Pics! New wheels, tires, dampers, subwoofer, tint, antenna

[DaveEV]

Something must be affecting the offset in the rear because stock the rear wheels are tucked in more than the fronts where in your pic it appears that the rears are flush while the fronts are almost flush.

Car looks great - how do you find the ride on the oh-so-smooth San Diego roads (especially all the cracked concrete you have there in La Jolla)...

[llaumann]

The new Sharkfin Antenna. What do you think?

[racerkit]

"I appear to have taken about a 5% hit on efficiency (4.2 to 4.0 m/kwh) so far but we will see what happens when I stop racing it around..."

I like it. You wheel size also increase by 4.4%, you miles travel vs. actual is lower also. No bad on efficiency lost.

[llaumann]

Drees,

thank you for your input on the wheel and suspension forums and such. I have been lurking for weeks, and scheming about my LEAF mods and I finally pulled the trigger thanks to all the great advice.

The body shop put 1" spacers in the rear. Sorry I am not exactly clear about the difference between offsets and spacers, but according to an email from the body shop, they put 1" spacers in the rear.

Secondly, I get your drift, I find the ride pretty jarring on our cracked concrete roads. I caught air the other day merging onto the 52 East at about 70 mph coming downhill from La Jolla. And potholes are devastating. The stock suspension was much smoother, but with the Tein coilovers ... the cushy ride is pretty much over. However, I find the handling to be excellent, and I am just starting to get an idea of what it can do. I would like to find a way to make the ride a little cushier, but if that cannot be done with some adjustments, then so be it.

(edit) In Late 2012 I lowered the car more and the ride is much smoother. (edit)

I raced around in my beloved 1991 MR2 Turbo for the last 20 years (300K mi) so I am accustomed to sportiness. The LEAF was my replacement car.

[HXGuy]

That looks really good! Wheels can make such a difference to how a car looks.

Anyone know what the stock wheels + tires weigh?

[HXGuy]

Oh nevermind, found the information online.

The stock wheels weight 21lbs each and the stock tires weigh 18lbs each for a total of 39 lbs while the new setup comes in at 42 lbs. Not a big difference, I wouldn't think it affects range.

[llaumann]

You could really go lightweight if you got some 17" Enkei wheels and some narrow General G-MAX AS-03 tires.

You can look up the wheel weights on Enkei.com and the tire weights on TireRack.com.

[TRONZ]

Very well done! Thank you for posting up the pics. I was a little freaked out when you said +48 offset all around cuz there is no way you could get a 7.5 rim that flush in the rear with that spec. Now the 1" spacer makes a lot of sense. You are running an effective offset of +23mm in the rear. Food for thought in the low offset, concave spoke camp. Congratulations the ride is looking sharp!

[Drivesolo]

Looks good! Slightly tuner-esqe, or as much as a Leaf can be. Was going from a MR to an FF was an easy transition for you? Going FR to FF for a daily driver was (and still is) a bit rough for me.

[TRONZ]

Sorta looks like you could up the spacer in the front by 3/8 or 1/2 inch. Let us know if you get any frosting of the bumper paint behind the rear wheel. Might want to have some protective film added before the paint chips start showing up there. She's too pretty for that hassle.