How important is wheel width? help!

[97kouki]

Hello..I am looking for some nice wheels for drifting..I want 17s, But the only companies i can find that have 17X8 or 17X9 wheels that are relatively nicely priced are some Enkei's and some 5zigen..I like most of their wheels but i want a diffrent style, I want wheels that look like Volk's GT-U..But i cannot find anything that isnt like a 17X7 size in that style, Of course volk offers the sizes i want..but i cannot afford volks..So..My question(s) are..Would 17X7's be still as good for drifting as 17X8 or 17X9?? And does anyone know of any wheel companies ive overlooked that have 17X8 or higher wheels for about 200 - 250 per wheel???

[Ghost of Duluth]

Well wheel size is important but a 7 or an 8 isn't going to make that much difference. You can check out the Panasports or Minilights. Also check out the JDM engine importers because they get their clips in with wheels on them sometimes and sometimes they are pretty nice. Also check out Rinkylaurel.com. It is a site that allows you to make bids on Yahoo Japanese auctions. They are great places to find stuff.

[MrMigs]

Holy sheit I havent posted on this board in a long *Censored**Censored**Censored* time. I just noticed your name was 97 Kouki, so I thought i'd give my best answer, since I too have a 97 240sx and have had some experience with different wheels. I mess around between 17x7 17x8 andd 17x9, and I'll tell you that you might notice a difference, but the biggest impact comes with the tires that you buy.

Personally, for an S14, I think 17x7 is a tad too skinny because you can barely fit 215s on them without making your wheels look like they're dressed with hot air balloons, know what I mean? try to get any wider a tire, and your tires will look bubbly like a mofo.

17x8 is a good size because you can fit 215s on there pretty easily. It seems like it's the right size for that width. I haven't tried 225, but I might have to for dd12...

17x9 is just crazy. That's what I run for daily driving. Now, with 17x9 up front, you run into major clearance issues. To allow a 9 inch wide wheel to fit in the front without hitting your shocks, you need a stupidy low offset. Right now, I'm running +15 offset, and the tires (235 width) tap the fenders sometimes when I go over a bump.

Now, back to what I said earlier... the main issue with grip is probably the tires instead of the wheels. I had a pair of 18x9.5 in the back one time with ... i think it was a 245 width tire. It actually had shiatty grip because the tires were such craap. They actually felt less grippy than having 17x8 in the back with my other 215 tires. The grip is much stronger even with skinnier tires because the tires are higher quality.

However, 17x7 vs. x8 or x9 -- assuming you use the same tire brand etc for all of them, you will probably notice a slight differene in handling. I did. The difference between 17x7 vs 17x8 is noticeable . The difference between 17x7 vs using 17x9 is pretty huge though.

[97kouki]

Originally posted by Ghost of Duluth
Well wheel size is important but a 7 or an 8 isn't going to make that much difference. You can check out the Panasports or Minilights. Also check out the JDM engine importers because they get their clips in with wheels on them sometimes and sometimes they are pretty nice. Also check out Rinkylaurel.com. It is a site that allows you to make bids on Yahoo Japanese auctions. They are great places to find stuff.

Hey man that rinkylaurel site like doesnt exist..i tried to go there and it was not found and google doesnt know about it either.

Mr. Migs - The wheels would be for an s13 fastback, my project, so..would you say anything diffrent?

[MrMigs]

try www.rinkya.com

Oh... S13? Well, whatever I said in the first post should still apply. Just note that to fit a 9 inch wide wheel on an S13 will be harder than fitting a 9 inch wide wheel on an S14. I know that on the rear of an S13, a 9 inch wide wheel with +38 offset will fit almost perfectly... aka lined up with the fender. I don't know if you will be able to fit it on the front tho. Maybe not.

If I had an S13, I'd stick with maybe 16x8. Less clearance issues with nice width. 17s tend to look kind of big for the S13, but that's just my opinion.

[nightracer]

Tire quality doesn't deacrease inversely with the width, the price increases concurrently with it and you can barely afford a set of high quality wider tires. I've had more luck with grip on 9-inch wide tires running 245s or 265s. There was a bit too much grip for drift at that width on my 944 and I'd think it'd be the same for an S-14. I had the best luck with the stock 8.5s in the rear with 225s, the choice of tire is your preference. You get into tire compound with drift because you need an equilibrium of slip & grip. I'd stay around 8-inchers w/ 215s-225s.

[MrMigs]

For S14, stock KA engine, drift practice, a high quality set 245s are kind of overkill. Personally, I daily drive with the set of 17x9s all aroung with high quality 235s on them. When I attend a drift event, I switch the rear to either 17x7 or 17x8 with 215s. It's easier for me to practice with lower width in the back because I can test weight shift drifting without having to go so fast.

Oh well, that's just me

[jdmdrewS14]

I was thinking of going 17x8 front and 17x9 in the rear. I have a S14 with an SR. I am not that sure if I want to go that big though. What offset do you think I should go in the back if I want it pretty deep.Any help will do.

[MrMigs]

I think for the rear, 17x9, you should go for something near +25 offset. I tried fitting +15 offset in the rear, and the wheel pokes out the fender a bit with like 2.5 degrees of negative camber.

[Nightwalker]

stretch those tires people! stretch them dammit!

[MrMigs]

stretched tires are cool until your exposed lip gets jacked up... that's the only down side I see to it.

[Nightwalker]

drifters don't worry about pretty rims! drifters only care to drift!

[MrMigs]

i'm not talking about pretty rims, i'm just saying it's good to have a rim that doesn't look like square!