Hey guys;

I noticed many of you have a wide and varied selection of wheels and tires that go on them. but honestly, the wheel offset spacing constantly raises questions for me. I see everything from 30mm offsets on 350z rims all the way to 40 or even 45mm. I guess I know what the offset is calculating, but even in pictures of cars with over 10mm difference in offset it doesn't seem to have any effect on the car or its looks or even performance. I'm attempting to convince my wife to let me get new aftermarket rims and while I'm at it, I thought I'd throw down for some 18s to help with looks and handling. My current faves are as follows:

TSW Sakata 5 18x8s
TSW Estoril 18x8s
Rial Nogaro 18x8s
Enkei J10s
Konig Reasons

these ALL come with several offsets, and the best solution I can come up with is in the 35-40mm offset range, but im unfamiliar with the stock offset. Can someone shed some light on this and perhaps suggest an offset that would be best?

My other question pertains to rubber and Tire Height. I, again, noticed some popular sizes but also a multitude of them. The reccomended sizes at tirerack and discounttire.com give me VERY few if any options. Doing some calculations leads me to believe that a 255/40 or 225/45 would be my best options, but there's a noteworthy difference in cost between these two sizes. My ultimate question is what is reccomended here? I feel like the 225s might not be enough rubber to even merit an advantage with 18s, but are 255s overkill? Sorry for asking for more suggestions, but I'd like to open up my tire choices to more than just 1-2 brands.

 

Is this really that hard of a thing to answer? I'm just looking for some input and I know I should decide on styling, but these are genuine technical questions. Not even a comment on this subject?

 

I'm booting the Konig reasons, they don't look as good in person and they're discontinued.
also booting the J10s, not nearly as cool imo in person.

I really like the TSWs but im worried about a fat lip

Is there still nobody out there able to discuss this? I would have thought with almost 50 pageviews and the number of people with custom rims, that there'd be someone with some knowledge of what I speak? so far I've discerned this much:

STOCK = 225/50ZR17= 25.858" Tire Height
suggestion 1 = 235/45ZR18= 26.326" (WAY too tall + the only HPAS on tirerack is a goodyear RS-A; yuck)
suggestion 2 = 225/45ZR18= 25.972" (VERY close on height? but maybe not enough rubber to warrant the step to 18s)

option 1 = 245/40ZR18= 25.716" (again, very close but less overall tire height. better acceleration? but shorter tires mean more RPMs and will affect the accuracy of the speedo)
option 2 = 255/40ZR18= 26.031" (slightly taller, but plenty of rubber for the wider rims. limited options but better selection than the 235s. pricey?)

this should help with info on the rubber question, but i have yet to hear something on the offset information. please let me know at least some opinions.

 

Well, how far do you want the wheel to stick out? It all depends on your personal preference. Most people on here run conservative offsets (+40 and higher) so the wheels sit further inside the fenders to make sure the wheels don't rub the fenders.

I like my wheels to be as wide and as flush with the fenders as possible, even if that means I will rub or I need to run a slightly smaller tire. I'm running 17x8 +31 in front and the equivalent of 17x8 +21 in rear. My tires are 235/45 in front and 255/40 in rear. One important thing to note is that the rear track of the Maxima sits about 10mm further in than the front. So ideally, you will want to buy wheels that have 10mm less offset in the rear or get a 10mm spacer so the rears sit as flush as the fronts.

Lower offset (+15, +20, +25...)= wheel sits further out, more possibility for larger/deeper lip, and concave spokes

Higher offset (+35, +40, +45...) = wheel sits further in, generally less lip, and convex spokes.

For those 18x8 wheels you posted, typically most people would be satisfied with a +35 offset. It's probably the lowest you can go if you don't want to run smaller tires, roll your fender, etc... As far as rubber goes, 235/40/18 or 245/40/18 both will work just fine. The minor difference in speedometer reading won't affect much.

 

you know. . .It would have been nice if i had my bubble burst sooner. I was doing all these calculations and I feel like once again, It comes down to personal preference. No offset adjustment, no dynamics discussion, just "set up whatever" and "you might rub"

 

I'm not sure what else you want me to tell you. Maybe you missed the sentence in my post that said most people run 18x8 +35 offset because it is the lowest offset you can go with a 235 or 245 tire without rubbing. And then, I said if you want to run lower offset, say 18x8 +25, then you will need to run smaller tires in front such as a 225 to prevent rubbing.

It really is personal preference. You want to run low offset and wide wheels? You will need to run thinner tires. What is it exactly you are trying to accomplish? You want the widest possible wheel? Or you want the widest possible tire? There are people on the board running 18x8.5 +42 offset with 235 or 245 tires. It's fairly flush and still allows you to slam the car with the wheels tucking in a bit.

Based on the few wheels you posted, I saw that most of them were 18x8 so I suggested a +35 offset which works fine. Stock offset on the 5th gens is in the 40's on a 7" wide wheel I believe so the 8" wide +35 offset is already considered "aggressive" fitment by OEM standards.

 

well, I guess my main concerns were rubbing and height. with this input it leads me to believe i can get the 18x9s on a 255 tire with a +40 and not experience rubbing? Or are people here running into steering geometry issues on the front with wider wheels? I guess this has all gone moot and I'm just going to plan for a 245/40 on an 18x8 with a +40. not too too agressive and should avoid the fenderwells