Hello. I'm new 2012 G37 Journey Coupe owner here. Looking to get into autocrosses and track days. I was told that my wheels and tires are not very good for that: I got base model 18'' wheels with 225/50/18 all season tires. I don't know much about wheels yet, and couldn't find any resources to get myself educated. What are best fitments for track day? Suppose I don't want to spend a fortune on it and still want to use street tires. I'm not going to buy brand new wheels: probably pickup something from Craigslist or this forum. I was thinking about OEM sport coupe wheels: can find a set with tires for about 1300. But perhaps I could get something better? Appearance and comfort are not very important to me. Car has coilovers.

 

Appearance and comfort don't mean anything to you? What is your priority then...handling?
OEM sports wheels wouldn't be your best bet for the track. Though they do look amazing, they're actually really heavy for 19s...like 28lbs yikessss. If you want OEM, go with IPLs as they are forged and much lighter. If you go aftermarket, avoid brands like verde, vossen, varrstoen, niche...while they are affordable they are cheaply made and MAY NOT (for all you cast lovers, still accepting possibilities) withstand track pressure. Brands like Work Emotion, SSR, Enkei...all reputable and many choices out there especially good deals on used sets. Most common track wheel for the Z platform is the RPF1 without question, affordable, lightweight and quality.

 

Yes, handling per dollar is top priority.
What about the size: width/tire height/diameter?
As far as I understand, almost anything will be better than my current setup.
I don't care if OEM or aftermarket. I just heard that some aftermarket wheels are made solely for appearance purposes. And handling could be actually worse than stock wheels (because of weight or too big size). I am definitely not looking for this to happen.

 

Handling per dollar...what the, how are you measuring handl...nevermind.
I wouldn't go any bigger than 19s...18s if you want the weight savings and don't mind the tiny wheel look but since you're on coils you might be able to play around with finding the right height.
as far as width, 19x8.5 or 9 up front and I wouldn't go wider than 19x10 in the rear, again save some weight and can still run a wide tire, 275-295.
Speaking of tires, this will be a major factor. You want sticky, dedicated summer tires. Super sports are the "gold standard" (blnewt) for summer tires or you could go with Bridgestone RE-11s which amp up the dry traction but lose some wet traction...people will have their own preferences.

 

Here's mine...first pic is old and I've since installed spacers up front as seen in the bottom pic but the rear fitment is perfect with my drop. The higher it is the more the poke I noticed.

 

18s or 19s?
Am I right that tire height depends only on wheel diameter? So to keep total diameter (wheel + tire) the same, I'd still need to use 275/50/18 in case of wide 18 inch wheels?
Do I also need to think about offsets?

 

Looks great. Perfect fitment, IMO.

What spacers, 20mm? I'm guessing you've got 245/40s on the front. I've got 235/45s (AWD - X). I started with 15mm and ended up with 20mm. With the 15mm, I had to drill-press a bit of the rotor-side pockets to avoid contact with the lugs. Ended up not having to have done that, oh well.

Sean

 

Yes but your number is way off. If you went with 275s you'd use a 275/40 on 18s or 275/35 on 19s. Offsets will determine a lot, mostly your poke and clearance on the fender, but does not determine bbk clearance.

 

I see a lot of sets selling are square setups. Is 18x10 square better than 18x9 / 18x10 staggered? What are benefits of staggered setup (other than saving a little weight in fronts)?

 

This pretty much covers it:

Definition of Staggered Wheels | eHow

Sean

 

I've read tons of these posts. this is what I need:


I'm 100% sold on getting 20inch Niche Verona M151 wheels.


I would like them to be the same concave front/rear but don't want to run spacers. i'll be lowered ~1.8 front / 1.0 rear on Tein Basis Coils. (will I need a camber kit?)


Haven't bought tires so will purchase whatever gets me what I need. hate the stretch look.


Will not do any fender work.


Any help? At staggered 20x9 +33 and 20x10 +45 i felt it was on point without spacers. but i am not a HUGE fan of staggered concaves on sedans, only coupes.

 

You'll need a higher front offset to have closer "concavity" as adding spacers will do absolutely nothing in that aspect.
OR
run a square wheel set up but stagger the tires...?

 

that's what i was (poorly) asking. I'd like to run 10inch wide wheels front/back but don't think they offer multiple offsets in our bolt pattern for them. so assumed spacers would be required to get a more flush look F/R.


I'm fine running different tires on squared wheels just don't understand what it will do. thanks for the fast response.

 

just went on Niche's website.


my options apparently are:


20x10.5 with:
+20, +27, +30, +35


20x10 +40 (only 1 offset)


20x9
+25, +35, +38, +42


i don't care if they're staggered as long as concavity is nearly the same. but this exceeds my basic understanding of offsets.

 

the 20x9 +35 would be the closest in concave to the 20x10 +40...in theory.