Topic: New Shoes...

[Uranium-238]

Well, the stock Badyears are no longer on my Sky. Got new wheels and tires installed today.

Here are the wheels:
Wheels
And the tires:
Tires

I have to thank lilgoat and the guys at www.discounttiredirect.com for hooking me up with the tires at a great price.

So far, the Falkens appear to outperform the stock tires in just about every way. They're more responsive, and feel grippier. I can throw the car into corners more, and get on the throttle earlier when making right turns at intersection. Can't wait to see how they do in the rain. However they do have a rougher, and slightly noisier, ride than the Goodyears; but frankly I could care less about that. Performance is great than comfort/convenience, and these tires perform.

[BeachParty]

Very nice! You'll have to post pics with them mounted on the car.

[DeepBlueGXP]

nice

[Treeman]

Cool!  Which Falkens?  And why did you decide on these instead of the Contis you were originally talking about?

Scared myself to death the other day in the rain on my BadYears....

[Uranium-238]

They're the ZE912's. I don't remember considering Conti's, but I was looking at Dunlop zr star specs. Went with these since the car is a daily driver, the Falkens are all-season tires, the Dunlops are summer tires. My work day starts at 6:30 AM, so ice and really cold temps are the norm on my commute.

Still considering the Dunlops as an A/X tire.

[Kelu]

Holy crap $100 for 22lbs wheels, I hate you more because of this. 
Shame on you because didn't posted pictures with the wheels mounted 
You went 8" all around?

[Chemist]

I have those Kazeras (after seeing them on a red Sky!). They are really nice.

Nice pic below!

[Uranium-238]

Holy crap $100 for 22lbs wheels, I hate you more because of this. 
Shame on you because didn't posted pictures with the wheels mounted 
You went 8" all around?

Yep. Might try and jump on the 9" version for a/x tires. We'll see.

Oh, and the price went up since I got them, they used to be $90 a piece. Couldn't pass a chance on lighter wheels at that price. 

Here's a cellphone pic:
[attachment=1]

[Kelu]

There you go, I know you can do it about pictures

Thanks for sharing the experience.
For my point of view, I can judge only about the look, the car is upgraded a lot, those wheels are on "same line" as the stock ones but by far better.
I love rims with lip, 5 spokes but better design doesn't pop up in the eyes is just smooth.

You wonder why I'm judging your wheels, well there was only my thoughts put on keyboard because I too have a black car and I'm prospecting.

And the weight, well, that's just a bonus 

[Uranium-238]

To me, the best wheel for one of these cars would be a true split 5 spoke, like the one on the white Cobalt here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt_ss

or the stock C5 ZO6 wheels. I'd have to say this is probably my absolute favorite wheel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C5_z06

Weight is the key, and since these were a decent looking, lightweight, split 5 spoke at an unbeatable price, well why not?

[kennysabarese]

How much do the wheels weigh? That's my biggest beef with Discount Tire is they don't show you weight.

[Uranium-238]

The wheels came from Tirerack and weigh 21.5 lbs, according to the site.

[lil goat]

Tire Rack has a better selection of wheels for sure, Discount Tire has some great deals on tires and they do free shipping. I had a coupon from Discount for $50 I gave to U-238, if someone wants tires I can get more coupons, they give them out at Drift events, they are $50 off on tires and $100 of on a set of wheels and tires.

I am glad you like the tires, and wish I had kept my mouth shut on the wheels and bought them for myself. I think a set of the Falkens are in my near future. I really don't want to go back on the bad years this winter. The guys at Discount Tire told me up at Drift event at Wall, they like the Z-912's better that the Falken summer tire, have to thank them for the tip. Nice and slick out there today I was spinning every time I got on it this morning and I have supposedly good rain tires, love the new tune from Lyndon but it is a bit touchy in the rain.

[Critterman]

Goat, you have to learn to control your right foot!  Must be the driving shoes

[Uranium-238]

On the flip side, I was able to lay into the gas all I wanted this morning. \

Seriously though, the tires did really well in the rain.

[lil goat]

I am on the same tires I have been on and I have the same lead foot, the new tune just has more torque, I like it! I am very glad to hear the the Falken's work well in the rain.

I noticed those wheels are a 45mm offset as opposed to the stock 55mm, this should give you a slightly wider stance and may help with the auto X

[Treeman]

On the flip side, I was able to lay into the gas all I wanted this morning. \

Aw, man!  I'm jealous!  Last week in the rain, I thought I was on greased skids!  I tiptoed in the rain this morning!  I was getting really antsy about winter.  You may have just convinced me to do this very soon.  I'll probably stick with my stock chromed 5 spoke wheels.  Yes, its an appearance thing but that is part of why I bought the car - I think it looks cool and these wheels look like an update version of the old Cragers I grew up with.

[Uranium-238]

I noticed those wheels are a 45mm offset as opposed to the stock 55mm, this should give you a slightly wider stance and may help with the auto X

I thought they looked wider...

[lil goat]

Aw, man!  I'm jealous!  Last week in the rain, I thought I was on greased skids!  I tiptoed in the rain this morning!  I was getting really antsy about winter.  You may have just convinced me to do this very soon.  I'll probably stick with my stock chromed 5 spoke wheels.  Yes, its an appearance thing but that is part of why I bought the car - I think it looks cool and these wheels look like an update version of the old Cragers I grew up with.

Even with good tires if you add 75 hp and 100 ft/lbs of torque it gets fun. I am learning to drift sometimes when I don't mean to.

[Uranium-238]

I've had these tires for a while now, so I think I can give a better review of them now.

I've driven them in a wide range of conditions: wet, dry, high speed, and high g.

Needless to say, they're vastly superior to the stock tires.

Like I said before, they do have more road noise, and a rougher ride. Although they're really not that much louder than the stock tires, I'd have to say the ride is significantly rougher. You can feel every bump in the road, and if you encounter uneven pavement you're in for a major bump. All in all, these issues don't bother me.

For performance, so far they are doing remarkably well. No more squealing tires when pulling away from a traffic light at WOT. In high G conditions, they're much more predictable, and the car feels tighter, more planted in the turns. Not understeer type tighter, kinda a more responsive, less spongy feeling than the stock tires. I'm guessing this is probably the sidewalls flexing less than the ones on the stock tires. Next time I go A/Xing I'll see if I can get someone to take pics when my car is in a turn.

All in all, I feel much more confident taking this car through corners with these tires. On an on-ramp it is much easier to take the car to the edge where the tires rear tires brake loose, and hold it there.

I'd love to compare them to some high-end summer tires, and see how they do. I probably will, since I plan on buying some for A/X use. I'd imagine the summer tires would do better of course, but I think these tires would surprise people.

As for rain, there's not a lot to say. Like any tire, they're not as good in the wet, but they still do very well.

All in all, at $145 a tire for 245/45R18, these tires really give you quite a bit of bang for your buck. I'd recommend them to anyone looking for all-season tires, and probably to people looking at high-treadwear summer tires as well.