Just ordered Wheels/Tires for the Leaf!!! 17X7 & 205/50/17

UPDATE: THEY'RE ON!!! Drove around the block and OMGosh, the car actually sticks in the turns instead of sliding. Almost makes me wish I'd gone wider! But, must stick with the goal of increased grip and lighter weight without compromising range. But seriously, MAJOR imporvement in cornering g's.



So, ordered up some 17x7 Drag DR-38's +40 offset in gunmetal with some Hankook V12 Evo's. Rims are about as light as you can get for the price @ 17lbs each. Post rebate price for the entire set is $712 shipped no tax! =)

As I posted in another post, as a lease customer, I can expect to be charged $600+ for new tires and potentially for tax and install of them when I turn in my car. This way, I preserve the OEM rims/tires and can remount them when I turn in the car while driving in style for 3 years! At the lease end, I can also have the added bonus of selling the aftermarket wheels/tires for $400 or so. =)

Tires are 205/50/17's and my research has turned up that these tires are close in weight to the OEM Ecopia 422's @ 20.4lbs ea. Only tire I could find that was lighter was the 19.4lb Continental DW and they would have cost $160 more than the Hankooks just for the tires alone due to the current Hankook $80 rebate and lower price.

I already run these same rims on my WRX in a 17X8, and they're decent for the price, and I have the same tires on my WRX and again, very competent tire, but in this case, my concern was tire weight for the EV.

After a fair amount of searching on this forum, I couldn't find anyone who had listed the weight of the OEM steel Leaf "S" rims.

EDIT!!! Just weighed the Stock Wheel/Tire/Hub Cap Combo at 40.6lbs!!! Wow! Nissan really went through great strides to souce a lightweight steel rim! I'm impressed, but a little saddened that with this small of difference, I don't expect to see any range benfits after figuring a small increase in rolling resistance, and ever so slight diameter increase. Oh well, still, they will look good, and preserve my stock wheels/caps for lease turn in. =)

BTW, if ordering from http://www.discounttiredirect" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; like I did, don't get the lug nuts from them...order them from Amazon...they're half the price!!!

http://www.amazon.com/Gorilla-Automotive-21123HT-Diameter-Chrome/dp/B001O0CBXO/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They should like really good on the LEAF. Post pics when installed.

They'll look like this:

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/interactive.do?yr=2013&pc=45300&vid=024617" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Real pix coming once installed.

Stock 16" aluminum wheels are 21 lb each:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=74992" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

DeaneG said:

Stock 16" aluminum wheels are 21 lb each:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=74992" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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I have the OEM Steel wheels on the 2013 base model. I'm estimating 26lbs ea. I'll pull one off and weigh it and let everyone know. =)

Aren't the wheels the only thing exterior-appearance-wise that cheapens the base model? I was thinking an S with aftermarket rims would be a great value.

Why not install the TPMS sensors?

LTLFTcomposite said:

Aren't the wheels the only thing exterior-appearance-wise that cheapens the base model? I was thinking an S with aftermarket rims would be a great value.

Why not install the TPMS sensors?

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Well, for a couple reasons. One, not sure if they are the pressure type sensors, or the rotational type. My Honda Civic had the rotational type, meaning you couldn't use the TPMS sensors from the 16" wheels on the 17" wheels. If that's not the case, I have no problem switching them, but when I turn the car in, it would save me the hassle of swapping them twice.

Also, the wheels/tires already come mounted balanced. Would be easier to just throw them on and not deal with the hassle. I'll find a cute pic of my kid(s) to tape over the idiot light. =)

Funny thing is, the wheel covers on the base Leaf are the best looking ones I've seen on any car IMO. Replacing them for reasons mentioned in my original post.

Ok. Would have rather just seen some pics along with the details after you had them mounted. Glad you're excited about your purchase though, should look much better than stock.

Looking forward to seeing your results on these both in final wheel/tire weight mounted/balanced but also your thoughts on the tires.

For the same reasons as you (having OEM tires that can be put back on the car "like new" at lease turn in), we ended up with 215/45R17 Continental ContiProContact tires on my wife's car. They are rated LRR (low rolling resistance) but still should be a good all-season tire. Not probably as aggressive in the summer, but that also means I don't have to rush to put the snow tires on as swiftly in the fall if I don't want to. We found there was a 2.5-lb savings (approx 5%) on our setup. And our SL-trimmed 2012 was just under 43-lbs on the stock wheels with our snow tires. So that was nice.. still just a tick over 40-lbs now with our rather light summer setup.

Good luck and enjoy the ride!

I wouldn't have normally posted about my new rims before getting them, but thought it was valuable to get the weight of the OEM STEEL wheels and share it since I couldn't find it anywhere. Edited my original post above, and the weight of the OEM STEEL wheel/tire/wheelcover is 40.6 lbs. Surprisingly less than I thought. So, no longer expecting any range benefits, only aesthetics and cost savings at the end of the lease term in exchange for up -front expense now and a spare tire(s) I can keep in my garage.

Yep I weighed in the standard wheel + tyre at 19kg.

What offset are your 7" rims, and please post up fitment (ie distance from tyre to guard) once you have them on.

Duncan said:

Yep I weighed in the standard wheel + tyre at 19kg.

What offset are your 7" rims, and please post up fitment (ie distance from tyre to guard) once you have them on.

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Rims are +40 offset. Should stick out only 6mm more than stock. Didn't want them too much out there in the air because of added turbulence, also unless lowering a car, moving the wheels too much towards the fender makes the car look like a roller skate.

Ok, Wheels arrived today. 37lbs 6.2 oz. That's 37.4lbs total with tire, wheel weights and centercap.

Hankook specs say 20.4lbs per tire for the 205/50/17, which puts the 17x7 Drag DR38 wheel @ 16.95lbs.

Here's the pic of the rim/tire combo. Wife took the car to work, so they will get mounted this eve when she gets home. More pics to follow. So far, good news is that this wheel/tire combo is 3.25 lbs lighter than stock, and the rubber is MUCH grippier. I could have gone 17X8 and Continental extreme contact DW's in a 225/45/17 which would have only added 2 more lbs total but more rolling resistance, however monster grip wasn't what I was looking for. And even though the DW's are 1 lb lighter @ 19.4lbs in the 205/50/17 size, they were going to be $180 more after factoring in the rebate on the Hankook's, so I took one for the team and went cheap. =P

I'll update cornering performance as I get some miles on them, and take a few clover leafs on the local freeways. =)


Here's what a set of the same wheels in 17x8 look like on my WRX w/ 245/40/17's.

http://s266.photobucket.com/user/civicracer32/slideshow/Berni/WRX?sort=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They're a bit tucked under the car, even though they only stick out an extra 6mm more than OEM. But when putting aftermarket wheels on a car that will be retaining the stock height suspension, it's important to not get too aggressive with the offset as it can look odd. Also, there's the aero penalty of pushing the wheels out further. That said, I could stand a bit more offset, but it's fine really. It sticks out 7mm further than those running a Nissan Juke wheel. I do have this same set of wheels on my WRX in a 17X 8 +47 offset with a 245/40/17. The wider wheel would stick out an additional 5.7mm plus whatever the additional tire width adds. Actually, my 17x8 rim with a 225/45/17 would prob look the most proper aesthetically but again, there's the weight and aero penalty. Maybe I'll pull one off and mount it up just to see what it looks like on the front/rear. The Continental DW in the 225/45/17 weighs only 20lb even, .4lbs less than my 205/50/17 Hankook V12 evo's. So running those on a 17x8" wheel would only add .6lb more per wheel/tire.

ahh, finally! I kept checking back to see any updates. lol Looks pretty good! I'm curious how bad the grippier tires will change efficiency. I bet after they are broken in, mileage will improve. I would like to change mine to some volk te37's, but don't really wanna pull the trigger on expensive wheels for my daily driver.

Overall looks really good!

Final thoughts...

Bottom line, would have been nice to go wider both in terms of even more grip and aesthetics. Wheels are a bit more tucked under than I'd like to see. Maybe an extra 5-10mm more offset would have done the trick. Basically, they look like they stick out about the same as stock...if they're more offset, I can't tell. All that is good for aero efficiency, but part of me wanted to go wider. But the wheels and tires I wanted would have cost a lot more...nearly double.

Overall, nice low cost & lightweight setup with much improved grip and looks and preserves my OEM wheels/tires for lease return, which was the point of this exercise. =)

So their 16" steel wheels and 16" aluminum wheels weigh just about the same?

Each to his own. IMHO, those wheels are butt-ugly.

derkraut said:

Each to his own. IMHO, those wheels are butt-ugly.

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Truth

Dave, I bought a Nissan Altima Aluminum Spare and it's like 20LBS. You can see how I installed it in my Leaf without losing any trunk space here: http://tinyurl.com/mhbds49" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

pointlomadave said:

I wouldn't have normally posted about my new rims before getting them, but thought it was valuable to get the weight of the OEM STEEL wheels and share it since I couldn't find it anywhere. Edited my original post above, and the weight of the OEM STEEL wheel/tire/wheelcover is 40.6 lbs. Surprisingly less than I thought. So, no longer expecting any range benefits, only aesthetics and cost savings at the end of the lease term in exchange for up -front expense now and a spare tire(s) I can keep in my garage.

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