i need new tires for my commuter car. It's a 1999 Sentra. It has stock wheels. I wanted to know if i can get inexpensive alloy rims for it, and what size would fit. The original wheel size is 14". any info would help, thanks.
Car enthusiastic advice needed
- Thread starter pmui
- Start date
- Location
- Rockland County NY
look into rota wheels too. They are pretty cheap too
- Location
- bayonne / nj
if its a beeter put whatever on it chepos
yep, but it's in very good condition. I just hate the tiny wheels and the ugly hub cap.
ryangrieder
Advanced Reefer
- Location
- Northern Jersey
Just got everything I needed from tire rack. Guaranteed to beat any price. Love them
FWIW...different size wheel/tires are going to make your speedometer, inaccurate!
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better hubcaps...............
don't know about that one but i do know it'll make you burn more GAS in these times you should just keep it the way it is maybe buy better hubcaps
- Location
- Rockland County NY
The speedometer is calculated using the stock rim/tire size, so if you get a bigger wheel/tire combo, your speedo will be slower by a percentage. There is a calculator online somewhere that I have used before.
This is not 100% true, If you buy a larger rim you will need a tire with a lower profile so it matches the original diameter of the stock rim and tire. When people put 20" rims on a car that is the reason the tire is so thin so it will match the original diameter of what was on the car. If done properly it will not effect the speedo.
- Location
- poughquag, ny
wider tire = more roll resistance = more gas, and getting the exact same diameter isnt that easy, but then again you can take a goodyear, bf goodwrench, or any other brand of the exact same size tire, example 205-60-16 isnt gonna be the exact same height throughout the different manufactures, not only does it change the speedo if not exact same height it will change the handling of the car as the factory springs are at a height adjusted for that suspension and can make getting a true proper alignment not happen, and dont go by the print out they use cause that is easy to cheap to make everything in the green 
- Location
- Huntington
Tires/rims as well as gearing can effect the speedo. I highly recommend tirerack.com. When I had my racing mustang I had super wide wheels on it and when I ordered my Bridgestone Potenzas (almost 8 years ago now) I got a phone call from their customer service within 5 minutes to check and make sure I had the right rims for these tires because they were super wide. Best prices anywhere even with shipping and most Mavis shops will install the set for a good price too.
The width of tire sizes and rims do not affect most cars. Like I said as long as the Diameter is as close as you can get to the orignal you will be fine. A wider tire will take more power to rotate but if the diameter is as close as possible it will still make the complete rotation just as the stock rim and tire did in the same amount of distance. And not travel distance as on a road but as in the complete rotation of the axel. If you take a rear wheel drive car and power brake it or do a burnout you will see the odometer go well above the actual speed you are doing, because the axel is rotating at that speed but not the car. And even car companies know there is no real difference in the speedo with different sized rims and tires. That is why on most cars you can go in and pick the rim and tire package you like best. They don't change the speedo you just get a larger rim and lower profile tire. the infiniti I'm looking at comes with standard 17" rims or you can get the optional 18" or 19"
- Location
- poughquag, ny
i guess 20 years of working on cars and a few at a goodyear store mean i know nothing,
and yes they offer different wheel packages, but also notice how the height of the tire really doesnt change 225-65-16, 215-60-17, 205-60-18 are all really close to same height. and most cars now days the speedo is off the tranny not the axle.
why would they change the speedometer ? you can actually go in and reprogram it
also make sure if buying a a\m rim you get the right offset, this can lead to rubbing and really odd handling
and yes they offer different wheel packages, but also notice how the height of the tire really doesnt change 225-65-16, 215-60-17, 205-60-18 are all really close to same height. and most cars now days the speedo is off the tranny not the axle.
why would they change the speedometer ? you can actually go in and reprogram it
also make sure if buying a a\m rim you get the right offset, this can lead to rubbing and really odd handling
Wow this is a lot of info to take in. I was just thinking of going from 13 to 14 or 15 max. I will look at tirerack and do some research.
Do you think its time for new tires, if I purchase these in 2003? I really didn't drive too much, but see that the rubber is deteriorating. The treads have cracks on it.
Sent from my ADR6300 using Reefs
Do you think its time for new tires, if I purchase these in 2003? I really didn't drive too much, but see that the rubber is deteriorating. The treads have cracks on it.
Sent from my ADR6300 using Reefs
- Location
- Huntington
Also, width makes a huge difference in handling and the geometry of the suspension. Slap a 10" wide rim on a car that hasn't been altered or designed for it and you are asking for all sorts of problems. A few millimeters in a suspension is all it takes to alter the ride noticeably.
- Location
- Huntington
I would check out your suspension, on a car that old there might be problems that wouldn't otherwise show up until after you add the extra weight of a larger rim.
Get new tires, it's not worth it. All you need is a catastrophic failure on the highway and you'll have much larger problems on your hands.
Get new tires, it's not worth it. All you need is a catastrophic failure on the highway and you'll have much larger problems on your hands.
Yea most people that wanna just upgrade to a nicer rim aren't looking to throw a 10" rim onto the car from what I know lol. A wider tire usually means better handling unless it offsets the suspension to much. And yes NY the differnece in the tire is enough to keep the diameter the same. They don't go in and reprogram the speedo for that. Out of every car I have ever owned I have went with the larger rims. And I guess 10 or so of those cars had the smaller rims on them and they just said he we had to order the larger rims they will be here in a week, They just slap them on when you bring the car in. I asked my brother about this as well as he is a Tech for Open road BMW/Audi in NJ and he said the same thing, nope there is no need to reset the speedo as the Rim/tire packages offered by the dealer are all interchangale with one another on the cars.
Oh and P.S. my grandmother has been driving for 45 years and she still sucks at it.i guess 20 years of working on cars and a few at a goodyear store mean i know nothing,
and yes they offer different wheel packages, but also notice how the height of the tire really doesnt change 225-65-16, 215-60-17, 205-60-18 are all really close to same height. and most cars now days the speedo is off the tranny not the axle.
why would they change the speedometer ? you can actually go in and reprogram it
also make sure if buying a a\m rim you get the right offset, this can lead to rubbing and really odd handling
- Location
- Huntington
I'd imagine the ECU is capable of compensating for the small variance in factory rims the same way it can adjust the fuel/air ratio on it's own to a certain degree, if you modify the intake. It wouldn't be cost effective if the companies had to have someone go in and flash each ECU everytime they had to swap the rims on a car.
Unless you can learn through mitosis, driving for even 100 years wouldn't qualify you to be a mechanic on it's own... I don't see the point.
Unless you can learn through mitosis, driving for even 100 years wouldn't qualify you to be a mechanic on it's own... I don't see the point.
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