Why the 2018+ base wheels are smoking hot
 

I always knew the 2018+ gun metallic base wheels were hot and classy. My opinion is now officially confirmed by a 2 million dollar+ Bugatti having wheels with the same design language. Ya the wheels on the Bugatti are bigger, and are a different colour, but nether less they share the same design ethos. This is why I will never waste money to get rid of my stock wheels for some cheesy aftermarket rims. If they are good enough for Bugatti, they are good enough for my Z.

https://www.driven.co.nz/media/100007598/senna1.jpg

https://o.aolcdn.com/images/dims3/GL...edition-ny.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYpexKP_jTs

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder :tiphat:

[QUOTE=viiv;3986500]I always knew the 2018+ gun metallic base wheels were hot and classy. My opinion is now officially confirmed by a 2 million dollar+ Bugatti having wheels with the same design language. Ya the wheels on the Bugatti are bigger, and are a different colour, but nether less they share the same design ethos. This is why I will never waste money to get rid of my stock wheels for some cheesy aftermarket rims. If they are good enough for Bugatti, they are good enough for my Z.


I've upgraded the rims on my last couple cars but I really like these. The only thing that keeps me occasionally looking is the size, I'd like 19". With so many other things on my shopping list, the stock ones will probably last.

Not even close to the same look.

I never said they were the same, I would never make that argument. I said the same design ethos...and that's an argument I would win.

It's great having classy wheels from the factory so you don't have to waste money on cheesy aftermarket rims.

After a couple of shots, the beholder's eyes will ride anything.

I'm not sure those are very similar, but I will say that I always hated black rims, and one of my first plans before I even saw my 370 was to replace the rims or have them powder coated. All that went out the window when I saw them - along with the somewhat blackened head and taillights on the newer models, they really work. I have a white car so it's very black and white in a good way!

They are not actually black rims. According to Nissan, officially they are gun-metal.

OK. Seems weird I could
see them being described as a very dark grey, but they're nowhere near gun-metal as most define the color. The Nissan Canada website just calls them "black-finish".

Here's a better shot of those wheels by the way:

https://www.zero2turbo.com/wp-conten...s-1024x576.jpg

In a multinational, all the international subsidiaries are somewhat independent sales & marketing operations with local staff who would call it as they see fit to sell to the local population. But the car was designed and built by Nissan Japan, and this is their official description about the base wheels:

Ok. I can maybe see some similarities from that angle. But I don't like them either. Taste is so personal.

ignorance is bliss ?

That's all I need. :tup: If you can see some similarities between that 2 million USD king of sports cars and my 30k CAD sports car, then it was a heck of a deal.:driving:

https://i.ibb.co/gRSFzgy/DSC02694-1.jpg

the base wheels are too small.

the looks are irrelevant, the car is virtually undrivable at any kind of interesting pace with the base wheels. the front pushes and the rear slides around, it's ridiculous. they're barely acceptable as winters.

We live in a province where you can get your car towed and impounded for a week for driving 90 km/h so driving at an interesting pace will cost $2500 plus body damage from the tow and impound.

I admit they are not great track wheels, but I never track or else I would have gotten a sport. Anyways, 19" wheels don't make good street wheels, they are too susceptible from pothole damage and the like.

if you can't find roads in BC where you can have some fun safely, you gotta get out more.

and it's not the diameter that's the problem, it's the width.

It’s great you love your wheels. No hating.

But, justifying its beauty by saying a similar design is on something much more expensive...doesn’t actually say the said wheel is beautiful.

The smallest difference can make or break a design, so “similar” doesn’t mean as much as you may like. Then there’s always the saying “money doesn’t buy taste”. Something can be expensive but still be bug ugly.

Please don't put words in my mouth. The similarities are a stretch.


Just like these two women look similar.


https://i.pinimg.com/474x/9e/98/2c/9...84fe46b457.jpg

https://www.kaitaia.com/funny/albums...n%20outfit.jpg

..... these aren't two images of the same woman? :wtf2:

Two guys on the sidewalk talking about how smoking hot Wanda Woman is.

A Bugatti is power in the hands of very few but I have always liked the 18” gun metal base wheels on the OP Heritage Edition Z very nice color! You will find that some of the Nissan wheels are better quality than some of the aftermarket wheels some people choose to put on their Z’s.

Exactly. Aftermarket wheels with very, very few exceptions don't match the design language of the car, make a brand new car look second hand, look cheesy, and can make an otherwise classy and elegant car look just like this:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pr...mjS6I1RUzP2dUw

There are some tasteful aftermarket wheels for our cars but they will cost you $$$.

"And some folks loves ham hocks and some folks loves pork chops
And some folks loves vegetable soup" - Dr. Hook

Fun fact, when we were at the dealership in early 2019 and we ended up factory ordering my passion red as a base trim; they had two other 2020 models side-by-side, one a base with the gun metallic wheels and another a sport with the 19" Rays forged wheels.

I asked my wife who was clueless about Z's at the time which she thought was the more expensive (trim) level, and she pointed to the base model.

Your "clueless" wife incorrectly picking which trim is more expensive isn't proof of anything other than the fact she is clueless :twocents:

Really, then why are blind and double-blind tests the only legitimate way to conduct formal scientific trials?

When you know that this is the higher more expensive trim level, or this is the more expensive car you will develop an inherent bias to choose it.

My 'clueless' wife is a stronger indicator on what is more attractive in the real world than the VERY limited subset of people who make up enthusiast car forums.

maybe i made a mistake tryin to educate people about wheel fitment

living in a world where superficial, vague similarities in spoke design with no regard to sizing is such a simple, happy existence

santa claus is real, man

on the other hand, thinking that 19's aren't streetable

ooh boy thats like living in a black and white sitcom from the 50's

In this post-pandemic world of economic uncertainty and hyper-inflation, it's good to be happy and thankful with what came stock with your car. You can do whatever you want with your money, but they way I see it, buying aftermarket rims when your car came with perfectly good rims from the factory is pure financial irresponsibility in today's climate.

Never said 19s weren't streetable, but however small a percentage, they are nether less still more prone to damage than 18s.

Be glad most enthusiasts are clueless, making this gem of a wheel dirt cheap. Get yourself another set as spare before price shoots up.

Oh it must be the gunmetal ones....the earlier silver ones don’t count....

We’ve had base vs sport, base vs Nismo, etc etc.....now we can have a base vs base debate!!!!

so far we've had the following arguments:

'the base wheels are good because bugatti'

'the base wheels are good because speed limits'

'the base wheels are good because road damage'

'the base wheels are good because, uh, my wife (?)'

and now we're at 'the base wheels are good because pandemic'

the objective fact is, they are not good.

if you, subjectively, like them, great. you don't have to justify that. except to your wife I guess, but she already likes them.

Yup. Tips for any single guys; do your shopping with a member of the opposite sex. This debate is so fun, lol...

Resisted in saying this, but....

My wife’s also rather clueless about cars, yet without waver, she picked the opposite for our first Z, and even more adamantly during our second Z purchase. In her words, “the base wheels are too vanilla, doesn’t match the car’s curve, too sunken, like having nice *** but anemic legs when looking from behind”.

And I honestly think Veyrons are really ugly, “bug” ugly.

Who cares....to Gordon Murray, everything is ugly except for F1 and T50 :roflpuke2:

Your first Z would have had the older versions of the wheels on sale at that time though right?

Her opinion remains the same through all years.

We purchased our second one in 19, same words from her.

Interesting. I just asked my wife now while she's eating breakfast why she liked these again more than the sport Rays. She said the other ones "look like Civic wheels". She said "these looked more sporty, they have a beautiful shine that you wouldn't expect from something so dark and they look like Lamborghini wheels"

Both female, very different views.

Trying to objectively discuss subjective views make good fun for a while.

Don't get me wrong I also personally like the sport Rays and their increased width and what that gives you for high-speed Autobahn runs. But for a base model car, where you stereo-typically get steel wheels with plastic covers, you can't deny Nissan gives you alot for a base wheel. I factory ordered my Z so I could have ordered a sport and would have loved the Akebonos and the revmatch but I am very pleased by how much car I got for such a small amount of money for a brand new sports car. Especially when compared to something like a Toyota 86 with just a 4-banger for the same amount of money in Canada. Heck it was $7k cheaper than a brand new base soft-top Miata.

Enjoy!