Choosing Wheels for Your Drift Car: Fitment, Performance & Style

When you think of a drift car, what comes to mind?

Maybe it's a purpose-built track car with a wild livery like something you'd see in Formula Drift or Drift Masters. Maybe it's a car with tons of character sitting low over tucked wheels with a deep-dish setup. Or maybe it's a simple grassroots car where everything was chosen for function.

There are a lot of different ways to build a drift car, and wheels are one of those areas where you can completely change the look of the car while also changing how it performs.

So where do you start?

Start With Wheel Diameter

The first thing I think about is wheel diameter.

There are several things that can narrow down your options immediately: brake size, wheel-well clearance, factory wheel size, suspension setup and even your angle kit.

Are you trying to stay close to the OEM tire sizes, or are you planning to run something completely different?

Sidewall is another thing worth considering, especially on a drift car.

The shorter the tire sidewall gets, the less cushion you have between the wheel and whatever you hit. A dirt drop, curb or rough track edge that a taller sidewall might absorb can end up putting the impact directly into the lip of the wheel.

I've experienced this firsthand with my 350Z.

Factory wheel sizes on the 350Z included both 17- and 18-inch setups, and I've drifted on both. I think the 18s look better on the car, but there is noticeably less sidewall.

I've taken out a few 18-inch wheels from dirt drops and impacts. With the 17s, I've had similar situations where the tire took the impact and debeaded instead of destroying the wheel.

That doesn't automatically make a 17-inch wheel better, but it's a good example of why wheel diameter isn't just about looks.

Your angle kit can make the decision for you too. Some front suspension and angle setups require a certain wheel diameter for clearance. If your kit requires an 18-inch wheel, your options have already been narrowed down before you even start looking at designs.

Then Figure Out Wheel Width

Once you know the diameter you want, you can start looking at width.

Everyone likes the look of a wide wheel on the back of a car, but there are two important questions:

Can your car actually spin the tire you're putting on it, and does that tire properly fit the wheel?

For example, you can physically put a 235 tire on some 10.5-inch wheels, but you're going to have quite a bit of stretch. Some people like that look. Others don't.

More importantly, tire manufacturers provide approved wheel-width ranges for their tires. Going too wide or too narrow for a particular tire changes the shape of the tire and can affect how it performs.

A drift car adds another variable: grip.

Putting a huge tire on the back of a lower-power car doesn't automatically make it better. If you add more rear grip than the car can comfortably overcome, you can actually make the car harder to drift.

Wheel width also has to work with the chassis and suspension geometry.

Go too wide and you may find the tire or wheel contacting a control arm, coilover, inner fender or other suspension component before reaching full steering lock. Go too far outward and now you're fighting the fender.

This becomes even more important on the front of a car with an angle kit because the wheel is moving through a much larger steering range than it did from the factory.

Width and Offset Work Together

This brings us to the magic number that goes along with wheel width: offset.

Offset is the location of the wheel's mounting surface in relation to the centerline of the wheel.

A 0 offset (ET0) means the mounting surface is located at the centerline of the wheel.

With a positive offset, such as +25, the mounting surface moves toward the face of the wheel, which generally positions more of the wheel inward toward the suspension.

With a negative offset, such as -25, the mounting surface moves farther toward the back side of the wheel, pushing more of the wheel outward.

This is why width by itself doesn't tell you whether a wheel will fit.

You might find that a 10.5-inch wheel with a +45 offset fits your particular setup well, while the same 10.5-inch wheel with a +25 offset sticks far enough outward that it requires fender work.

Change the width and those measurements change again.

This is where doing your research before ordering wheels really matters. Wheel diameter, width and offset all work together.

Don't Forget the Bolt Pattern

This sounds simple, but double-check your bolt pattern.

You can get the diameter, width, offset and design absolutely perfect, but if the bolt pattern is wrong, the wheel isn't going on the car.

Bolt-pattern adapters do exist, but they shouldn't be treated as if they don't affect anything else.

An adapter adds thickness between the wheel and hub, which effectively pushes the wheel outward. That means the final wheel position needs to be calculated with the adapter thickness included.

Fitment is a complete package.

Cast vs. Flow-Formed vs. Forged Wheels

Once you understand sizing, you'll start seeing different wheel-manufacturing terms.

Three common ones are cast, flow-formed and forged.

Cast Wheels

A simplified way of thinking about a cast wheel is pouring aluminum into a mold to create the wheel shape, almost like pouring water into an ice tray.

Casting allows manufacturers to produce wheels efficiently and at a lower cost, which is why cast wheels are extremely common.

For a grassroots drift car where wheels are likely to get beaten up and occasionally replaced, cost is a real consideration. An affordable wheel that you can easily replace may make more sense than an extremely expensive wheel you're afraid to damage.

That doesn't mean every cast wheel is the same. Wheel design, material, manufacturing quality, load rating and testing all matter.

Flow-Formed Wheels

Flow forming starts with a cast wheel, but additional work is done to the barrel.

The wheel is spun while rollers apply pressure to the barrel, stretching and compressing the aluminum until the barrel reaches its final shape.

This process can increase the material strength of the barrel and allows manufacturers to reduce weight compared with a conventional cast design while maintaining the required strength.

For a drift or track car, that can make flow-formed wheels a really attractive middle ground between a traditional cast wheel and a more expensive forged wheel.

You can get a wheel designed around performance and lower weight without immediately jumping into the price range of a custom forged setup.

Forged Wheels

Then you get into forged wheels.

Rather than simply pouring molten aluminum into a wheel-shaped mold, a forged wheel starts with aluminum that is formed under extremely high pressure. The wheel is then machined into its final shape.

This manufacturing process allows manufacturers to create very strong wheels while removing material from areas where it isn't necessary.

It's also where you can start getting into much more customized wheels.

Custom widths, offsets, bolt patterns, profiles, designs and finishes may be available depending on the manufacturer.

The downside is pretty obvious: cost.

There is a lot more material processing, machining and manufacturing time involved, and you pay for it.

For the right build, though, a custom forged wheel can give you exactly the fitment and appearance you're after instead of trying to make an off-the-shelf wheel work.

What About Wheel Finish?

Once all of the technical stuff is figured out, you finally get to the fun part.

What do you actually want the wheels to look like?

Polished? Chrome-looking? Painted? Powder coated? Bronze? White? Purple? Teal? Something completely different?

That part mostly comes down to preference.

Even if the wheel you want isn't available in your perfect color, refinishing is always an option. A local powder-coating company can take the design you already like and finish it in a color, or combination of colors, that makes the setup unique to your car.

For some builds, the wheels almost become part of the car's identity.

Function or Style? Why Not Both?

That's one of the things I like about wheels.

You can approach them completely from the performance side and choose a lightweight wheel with the exact diameter, width and offset you need.

You can approach them from the style side and completely transform the look of the car.

Or you can do both.

Changing wheels can make the exact same car look like a completely different build.

Just make sure you don't choose them based on appearance alone.

Figure out the diameter you need. Decide what tire you're trying to run. Match the wheel width to that tire. Research your offset and clearances. Verify the bolt pattern. Then start looking at designs, construction methods and finishes.

Once all of those pieces come together, you can find a wheel that doesn't just look right, it actually works with the way you use the car.

Find the Right Wheels for Your Build

Driftaholic Racing has expanded our product lineup to include wheels from Motegi Racing, Rotiform and other brands available through our distributors.

Once you know the diameter, width, offset and bolt pattern you're looking for, browse our wheel selection and compare the different designs, finishes and construction options available.

Whether you're building a street car, grassroots drift car or dedicated track car, choosing the right specs first makes it a lot easier to find a wheel that works with the car instead of fighting against it.

Do the research. Get the fitment right. Then find the wheel that finishes the build.