Nick-L

What do you think of swapping the 19" wheels on the 08 G37 Sport for the 18" wheels of the base or Journey models?

I have an 08 Sport on order (have to have a 6-speed, otherwise I would probably just have gotten a Journey with a 6-speed if it was available), and plan to use it as a daily driver. In Philadelphia it does not snow hard enough to warrant dedicated snow tires, but it is impossible to get through the winter with summer only rubber. I have always used quality, high-performance all-season tires on my cars (Avon is a favorite), and it has worked out very well.

No manufacturer makes all-season tires in the 19" S size (225/45-19 and 245/40-19). But, the 18" wheels come with all-season tires, and Goodyear makes an all-season in the 225/50-18 size.

The dealer I ordered the car from is willing to swap the S's 19" wheels/tires for a base car's 18" set-up (and give a credit for the cost difference).

What do you think? Does anyone have any better ideas for putting all-season tires on the car with a Sport package?

GR8TG35

if you like the 19's with the summer setup, why not purchase aftermarket rims w/snows for the winter months....Thats what I did. I know your looking to do all seasons, but they really are a comprimise for all year round use......The 19's w/summer rubber will handle a lot better IMO........

I stepped down to 17's with a taller side wall for more traction capabilities. Then I put my 18's w/summer tires back on in the spring....worked out great all around and only set me back around $1,300. Since your in Philly, I'm sure you get a couple of inches several times a year just like us in Jersey.
Just my $.02

Nick-L

I've never found much satisfaction in having a separate set of winter wheels/tires - for my driving, it's been more trouble than it's worth. Invariably, when I would put the summer wheels back on there would still be another snowfall. Or, I would drive north, starting out on dry roads and summer tires, and then run into snow along the way.

It's also more than just for snow, but for rain traction. Many summer-only tires are not so good in the rain, whereas there can be a big improvement with many all-season tires.

Around Philadelphia, the winters are in that intermediate range - you definitely can't get through them on summer-only tires, but you really don't need pure winter "snow" tires. I don't intend to track the G37, it will be my daily driver. In the past for me good quality all-season tires have worked out very well. Avon Tech M550 has been my favorite (Goodyear, Pirelli P-Zero, or Dunlop too). In "normal" street driving, I haven't felt a HUGE difference in performance between the Avon Tech M550 and a pure "summer" tire, but they make all the difference in the world in snow and rain.

I would love to keep the 19 in Sport wheels, but no one seems to make all- season tires in that size...

lightspeed

I have aftermarket 19's on my G35, 10.5 wide in the rear, and after chewing up the stock Pilot Sports at the track, I put Bridgestone LM snow tires on the stock 18" rims for winter.

But I still have minor traction issues in severe conditions because the 18" rims aren't ideal for snow tires. Ideal would be a 17" or even 16" snow tire (for traction) and skinnier is better. That said, few wheels in those sizes would clear the Brembos. Being in Toronto (way worse than Philly) I swear by dedicated snow tires -- all-seasons just wouldn't cut it for me.

nemyx

Hi all,

This is my first post here. I'm from Philly, looking at the G37S 6MT. I'm also concerned about the sport tires in the winter. I want a practical winter setup that won't be too much hassle.

I'm looking for 19" all-season tires to replace the stock summer tires. I am aware that Bridgestone makes Blizzaks that fit the OEM sport wheels but I am concerned about damaging the TPMS sensors with each tire swap. I figure the less often I have to switch tires, the better. I'd also rather not have to buy a dedicated set of winter tires since they would almost have to be 19" also (I read the other thread regarding the 18" wheel and sport brake caliper clearance issue).

I found these two all-season tires:

- Goodyear Eagle F1 All-Season (I think these just came out)
- Michelin Pilot Sport A/S

The F1s are available in 245/45ZR19.
The Pilots are available in 245/35ZR19 and 245/40ZR19.

I understand the basics of tire sizing but how much is one allowed to deviate from the recommended specs? If you take a look at the spec sheets for these two tires on the manufacturers' websites, they list a range of approved rim widths. The F1s support rims ranging from 7.5" to 9" and the Pilots support 8" to 9.5". Don't both the stock front and rear 19" sport rims fall into this range? Can't these tires be safely mounted to them? I would appreciate your thoughts.

http://www.goodyeartires.com/eagle/eagleF1AS_sizes.html
http://www.michelinman.com/tires/ult...ilot-sport-as/

InfinitiFreak

^^^Tirerack has both 18' and 19' winter setup available for the sport G37, I decided to go with the 18' dedicated winter setup.

nemyx

Yes, I saw the 18" and 19" winter tires on tirerack but I'd rather keep the stock 19" wheels and throw all-seasons on them. What about the fitment specs that I mentioned in my previous post? Can 245 tires be mounted on the front 225 wheels? The wheels fall in the range of the tire manufacturers' allowed rim width. Does 20mm make that much of a difference? I'm not trying to put 18" tires on a 19" wheel or anything like that.

Nick-L

I'm in the same boat, also in Philly, desperately (and fruitlessly...) looking for a way to drive a 6MT Sport Pkg in the winter.

I'm not sure how an 18 in wheel/tire setup could work on the Sport Pkg cars. The brake discs are larger on the Sport, 14 in front and 13.8 in rear compared with 13 in on base cars. My dealer tried installing a stock Infiniti 18 in (5 double-spoke) wheel on a Sport car for me, and, while it "fit", there was barely any clearance between the brake caliper and the inside of the wheel rim. We literally could just about slip a sheet of paper between there, clearly far too tight clearance for safe driving. I don't know what kind of 18 in wheel TireRack is selling, but for it to clear the Sport brakes, it would have to be significantly "thinner" than Infiniti's 18 in wheels.

Mixing two different manufacturers (Michelin rear and Goodyear front) probably isn't a good idea. The tires have different tread patterns, different sidewall stiffness. It would probably be OK for slow speed driving, but hitting water at high speed could be a problem.

The 245/35-19 tires would fit on the rear wheels, but may not be ideal. The front wheel is 19x8, which, while it would fit, might be a little too narrow for a 245 series tire - 20 mm greater tread width is about an inch wider than the standard 225 mm front tire, so the tire might be slightly convex, and bow out slightly in the center of the tread. It would fit OK on the rear 19x9 wheel, but the sidewall is shorter - the 245/35 means the sidewall is 35% of the height of the tread width. Which means, on this tire the sidewall is 85.75 mm high, compared with 98 mm on the stock 245/40-19 tire - a net difference of 24.5 mm in tire diameter, about an inch. This would lower the rear end of the car by that much (about an inch), which, while making the weight bias shift rearward would maybe give a little more traction in the snow, could also affect the handling by changing the weight distribution. It would also effectively change the rear end ratio of the car by about 4%, increasing engine rpm's at any given speed.

So, while all of these tires would "fit", they don't seem to be the greatest of solutions....

nemyx

Yeah, I saw your other thread about the 18" wheels and the clearance issue. I would rather not risk damaging the wheels and brakes either. Besides, I like the stock sport wheels and would prefer to keep them anyway.

I wasn't planning on mixing the tire types. I searched about a dozen tire manufacturers' websites and I found two different all-season tire models that are available in sizes that fit the rear stock 19" wheels. I was just wondering if the same tires, whichever ones I picked, could be safely mounted on the front wheels as well. I was hoping the Pilots would work. They would fit the rears perfectly. I was hoping that the 245 wouldn't be a problem for the front, or that maybe the 35 sidewall ratio would somehow compensate for the wider tread in the front.

Like this...

F: 245/35-19 Pilot A/S
R: 245/40-19 Pilot A/S

You're right - it isn't a great solution, but I'm just trying to think of something reasonable. It doesn't look like we have many options.

Nick-L

The stock front 19 in tires are 225/45-19, which means a sidewall height of 101.25 mm. The 245/35-19's have a sidewall height of 85.75 mm. With the 245/35's, the overall height of the front tire/wheel assembly will be 31 mm less than stock, about 1 1/4 in lower. That might well make a noticeable difference in handling and weight distribution, lowering the nose by that much....