I went BIG! (New pics added)

I know this will undoubtedly piss off the performance purists on this forum, but the bling was calling me too loudly to resist :lol: I just bolted on a set of 19"x7.5" Arospeed/REV Model II in hyperblack wrapped in 225/35/19 Falken ST-115's. Before anyone flames me too much about going with 19's, know that they only weigh about 20.5 lbs. The tire weighs 23.4 lbs. So my total combo weighs about 44 lbs, or only about 2 lbs. more than stock. I didn't get a chance to verify the weight with certainty, but I did weigh the wheel by itself on a bathroom scale and it read 20 lbs. I used a 45 mm offset. No rubbing so far, but it is pretty close to the fenders. The tires are on the narrow side for 225's, so that'll probably keep me in the clear. Performance wise I haven't noticed a big difference. Maybe a touch slower between the extra weight and slightly increased diameter, but no big deal. Steering response is quicker, and the ride is only marginally less compliant. Even though the ST-115's are billed as being quiet tires, the are louder than the stock RE-92's. Honestly, I didn't think that the RE-92's were as bad as everyone makes them out to be. Not a great performance tire by any means, but certainly adaquate performers that rode smoothly and quietly. Anyways, to ward off the obligatory TTIWWP post here they are: [img]http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/7/web/415000-415999/415436_52_full.jpg[/img] [img]http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/7/web/415000-415999/415436_53_full.jpg[/img] I'll have better pics tommorrow, these were obviously taken in my cramped garage :oops: The first pics was taken with the flash and second was taken without. You can kinda see how the hyperblack finish on the spokes color shifts depending on how the light hits them. Oh, I hit 1000 miles just as I pulled into the garage, so an oil change before work tommorrow and let the fun begin! :twisted: Edit on 10/9/04 Took some better pics this evening: [img]http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/7/web/415000-415999/415436_54_full.jpg[/img] [img]http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/7/web/415000-415999/415436_55_full.jpg[/img] [img]http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/7/web/415000-415999/415436_56_full.jpg[/img] [img]http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/7/web/415000-415999/415436_57_full.jpg[/img] [img]http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/7/web/415000-415999/415436_58_full.jpg[/img]

Damn! That's sweet. Looks kind of like the Volk Racing LE28N's. I can't wait to see more pictures. :)

Nice wheels. Looking forward to more pics.

No, I have to admit, those do seriously look fantastic. Bling or no Bling, those are IN! Well done and enjoy getting the green off them. Adam.

I know you have mentioned the weight diff., but just to shed some light on it, the 2lbs doesn't matter as much as the fact that the extra mass is further from the center of the wheel. The 19s you put on have roughly a 50 lb/in greater moment than the stock combo. If you throw a lighter tire on the stock rims, your 19s have almost a 100 lb/in GREATER moment. That’s a lot of rolling resistance. Roughly a 14% increase over stock and a 30% increase over the second set-up I mentioned. I know this is for looks, but it does truly take away from the straight-line performance, not to mention what the suspension now has to deal with… Ted

Wow- those are big! Any pix from further away?

Looks GREAT BoostJunkie, Bling but tasteful. Do they make the same wheel in a 17x7.5 in 48-52 offest? Where did you source the wheels and any price range info?

You're not pimping unless you are rolling on 22's!! :D sweet rims i like them.

Thanks for the comments guys. I got the wheels off Ebay for a whopping $590 for the set shipped. That is part of why I got the 19's. Figured that if I hated them, I could probably sell them for what I had in to them. They are dual-drilled 5x100/5x114.3, so they would fit alot of other cars as well. They actually came from the Ebay branch of Speedandstyle.com. Their prices on Ebay are much lower than on their web site, but you can get an idea of what is available there. Regarding the MOI of the wheels. I am aware of that. I know that they will hurt my straightline performance a little. Given the price I paid, I was willing to accept a small compromise there for "the look". Money permitting, I'll probably get a set lighter 17" wheels in the future if I end up autocrossing, but for a street setup the 19's are nice.

Added some new pics to my post at the top. I checked the air pressure in my tires and the tire store had them set at 45 psi! :o I dropped the fronts to 38 psi and the rears to 35 psi. The ride is now almost indistinguishable from stock. I'm pretty amazed at that. Since I'm past 1000 miles, I opened it up a couple times. Felt good, but not that much faster than when I restrained myself to 50% throttle. The 19's might very well be affecting performance a little more than I care to admit. Still, the car is plenty fast, and I do like the look. I guess a reflash/upipe/turboback will solve that problem! :D

thats hot stuff man. honestly I didnt know that 19s would fit, thought 18" was max. size.

[quote name='fbi012']thats hot stuff man. honestly I didnt know that 19s would fit, thought 18" was max. size.[/quote] Same here.

They look nice, remind me of Volk CE28Ns.

Lower that 4x4 it looks like an Outback Sedan. That thing is high it needs to be lowered to complete the look. Nice job though. And to people who didn't think 19s was possible. 20s are probably possible since its still a 35 series on the 19s. Depends on if you could get the right offset and tires.

I thought this was going to be a flame thread.. but I will say that the rims don't look overly big on that GT. Love the style, as DM said they are most certainly modeled after the volks.

I like my look. I agree that they are very much "inspired" by the Volks. I'll take "inspired by" when the price for all 4 is the same as for one of the originals. Same reasoning why some people go with Rota's rather than they wheels they mimic. Purely from a looks perspective I think 19's are perfect. For me the slight compromise in performance was worth it, and I can safely say that the difference is small. Funny, but I did some numbers and you "could" fit 20's on a LGT. BFGoodrich makes a 225/30/20, which would give a total diameter that is about 18 mm or about .75" bigger than stock. I'm at about 15 mm bigger than stock, and it fits fine. So with the right offset/width wheel it could easily be done. Of course, I'd think that a wheel/tire combo of that size would look stupid and ride/handle badly, to speak nothing of how vulnerable the rim would be to damage with a rubber band for a tire.... but it could be done. I think I'll be really happy with my look when springs become more readily available and I can lower the car about 1". I think Cobb has some springs coming, which paired with their sway bars and some stiffer shocks would make for a sweet combo. I'll have to save my $$$ for the suspension parts as well as their upcoming Stage II package. Should be sweet when I'm done.... wait... are we ever "done"?!?

Won't you have a problem with the front wheels throwing dirt/stones up the outside of the car, as they 'stick out' of the wheels arches? Especially on a white car. I think when keefe stuck some big wheels he did mention this being a potential problem and there was talk of wheel arch flaring.

That possibility exists, but even when stock I noticed that if I had a little too much tire dressing on, it would sling off on to the lower side sills. Really, if you look at most cars, the bottom of tires are not tucked all the way in to the wheelwells. The only way to prevent anything from being kicked up by the tires on to the body is to get some mudflaps.

Once you lower it a tad, it'll look great imo. Baller!

Dunno about performance, but IMHO they sure look nice :) I bet you don't parrallel park much with those babies on :wink:

I ran with 225s with a 7.5" wide rim on +42 offset.. and I still had room for another 3mm in the rear with my 18"s. I doubt you would rub even if you lower the car 2". Keefe

XenonK, I now know why you have gone SO large and encourage others to do so as well. Yesterday while following and new GT, the car seriously looked like it was on wagon wheels. There is NO stance at all on the stocker. I think the Spec-B's look a lot better but I think you could seriously take the next step and go for 19's. For day to day driving 17"'s would do the job and lets face it, its 1" up on the previous model but for stance and cornering at speed, I think you would be much better placed with 18"'s or 19"'s. As soon as I saw that car yesterday, I thought about yr comments. Thanks for the inspiration XenonK. Adam.

Looks great. A little too big for me but nice style. I wasnt sure if i wanted a balck lgt or a white one, but your pics made me see the potential. looks great. keep it clean. i could never roll around on a 35 series tire. i think i could pop a tire or bend the rim in one day in the tri state area.

wow 19s arent that big on the lgt. the look about the same as my 17s on my camry

[quote name='VXCL']Looks great. A little too big for me but nice style. I wasnt sure if i wanted a balck lgt or a white one, but your pics made me see the potential. looks great. keep it clean. i could never roll around on a 35 series tire. i think i could pop a tire or bend the rim in one day in the tri state area.[/QUOTE] VXCL, just in case you didnt get your PM, this is what I sent you: If you are going to run 18"x7.5", run a set of 225/40/18, that will be your best bet.. Right now on my car (and check up my new thread in the Wheels/Tires section forum) is a set of, get this, 255/35/18 tires on a 18x8 rim.. it's all math.. and the whole idea is to be in the range of 24.6" to 25.2" for overall TIRE diameter.. so really it doesnt matter if you want to run 17"s, 18", 19" or even 20", as long as you stay within 25" diameter for the tire (for this car), you'll be set.. it's just that if you go with a bigger rim, the sidewalls are going to shrink because you want to keep the overall tire diameter about +/- 2% from stock.. I chose the range from 24.6" to 25.2" that is safe to fit under the Legacy's fenders, any bigger than that, and you'll not only have problems with the speedometer reading WAY off, but you'll risk of screwing up suspension travel and turning clearance. I decided to show you some math of why I chose to go WIDE and GO with a smaller profile series... for example: I want to keep the overall tire diameter to be 25". That's already 0.4" bigger than stock, so I know the ride is still good, if not a little bit more cushion for the road. So for a 17" rim, I will have 4" of side wall (25" - 17" = 8" diameter / 2 (radius) = 4" side wall. And for a 18" rim, I will have 3.5" of side wall (25" -18" = 7" diameter / 2 (radius) = 3.5" side wall. Well, you get the idea.. For tire size, a 225/40/18 (tire diameter for this tire is about 25") will have a pretty close sidewall to a 255/35/18 (tire diameter for this tire is also 25") .. and this is how the math is done: 225mm x 40% = 90mm / 25.4 [1" = 25.4mm] = 3.54" 255mm x 35% = 89mm / 25.4 [1" = 25.4mm] = 3.51" So you see, just because the "2nd number" is smaller doesnt mean the ride is harsher.. it's an aspect ratio number based on the width of the tire. See, I did some math, and 225/40 sidewall is pretty much the same as a 255/35 side wall.. it's all proportional. I am still running an 18" rim.. it's just that I widen out the tire a bit. If you want comfort, run the 225/40/18, if you want performance, you can do 245/35/18. For stock rims, run 225/45/17s or 245/40/17 for sport use. Dont worry, the harshness of the ride from 17" to 18" isnt that bad so long as you stick to using an overall diameter of 25" to 25.3".. stock over diameter is 24.6" so all of my aftermarket rims and tire setups are all bigger than 24.6" so that the is already some cushion and comfort. Hope this makes any sense. So in my defense, I WOULD RUN a 35 series or even a 30 series tire for daily driving on a 18" rim and 19" respectively.. it's all about how WIDE you want to go :D Keefe