A friend has a 7th gen Max and just put on some 20' custom rims .. Originally had 18' OEM ,, the car looks beautiful with his new rims but the ride sucks , you feel every little thing ... We raced and the car is much slower on take off compared to my own car .. I guess you have to sacrifice some things to look good .. On the other hand I like to be low profile with my cars .. Not to put too much to the car on the outside , I like to park my car and not worry about it .. You have nice rims they wil steel the car or rims

 

 

What's wrong with his story.
Makes sense to me.

Larger wheels are heavier, effects on acceleration are real and speedo will not register correctly.
Lower aspect ratio tires do ride rougher and are much more susceptible to curb rash.

 

his story is physically and mathematically unavoidable. Bigger rims destroy performance and ride quality. Most of them ugly too.
But I remember i was diggin that **** myself 10 years ago. I got some 19" for my 4th gen Max. My gas mileage dropped full 4 mpg and couldn't get the car going to save my life. Eventually had to swallow my pride and accept my mistake, take a big loss, and get rid of them.
Now i replaced my stock 18x8 with 245mm tires with a 16 pound lighter (per wheel(!)) setup of 17x7 with 225mm tires and I will race any one of you, cept the guy with the turbo. I don't care what ghetto muffler you put in to desecrate your car: my gen 7 is faster and drives soft like a fkkn avalon.

 

I find nothing wrong with his story either, the trend is that bigger rims somehow equals better but I don't subscribe to that theory.

If anyone think that there isn't a trend that is going around on that then just read how many people told me that I needed bigger rims on my car.

Click on the link in my sig

 

Soooooo the moral of this story is??? You have an opinion? You clearly stated the obvious thing that most of us already know. Hmmm Sounds like a waste of a post.

Moral of the story is. YOU DO YOU AND WE'LL DO US. TO EACH THEIR OWN.

You stick with your 18's and I'll keep my 20's. I don't need to be fast, as to me, a front wheel drive with CVT car wasn't designed specifically for speed.

 

It's not about being fast , it's about the ride , you feel every little bump .. I believe 19" are a better choice .. The max wasn't designed to take 20" s or 22"s it's a sedan sport car not ghetto caddy in a rap video

 

If you're so worried about mileage as to drive a maxima with pizza cutters for tires why not just get a prius? Imagine if you had a prius and put a set of 12's under it!
So hot....lol.
Those of us who enjoy a car with larger more proportional to the car wheels and can afford a nice set probably couldn't care less about mileage to begin with. Hence not buying a prius and owning a maxima.
There's not a single person of any age that's had anything but pleasantries to convey when they see my car.
It's lowered on eibachs with 20's by the way. Omg 18 mpg are you cringing yet?
How much did your little wheels and tires cost and how quickly have or haven't they paid for themselves in the fuel savings?

 

Some people worry about pennies when it comes to gas mileage but they didn't care thousands they dropped into the car ..

 

I have 20's on mine & I haven't noticed a difference in the ride at all. I personally think it's the offset on the tire you have or especially if you're riding low pro's. I've seen some go for a wider wheel to give it like the lambo look etc. Also depends on the type of tire you have as well. Cheap tires are basically what they are cheap, but all in all I think it's a preference. To each it's own

 

If you are feeling every bump in the road after going bigger you need to look into different tires. The maxima does not come with thick tires stock. The ride on my 20" wheels is not rough at all, really not a big change from stock.

 

Lets see. Infinity Q50 is more expensive, with more powerful engine. Much more quiet.

Maxima comes with 245mm tires mounted on 18" wheels
Q50 comes with 225mm tires mounted on 17" wheels

Why didn't they put 'better' wheels on the Q50?? Could it be that the performance hit would be too big to swallow? Put maxima stock wheel/tire on the Q50, and 0-60 will be a full second slower. The car will also have more road noise and worse ride. And the reason why none of the above is acceptable, because the price of Q50 mandates a customer with high income, and the usual high income is not a south side punk, but usually with good education, family etc.. people who don't tolerate ghetto tires and mufflers.
To be honest, there is nothing wrong with getting big rims and tires if that's what makes your heart beat. Beauty is really subjective. It is really hard to argue about that. What I have a problem is this notion on the forums where big rims are somehow associated with performance. Some of the proud members of big rims spread some confusion too.
People who consider getting bigger rims should know that a couple of things will happen with bigger setup due to the laws of physics:
1. your will increase engine load which will result in
a. worse MPG
b. SLOWER acceleration
2. ride will be worse
3. ROAD NOISE will be worse (given that you increase tire width as well, which appears to always happen in these cases)
If you are AWARE of all of the above, and make a conscious decision to sacrifice those for better looks (personal) and better cornering, that you have made an educated decision and i have nothing to criticize you for.

 

If I bought a Q50 it would be the Q50S that comes standard with 19 inch wheels - better looking car.

 

Again you go on a pointless rant. Had time to type all this but not answer my question about how much your little wheels and tires cost and just how fast did they pay for themselves and actually start saving you money?
The ride in my car is actually as good as stock but the handling is much improved.
If I get worse mileage now than prior to my upgrades, I don't notice it. Nor could i care any less. The car gets crap for mileage to begin with unless you drive like a pansy.

 

Is it me, or is the OPs thread more of an open ended comment to just start a debate? lol because he doesn't really ask anything.

I'm not trying to insult anybody. Debunk theories. Or change your opinion. I just feel like I have to state some obvious, common sense points.

Any diameter that increases is going to spin slower. If it spins slower, what do you think happens to the movement of the car?

If you increase the wheel size, you'll most likely decrease the tire size. Idk about you, but id rather ride on the tire, and not the rim. Get it? Or think of it like this, would you rather lay on a box spring and mattress or just a sleeping bag on the floor? Goofy... but the obvious point here is if you remove cushioning, you're going to be more uncomfortable.

Now, how BIG of a difference it makes... I have no freaking idea lol. I'm sitting on stock 18's.

Now who wants to argue those points?

 

you know, its kind of funny to accuse me of pointless rant when my post has explicitly marked points.
Sorry for not reading your question, but I can't and I don't even try to read everyone's post completely. Don't take it personal. Here is my answer.
Like I mentioned above, my 97 max got absolutely killed with the 19s. My tank average went from ~ 24 all the way down to 20.
But in all honesty I am not seeing the same improvement in the other direction. According to my computer my average went up to 20.1 to 21. Not even one mpg.
I spent about 1000 on the wheel, and don't call them small, they are pretty big, 17" is not small, this is the stock wheel on Q50 and I can list quite a few sports cars with 16" stock. I researched a lot, and you can rest assured that there are no cheap light wheels, not even of bad quality. All light wheels are expensive. I did not buy the wheels just for the better gas consumption though. I think I listed my reasons well. The first hour of driving after mounting the new setup was amazing. it just puts a grin on your face. The car feels SO LIGHT. It is a pleasure to take off. Now I got used to it, but I remember very well the first day. I can't imagine somebody preferring the ride of a stock car over mine. Light, fast, soft and quiet.

 

VVhite-out said "Now who wants to argue those points?
Ill take a crack at it.

"Any diameter that increases is going to spin slower. If it spins slower, what do you think happens to the movement of the car?"

Yes a larger diameter will spin slower relative to a smaller diameter given the same speed, so nothing happens to the movement of the car. They are both traveling at the same speed with the smaller diameter spinning faster.

 

God I'd hate to chime in on this but i just gotta lol.

Anyone remember when brand new corvettes came with 17 and 18 inch rims? And what they come with now standard 20's maybe even 21's or 22's? Why? Because of increased performance, however with that performance came re-engineering of the car to handle that size rim and tire, and increased power and output. To each his own but i like my stock 18's. I would want a lighter wheel if it could be the same size and better the car fuel economically wise. Lets be honest our max is not the best on fuel and i have to drive like a grandma if i want 2 weeks out of it. But hot dam the car was made to fly low and i love the engine cvt combo. I have my opinions on the cvt but thats another thread. I too have had 20's on my aurora and they were great, but its all a matter of opinion and choices of the individual owner. This is not an argument forum or like an animal abuse hotline, like oh im telling on you for having bigger rims on your max and suckier gas mileage. Back to the OP, he was simply stating his opinion of his buddy's max with bigger rims which could be true. To me this thread should be in 3 categories, best wheels for fuel economy, best wheels for performance and best wheels for looks.Our cars came with stock 18 and 19's for a purpose. I dont hate, just appreciate. But ive seen a max on 26's and all i can say about that is smfh. :-D.

 

Haha ^^ good man Rich!

You're absolutely right. Two different diameters going the same "speed" makes no difference in relation to "speed". But that's your problem. Speed is measured how, miles per hour? Not in how much energy or gas is given or spent. Theoretically, if you have a hub spinning at 100rpm, a tire with a 20-inch outside diameter would propel the car twice as fast as a tire with a 10-inch diameter.

Of course there are so many other variables, the obvious would be weight.