The finest Chinese cr*p that money can buy. (wheels & tires)

[lyd]

Well, I am kind of an idiot. I had a set of Enkei 15x6.5 wheels on my geo, 3 of which were pretty badly scuffed up and one of which was slightly warped. I went in to the tire place to see if I could: a), score one of these long-discontinued wheels that had been forgotten in the corner of some warehouse somewhere to replace the warped one or b), switch all four to steel and maybe drop the width a bit while maintaining the diameter.

Instead, I couldn't resist their cheap-o house brand alum. wheels on sale. I know they are less aerodynamic, and it would have been better to move back to a narrower tire, but I am really amused by the way the geo looks like a life-size hot wheels car with wheels like this on it. I used to love hot wheels. The only reason I don't play with them now is I have the Geo. Yeah, yeah, I said I was an idiot, but there you go.

The upside of this is that the new Chinese tires ("Kumho", *shrug*) I got to put on the new Chinese wheels have a rated max pressure of 51 psi. That's up from 41 for the Falkens I had on the front and 35 for the cheap-o Generals I had on the rear.

I figured I'd run at max recommended for a while, at least until I get some further instrumentation together, and then consider over-inflating from there.

So there, I've confessed. Get it out of your systems now so I don't have to listen to all the mocking when I post pics of something important that happen to show my silly, inefficient wheels. ;-)

[Geebee]

Pic's of the Hot Wheels car please.

[cfg83]

lyd -

That's ok, it happens to me too. Can you post a picture of the new wheels on your GeeOh? I'm an advocate of getting tires rated at 51 PSI, so that's cool.

There's a Geo on my drive to work that also has righteous wheels.

CarloSW2

[Johnny Mullet]

I have always wanted to put some nice rims on my Metro even though fuel economy may go down some. I am actually starting to get a "performance bug" and thinking of doing some crazy changes to Christine

[bluesfan]

Originally Posted by lyd

...the new Chinese tires ("Kumho", *shrug*) I got to put on the new Chinese wheels have a rated max pressure of 51 psi. That's up from 41 for the Falkens I had on the front and 35 for the cheap-o Generals I had on the rear.

Kumho makes tires in China, it's true. They also make tires in their home country South Korea, and they are building a new plant in Macon GA.

My mechanic swears by them, although he is also very fond of Toyo for winter tires. He says I won't even need extra weight in the bed of the Bluesmobile if I go for a set of four Toyos.

[lyd]

Okay, here's a quick pic I just ran down and snapped. Couldn't even see where I was pointing the camera, it was so dark, and the car is wedged in between my bike and the neighbor's van. I'll grab a better one sometime tomorrow.



The Enkeis actually looked a little sharper, but they were trashed and I didn't want to pony up for another set of those. These are still OK. I don't have the center caps in because they are this incredibly lame and cheap-looking plastichrome. I'm going to either try to paint them or find something else to stick in there.

I'm a little disappointed in the tires. For something that wants to be inflated to 51 pounds right out of the box, they don't have a ton of sidewall stiffness. Taking right-angle corners at 35mph or so (which I have been doing in the interest of mileage, to maintain my inertia and all that) feels a little squishy. More so than they did with the Falken's of the same size and profile, carrying 10 fewer psi. I might try bumping them up a bit in pressure sooner than I had planned.

They seem great in a straight line and for more normal cornering, though.

[bhazard]

How much did those wheels cost and what size are the tires?

[cfg83]

lyd -

Those wheels are dashing.

CarloSW2

[lyd]

Originally Posted by bhazard

How much did those wheels cost and what size are the tires?

They were about $75 ea. Tires are 195/50R-15. Overall diameter is about -4% from stock (about +4 revolutions per mile), and width is +40mm from stock.

That's just on paper, of course. Haven't had a chance to check this wheel/tire combo. The stuff I just took off, which was all the same size, matched the numbers pretty close.

[Will]

Very nice . I like them, and it amazes me how quick a set of wheels changes the look of a Metro. Maybe it's because they are so small. Mine give the car a bit more of a rally look where yours are more racing.