxima and damn do they look good. If I had the money, I'd get those wheels even though they are 4lbs heavier than the 16s I've got.

Dave

 

they are alright but i am also looking at the ADR kasais and they weigh about the same (19 lbs.)