Our long term 2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD rolls on massive Enkei 21 x 8.0-inch 6-spoke aluminum alloy wheels, shod with 265/45WR21 hi-po summer tires. 18- and 20-inch diameters are your other choices.
The 21s look awesome, particularly because of this vehicle's imposing size. Like a lot of guys, I like big wheels. Yes, the ride will suffer due to the short 45-series section height. And the increased unsprung mass will have detrimental effects on acceleration, braking, and handling.
I don't care. They look better.
Infiniti knows that now, and knew that back in 2003 when they beat almost all carmakers in the jumbo factory wheel race when they introduced the original FX.
I was working for a leading carmaker at that time, and we had just purchased a then-new FX35 for extensive benchmark evaluation. Word had spread through the company that the car was sitting in the Human Factors lab.
I came down to the lab to do some work and was met with over a dozen engineers in their 20's drooling over the FX. I stood there dumbfounded. The car certainly was different looking, but attractive enough to provoke that Pavlovian response?
"It's gotta be the rims," I said to myself.
Infiniti was the first (or at least one of the first) carmaker to put on 20" (or larger) factory wheels. If that original FX had just 18" wheels on it (still large in 2003), I doubt it would have elicited that reaction.
Nowadays, you can get subcompacts with 18" wheels, and even the not-a-minivan Toyota Venza is available with 20s. Our visual expectations for wheel size has grown just in the last few years, and you no longer have to go to the aftermarket to fill that need.
Could you imagine what our FX50 would look like on 18s?
I could: like Hell.
Albert Austria, Sr Vehicle Eval Engineer @ 11,870 miles
chavis10 says:
03:01 PM, 04/22/09
Large diameter wheels are here to stay- period. People who can't accept that are just stuck in the past. As the beltlines on modern cars rise, the wheel diameter and overall tire circumference will grow in step to keep the same proportion.
These new vehicles are designed with big wheels in mind unlike the past where people would slap 18"s on a Civic that came from the factory with 14"s. Suspensions are more than up to the task to handle the unsprung weight considering the heavy vehicle mass they must already deal with. I don't here anyone crying about the 19" wheels on a tiny 911 or Boxster yet if a 5000 lbs SUV has dubs (or a 4000lbs Challenger) everybody is whining about "when will this STUPID trend end?" Obviously, the curb appeal appeals to buyers because they seem to love them. As far as a sports car or SUV goes, how good is the ride quality to begin with? Let's be honest here. An extra inch of wheel diameter is NOT going to make or break the acceptance of the ride- if it does, the car simply doesn't ride that good to begin with. 45 series tires aren't even all that low profile anymore so what's the big deal? I could see if this thing had 25 series tires as on the ZR1 but much of this fuss is really over nothing. Besides, if a large wheel is forged as opposed to cast it's not going to be all that much heavier than the base option.
jason25 says:
03:11 PM, 04/22/09
Wheels are getting larger with every generation. I put 18" alloy wheels on my car in '07 that came from the factory with 15s. They seemed pretty large at the time, now they seem completely tiny next to "crossovers" with 20-inch wheels or larger...
stovt001 says:
03:19 PM, 04/22/09
As Chavis said, it is a race with wheels keeping up with rising beltlines. Pretty soon the wheels are going to be so big and heavy the car can't even be driven, which is ok since the beltline will be so high an NBA star couldn't even see out of the car. I hate modern trends.
carguy622 says:
03:25 PM, 04/22/09
It would look like the Challenger does with it's 18" rims...not good.
I'm not a huge fan of oversized rims. When it fits the vehicle great. However, the Toyota Venza does not need 20" rims. In fact, the smallest rims you can get on a Venza are 19". Ludicrous. Toyota = Smooth Ride, 19 & 20 rims ≠ Smooth Ride. So vehicles that have no lofty handling goals do not need them.
My biggest concern is the cost of replacement rubber.
cah11705 says:
03:30 PM, 04/22/09
large wheels look nice and all, but driving a car with low profile tires just makes me worried I'll hit a pothole and dent the rim...expensive bill
Maybe if I ever can afford a really nice car I will just get a classic with original wheels
CycloneRcr says:
03:49 PM, 04/22/09
SUV's have to have large rims if they are not intended to be driven off-road, period.
Also for sedans, I hate seeing a base/standard wheel-rim combination. They just make the car look awful and they are also not good for handling and traction. I can't stand a pillow of rubber around the rims but also dislike those oversized almost non-rubber aftermarket applications. The best compromise I have found for most brands' options is to choose one inch smaller from what the manufacturer offers maximally as rim size. In most cases I've seen this choice was the most sensible one.
kurtamaxxxguy says:
09:19 PM, 04/22/09
Granted, the trend's for bigger wheels and thinner tires (virtually all auto design sketches stress that). However, just because it's a trend doesn't mean it's good.
There's been plenty of testing showing that, past a certain point, plus-sizing wheels and lo-profiling tires deteriorates both ride _and_ handling.
Perhaps the Tweel or other similar tire will take this trend to its end - rubber band on a rim?
dubaizen says:
09:34 PM, 04/22/09
i love the enkei rims on my fx, but i do wish they had fatter rubber on them like the x6 does :D
dougtheeng says:
06:34 AM, 04/23/09
I'll be honest, I like the look of big rims on vehicles. My Lancer GTS had factor 18s, which seemed huge to me at the time. I didn't realize it at the time, but I'm guessing that new tires for that thing could have run quite expensive.
I'll echo carguy622: the cost of new tires is a major concern. Most people don't factor that into their initial car purchase.
1487 says:
07:53 AM, 04/23/09
The FX looks TERRIBLE with the 18" rims. After you have seen it with the 20s or 21s you can't even accept the base rims. Nothing is worse than an Escalade with the standard rims. It looks ridiculous.
kurtmazxx:
If a car's suspension and tires are tuned to work with a large wheel the ride does not have to be harsh. You can get 18" wheels on a Buick Lucerne and I sincerely doubt the ride quality is Mini like. In addition, many cars (primarily American/Asian) that have large rims don't really have low profile tires. I don't really consider 50 series tires low profile in todays world and many larger cars with 18" or larger wheels have 50 or 55 series tires.
chavis10 says:
09:12 AM, 04/23/09
I just drove my dad's Impala this morning which has 235/50-18s and the ride is as smooth as silk with no thumping or thudding over bumps. Most of the preconceived notions about large wheels come from an era where vehicles weren't meant to accept large wheels from the factory. I believe these 18"s are forged as well but I will have to check.
chavis10 says:
09:17 AM, 04/23/09
A note about tire aspect ratios: they are relative to overall width so a 45 series wide tires has more sidewall than a 45 series narrow tire. So it's wrong to assume that all 45 series tires have super short sidewalls which will result in a low compliance ride. In the FX's case, it's a 265/45 which isn't all that extreme compared to say a 215/45 that comes standard in the soft riding Scion tC.
clarkma5 says:
12:39 PM, 04/23/09
I find the 21s actually quite obnoxious on this car. 19s or 20s would probably be best from a visual standpoint, 18s or 19s from a performance standpoint. Therefore I'd take 19s, just like I would on a Cayenne or anything like that.