Blue Beast gets some Phatt shoes! [SPECS+PICS]

Hi guys and girls :zlove:

2 main reasons for this thread:

1: to show off my sexy new wheels
2: to give people a better idea of what you can actually fit on our Zeds, and what modifications are required.


So, it's out with the old...



...and in with the new! [TIS]



What i was trying to achieve with my Zed was a nice big wheel that can pretty much max out what we can squeeze under the stock guards, and get that really fat flush look, so i took a risk and got some wheels from Yahoo Japan Auctions (for an extremely cheap price mind you - shipping them over here was more expensive than what i paid for the wheels and tyres! )

These wheels are called AME Shallen CX wheels. They are made and forged by Enkei, so they are very light and strong.
I bought these from Japan and had them shipped over in a container. It took 3 long months of waiting, but i think it was worth it.

Ok, spec time...

Rims:
Fronts: 19x9" +15
Rears: 19x10.5" +35

Dishhhhhh maaaan:
Fronts: just under 90mm
Rears: just under 120mm

Tyres:
Fronts: Kumho Ecsta KU31 235/35/ZR19
Rears: Kumho Ecsta KU31 275/30/ZR19

These Kumho KU31's are the BEST tyres i've ever owned. Extremely good grip in both wet and dry, and low tyre noise in cabin. I highly recommend them.
I would like to go up to a 295 next time on these rims, but i'll be needing to get rear lower control arms (i already have upper control arms), so i can adjust the hub offset and push them in a bit, otherwise the offset of my wheels won't allow any bigger tyres as you will see from the pics.
I've been reading some of what member BLACK BEAST has written and seams that you can actually push the rear hubs in about 20mm using both upper and lower rear adjustable control arms, so i will try this out down the track.

Now, fitting these wheels was one hell of a challenge on my Zed. It is lowered 2" from stock, and i have front and rear adjustable upper control arms, and front castor rods, so when these got fitted, i had some play.
I had to have 2 doses of guard rolling on all four corners to get an extra tight lip, i've had to "shave" some of the front plastic inner guards for turning clearance and i've had to attack the seam on the rear end where the urethane bumper bolts to the fender with an angle grinder to stop it catching there aswell. I'll also mention that i've stiffened up the dampening on my Koni coilovers to probably 70% tention. Quite a firm ride, but not rigid to the uncomfortable point.

Also regarding camber, I wanted to make sure that i don't have to run stupid camber to fit these things because i do NOT want uneven tyre wear on my expensive tyres, and i don't want poor traction with only half of the tyre making contact. After all the main point of getting fatter tyres is to gain more traction, particularly after my recent turbo upgrade.

So, camber settings as follows:

Stock camber:
Front: 1.35 degrees
Rear: 1.35 degrees

My camber:
Front: 1.5 degrees
Rear: 1.8 degrees

But lets face it, with the sag and wear of our 20 year old springs and suspension components, realistically a stock suspension setup can even be more than these figures by now anyway. But i'm very happy with the amount of camber setup now.
So in getting a sensible camber setup, i had to do those modifications that i mentioned above to fit them in, but end of the day, they DO fit perfectly and NO scrubbing what so ever! yay!


Ok, enough with the bullshit readin' stuff, lets see the piccies! Hope you enjoy them...


































So i've left the 3 spoke club, and joined the 5 spoke club once again. Ahh, good to be back! :zlove:

Coming up in the next week or so, my old 3 spoke Super Advan Racing wheels will be up for sale in the for sale Zed related section.
They are 18x9" +40 with good 235 and 255 Nexen N3000 tyres on them. I'll be asking around $1599.99 for them for those that may be interested.

Cheers,
Benny. :zlove:

 

I like the design but I think if there were an 18" rim they'd be perfect

 

Thats COOL.!

Please, 19" rock.

These people and their 18" rims.
18's will never look like that.

 

Nah man, wide 17's is where it's at


I think I like your old wheels better Benny :sorry:

 

Yeah, wheels are a hard nut to crack, because they are very partial to individual taste. Like people prefer wearing red shirts over black shirts.

I'm still very fond of my old wheels, that's for sure and it was a hard decision to change them. But end of the day, i need something more practical that can accomodate wider tyres for traction issues. So that's the basis for getting these really. ...oh, and i kind of love 'em too.

 

But look at that dish.

The old wheels unbalanced the look of the car. These are soo much better.

The bodykit and paint work so much nicer with the big rims.

I know there not the best peformance wise, but its a street car. Its there for looks.

On a two seater 17" are best.

But personally bigger is better with 2+2's
Its more of a cruiser look. Than boy racer.

 

OMFGJESUSCHRITST************************OMG

NA I liked your old ones...

haha na the 3 spoke suited perfectly but that is pretty epic dish man... so much dish you'd need an industrial dishwasher to clean them

 

well done on going outside the norm benny. it's not often you see AU members pushing the limits with offsets and props for having a go and sharing the work needed to make them tuck under.

i wasn't sure in the phone cam photos but i officially like these more. 5 spoke > all. welcome back.

 

They look great, nice choice!

 

Now it looks hot, those 3 spoke rims are :vomit:, they'd make good potplant holders

 

this is true. FOR the record id just like to say ure car is sex

 

Now this is FAT JDM
Just the look Im chasing

 

...stunning wheels.

...stunning car.

Well done!



Elie.

 

Phatt shoes alright...
That dish is impressive... :thumbup:

 

You've chosen well my friend, that design and size suits your theme very well:zlove:. Those rims without a suitable body kit would look very much out of place.

Sorry to do your head in bro but you know that big wheels are not the comlplete package without big rotors

 

Thanks bro, and yep you're right. Now i've got to fork out for a big brake kit to finish that off.

Oh well, 1 thing at a time. :zlove:

 

Very nice tuff looking wheels Benny.Wheels tuck nicely under the guards giving it a nice but not overly agressive stance. Looks good.

Cheers
Grahame

 

I was ready to hate them... but they look awesome! If I still had a Zed I'd snap up the Super Advan's in a heartbeat.

Cheers,
Adam.

 

since the first time I saw a set of 3 spoke's on a nissan I hated them (sorry)
5 or 6 spoke on a z32 FTW!

This is what you need now

 

Benny, I have always loved your car(and I have a grudging affection for you as well)but whilst they are nice wheels, I can't help but say that the old rims gave your car a distinct character that these have taken away IMHO.

And from a performance point of view, bigger rims and tyres = increased unsprung weight, which is the enemy of every performance seeking driver who has visions of going around corners(rather than just short high speed straight line squirts).:zlove::zlove:

At the end of the day matey, if you're happy with the result, that's all that matters.