For those of you with oversized wheels

[darien87]

Darien87, those wheels are fantastic. To the OP, my only concern upgrading to a non OEM wheel is replacement. If you do decide to go aftermarket, keep in mind some wheel designs become discontinued after a short time on the market meaning if you need a replacement, you're out of luck and have to buy another set. A friend of mine with an 05 had 20's (a lot of dealers threw these on to add profit margin-overpricing the wheels while keeping MSRP at sticker) and a year ago he hit a pothole, popped the tire and bent the rim. Tire replacement not a problem but the company stopped producing the wheel. Sorry, don't know the company name or tire/wheel size.

Thanks Vat.

I wasn't too sure about going with a dark wheel on a dark car. I like to have contrast, (silver wheel on a dark car). But these ones are almost the exact some color as the car, so it looks kinda custom. Plus Tire Rack had them on sale hella cheap. It was about $300 for the whole set.

But you're right about getting close outs screwing up your replacement. I curb rashed the last set of rims I had on my 95 and couldn't get replacements for them. I believe the rims I have now have been discontinued also, so I'll have to be extra careful to not hit any curbs with this car.

 

[rugedraw]

I love my 20's!

20x8.5 f & 20x10 r

 

[dro]

20's on an s197 are perfect. Just like when all the sn95 guys were afraid of 18's. I see this as the same arguement. Now its rare to see an SN with 17's. Just about everyone who knows is running 18's and will never look back. I see the same thing going to happen with 20's for the 197's....

 

[Sparty92]

I think it would be cool to have a blown S197, sporting the OEM 17s....but....have the rims widened to hold a 315 on the back. Stealthy!

 

[walter]

Personally I think 19's is the perfect size for our cars, however, seeing how my g/f has those on her 350Z and routinely has headaches finding retailers with that size in stock I voted for 18's staggered.

 

[wusthof]

19x8.5 front
19x9.5 rear

I've always loved thsoe wheels on the 99-04s and our s197's. Not saying the fr500s or the bullitts, or the razors don't look good, but they are typical and almost expected. What kind of wheels do you have? thx meng

 

[Edbert]

Well, I found out that the FR500s in 18" will not accept 14" brakes from Roush or Brembo, neither will the Bullits in 18 or 20. Have to get Roush/Saleen/Shelby (others I'm sure as well) in 18" rim size to clear those two brands of 14" discs.

Second question for those in the know (I checked the sticky thread in the tech section and did not see an answer)...Will I have any front fender rubbing with 255/45-20s?

Regarding reprogramming the speedo for combinations with a larger diameter than stock...will the SCT LiveWire tuners do that?

 

[rugedraw]

Well, I found out that the FR500s in 18" will not accept 14" brakes from Roush or Brembo, neither will the Bullits in 18 or 20. Have to get Roush/Saleen/Shelby (others I'm sure as well) in 18" rim size to clear those two brands of 14" discs.

Second question for those in the know (I checked the sticky thread in the tech section and did not see an answer)...Will I have any front fender rubbing with 255/45-20s?

Regarding reprogramming the speedo for combinations with a larger diameter than stock...will the SCT LiveWire tuners do that?

I'm running 245/45/20 up front. The rubbing I get is very insignificant. The tires ever so slightly rubs with the plastic fender well liner; that's it. It only happens when you turn and where the sidewall meets the contact patch will rub a little.

To put the insignificance of this into perspective: I've had these wheels on for well over a year now with those tires, and I have no damage to anything, at all. My tires are offset, so they have never been rotated. The tires are perfect, the fender well liner is intact. I mention it because it happens; and my car is stock height. With 255/45/20, I would imagine this problem is a bit worse, but nothing that would give problems.

I would do either 245/45 or 255/40 up front.

 

[Edbert]

Thanks for the info! Did you reprogram your car for the additional circumference or do you just live with the speedo/odo being "off"?

There's a really cool calculator here for figuring out the differences in diameter of various tire sizes. The diameter difference on a 235/55-17 (stock) and the 255/45-20 is pretty large, 1.86" if I recall. I was thinking like you said that a 255/40-20 would be best but they only make sport truck tires in that size. A 265/35-20 is close and I'm sure it would fit but I just don't like those super thin sidewalls.

The wheel wells are HUGE on these cars I'd like to fill them up without lowering the car. But it seems that getting 18s with 45-50 series rubber and dropping the car a little is the best bet. I keep changing my mind, glad I've got two more months to decide for sure

 

[Hicompression]

I'm running 20" Cragar SS wheels on my ride. They're 20 x 9 inch wheels. The factory 17" silver bullitts look retarded next to these and I would never go back to them after running the 20's. The minimum I would ever go back to is an 18" (fanblade) wheel.

 

[rugedraw]

Thanks for the info! Did you reprogram your car for the additional circumference or do you just live with the speedo/odo being "off"?

There's a really cool calculator here for figuring out the differences in diameter of various tire sizes. The diameter difference on a 235/55-17 (stock) and the 255/45-20 is pretty large, 1.86" if I recall. I was thinking like you said that a 255/40-20 would be best but they only make sport truck tires in that size. A 265/35-20 is close and I'm sure it would fit but I just don't like those super thin sidewalls.

The wheel wells are HUGE on these cars I'd like to fill them up without lowering the car. But it seems that getting 18s with 45-50 series rubber and dropping the car a little is the best bet. I keep changing my mind, glad I've got two more months to decide for sure

If you were talking to me, then yes; I did reprogram the car so the speedometer works accurately. Most decent tuners have the option for you to do that. I have clocked my car using one of those stand-alone police radars that they just leave parked somewhere, and it is very accurate.