Hey Everyone,

I recently upgraded my wheels and tires and I could not be more happy that I did. Not sure what reason many of you have to upgrade wheels, but I wanted to let all of you know who are considering it, that the functional aspect almost out weighs the aesthetic.

Just to give you some background on where I'm coming from, I also drive a corvette and a Evolution VIII. These cars are equipped with ultra high performance tires. In fact, the Evo has the best tire I've ever driven on, the Yokohama Advan A046. The Advan is a very expensive tire with a very soft tire compound.

I wouldn't recommend it for our economical cars, but I wouldn't recommend driving around on these Goodyears or any cheap replacement either. It was so frustrating switching from the Evo to the xB mid week. Going from awe inspiring confidence, to a numb floating malayze.

I upgraded to a 17" Enkei GF1 rim with the Kumho 711 215/40/HR tire. It was a cheap tire on tirerack @ $53. It out performs its cost. At cheaper than our OEM replacements, it provides a planted feel at speed, with a "turn in" feel, which I did not expect. According to someone at Americas Tire Co, this tire is being discontinued and replaced with the Ecsta AST, which is rated as a better tire. I believe its $71 a tire on tirerack.

Also when you upgrade, consider the diameter of the wheel/tire you are purchasing. If you stay within the stock diameter, all of your instruments will function properly. If you go larger or smaller, they will not work accurately without being adjusted.

Until this tire is phased out, I recommend it. Also, consider the weight of the rim as that will affect the handling characteristics of the car. IE, a heavier tire will lend itself to slower turn in and responsiveness. Together my rims and tires weigh 41 lbs a piece. I'll post pics of my setup asap.

Oh, and shop discounttiresdirect.com. I found my rims for $30 less than the advertised price on tires.com. So I saved $120 going through them, and I saved $30 a tire going through tirerack.com, so another $120 saved. Even with shipping and mounting it was cheaper than going directly to Americas Tire Co. I think they were having a special on my wheel/tire setup at $999 uninstalled. I paid $488 for Enkei GF1s (free shipping) on discounttiredirect.com and $250 for the Kumho Ecsta 711s with 3 day shipping.

Good luck!

 

wow, very nice observations EvolutionxB.
i knew i shouldn't have gotten the OEM wheels/tires set when i got my xB used last summer >_< *doh*
but yes, the Goodyear Eagle LS tires really are pathetic in terms of cost functionality versus other models out there.

will definitely look into this setup when it's time to replace the winter stockers.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

Also, anyone looking to buy an xB or xA new. Consider the wheel package equipped on the car if its aftermarket with better tires. The 2k they tack on might seem like a lot, but divide that over 5 years its like $2 a month or something. I laughed at that price knowing I could pick up a set of rims and tires between $800 and $1000, but it was miserable driving on these Goodyears until I had saved up the funds. Now I need to sell my stock wheels and tires with 30k on them. 2 of them are pretty new since one was vandalized and the other got a nail. I swear, the Goodyears I had could last 60k+, and my heart sunk at the thought of that, lol.

 

i actually put the kumho estca ast 205/50/r15 on my stock steelies
i love them ... i knew i would
ive been running the 712's for years in all sizes i love them and such a great price

 

to add a little
for those who want a slight stretched look the falken st115 is one of the best tires for that. it has really good sticky rubber with nice and strong sidewalls, yet giving you a nice smooth ride.

:D

 

LOL! I know exactly what you mean. (Especially since I put only a few hundred miles a month on 'em.)

 

Its funny how many people have EVO's and xb's.

I've got an 06 silver IX GSR but I drive my wifes xb more than my evo because of gas mileage.

anyways from someone whos had 3 evos in 2 yrs the box is fun (unexpectedly) which is why I will be selling my evo for an xb by next month.

On the goodyears yes they are crappy but in all honesty (and it might be that I expected so little from the box) theyre not thaaaaat bad. and the box really handles. Im sure a rear sway some 17x7 215/40/17 falkens would really make it that much better

 

$2,000 is about 15% of the value of the car. $2 a month X 5 years =$120.00.
I had them take off the 2K wheel package and got what I wanted for about $1200.
If you can afford it, do not finance the over valued wheel packages that dealers put on.

 

I like the Futura 2000 LTE's in P185/60R5. I corner very well in the Xb.

 

really ,i ride the stock steelies and goodyears i think there damn good tires in dry conditions i keep mine at 42-44psi and i have no problem speeding in corners

 

Are you on socalevo.net? Not sure what city or state your from, but you'd be welcome there. There was yet another xb/evo owner at Riverside Mitsubishi. His evo is silver, and his box is blue onyx pearl like mine.

I read good things about the falkens too. Many have considered Falkens for their evos and like them for the price.

To the other posts, I only suggested financing the rims and tires because the wait is grueling and the car is totally different with better wheels and tires. Some friends said they didn't even think it was the same car with new rims. Also, by just dividing $2000 by 60 months its $33, throw on interest and maybe its $35 or $36. I only stated $2 earlier because our GAP insurance only increased the cost by $1, and it was $1000. My bad. Its better than charging the rims to a credit card, because at least they'll be paid off when the car is.

Thanks for the input everyone.