http://www.machiii.net/wheels/Rota_Slipstream.html

Rota Slipstreams 13.5 lbs, +40 offset, 16" 7"

I think I'm going to get black, I really don't want too much attention drawn to the car, I'd rather keep it a sleaper. Its hard to find rims that I like and are light and reasonably priced.

I'd get Toyo T1S's they are on sale this month by me. Toyo reccomends

205/45ZR16 87WRD 241830 6.5-7.0-7.5
225/50ZR16 92W 241970 6.0-7.0-8.0
215/55ZR16 93W 242060 6.0-7.0-7.5
225/55ZR16 96W 242070 6.0-7.0-8.0

Whalen tire says:
PLUS 1 SIZE(S)
Require 16 inch wheels
215/55R16 0.18 Inches shorter than stock tire

225/55R16 0.25 Inches taller than stock tire

205/55R16 0.61 Inches shorter than stock tire

I don't want a wide tread, so I'm going to stay away from 225.
Any suggestions on tire size or wheel finish.

I figure I'll save at least 5lbs on each wheel

It seems the 215/55 are the right size, but I want some extra torque from a smaller tire.

 

Reg silver or polish alum. I have the polish alum and I love the way it spin when the valet drives my car to me. 225/50R16-kumho@tirerack $55/ea. will be slighty shorter (112.50 vs 112.75) and fatter than 205/55R16 by 20mm which is like /--/--/

 

I want to see pictures of the final result if you get these rims... I really like the look and I want to see them on a black max..

 

any of those rotas will look pretty nice. i favor gunmetal. i like the gunmetal with polished lip option, too. you have good taste and you're on the right track totally. cheers.

 

I like those wheels alot, I'm glad I caught this thread. I would probably go with one of the silver colors, polish steel looks great. I have a black max too with 17's but I really don't like the extra unsprung weight at 19lbs a piece. Why don't you want wide tires?

 

it depends on how wide you are going. for the front, since our cars are FWD, a wider tire will exaggerate the already burdensome understeer, ie, steering resistance will be greater: the wheels, from a standstill especially, will be sluggish to turn. this was the first thing i noticed when i swapped the stock and heavy 15's for the lighter skyline r32 16's with lower profile tires.

thinner width tires, lighter rims, will free-up the front end to be more nimble in feeling and effect. perceived understeer will be effectively lessened, although it will still exist, becoming worse again the faster you attempt to hug the twisties during spirited driving.

you will need to decide how wide a tire you can live with insofar as performance v appearance: an extremely low-profile 'rubber-band tire,' for example, may feel extremely light, yet look retarded up front. that kind of tire, too, must compensate in width for the structural integrity lost in the sidewall. so it may be too wide. so you must strike a balance.

there will be others on here who default to a wider-is-better way of thinking, eg, the contact patch is greater so there is more grip, but it is not always better: some tires that are not as wide, but offer superior grip, like a Michelin Pilot, will dominate in performance a wider tire of lesser quality. in that specific case of the Pilot, you will be in shock at how excellent it grips, as it is nearly unbelievable. you can run thinner widths with that setup and it will grip like a magnet on steel.

 

Thanks for your responses.

It looks like the 225/50 would indeed be better, according to toyo
http://www.toyo.com/tires/index_frame.html
The 225/50 will give me a few extra rev/mile so that means a little more torque.
I'm not too concerned with rubbing, I think some people have gone much wider with a +40mm offset.

rymo926, do you know what your offset is?

Does anyone know if I'll need "tuner lug nuts" with these rims. I guess I'm going to call the seller.

****, I just looked at the other tire weights and they are like three pounds heavier than the set I first looked at, so that means the weight saving isn't really going to be their.

 

So, Bonzelite, you seem pretty knowledgeable here. I am probably getting the same wheels as Eric93SE. What tire would you recommend with the 16x7 rims? The 225/50/16's seem like the lighter ones of the bunch depending on which model of tire you go with, and that is about as wide as you'd want to go right? I don't really do any racing or anything, mostly straight driving and I like the wide look. Right now I have 17's with 235/45/17's and they are okay on width. Is the 225/50/16 the best tire for the rim or what would you recommend?

 

to confirm, you're both going with 16's, yes? if so, that is a great choice as the rim looks better proportionately (to me) on the 3rd gen than 17's. but that, too, depends on sidewall height choice and state of fender gap. a lot of members on here run 17's with excellent results. 16X7 will take a 225/50/16.

i have a staggered set of rims, so i am a freak. i run on the front 215/55/ZR16 (gts-t -16X6.5); rear 225/50/ZR16 (gtr -16X8). it gives the car a rwd look and it handles incredibly. a tradeoff is that since i have fattened up the rears and narrowed-up the fronts, the fwd understeer is more exaggerated the faster i handle the car through twisties. but i am ok with that and have learned to compensate for it. the extremely sticky michelin pilots are up front, as well; those help a lot (as well as FSTB, lowering). and the narrower rubber up front lessens steering resistance.

i would not recommend anything wider than 225s for any setup, although many people run wider than that with success. when you switch your 17's running the 235's, and you go to the lighter rims and narrower tires you will run on the rotas, tell me what you experience -agreeing with me or not. i have not ever run 17's or anything wider than 225. but i cannot see how a 235 or wider will feel better -the task to overcome steering resistance will only be increased with wider rubber. and this is only increased with our understeering shopping-cart fwd maximas.

an exception to this, as i think it out, is that a wider rubber up front will help keep the car gripped better the *faster you take it* through the twisties, provided the tire is rather grippy (not a cheap tire). this will help to offset the tendency for exaggerated understeer the faster you go. in my case, with skinny tires up front, i must fight the understeer *more* when driving aggressively (very fast) through a series of sharp curves (the car wants to plow ahead and not turn when i want it to) -as there is less of a footprint up front. had i wider tires going fast, i'd probably fight it *less*. but i have traded that for ease-of-steering when going around town (and is remedied quite a bit by the extremely responsive michelins) --pick your purpose.

 

I think I will go with the 225/50/16's once I get the wheels and tires. So you like the michelin pilot's bonzelite? I may do that as well. I just have to sell my 17's and an extra set of 17" tires and I'll be able to get the wheels. Sorry ERIC93SE, I don't mean to copy your choice of wheels, especially with the same color of max, but those are really light wheels and affordable, and they don't look too bad. I'll post some pics when I get my new setup, it may be a few weeks.

 

good choice of tire size and rims. 225/50's are excellent. 55's are fine, too.

i will warn you that pilots are not cheap or "affordable." if you do get them, you will not want anything else lesser. also, BFGoodrich G-Forces are on par with the Mich's. they are slightly more affordable and extremely good.

try to locate a "dealer service only" tire shop that replaces factory BMW/Mercedes tires/rims with upgrades. this is how i afford Pilots: a customer who has owned their beemer for a few months wants to "upgrade" the rims to larger/blingier. they go to the dealer, the dealer says "ok, great, we have a wheel and tire service department. it is on maple and vine. go there."

the tire place removes the barely used factory-issued Michelin Pilots and changes out the rims and wheels to something "snazzier," leaving that month's worth of *barely used* hi-performance tires laying around their warehouse with nowhere to go. so i make them go to my own garage! i have already stocked up on 3 complete sets for my car, with about 80% tread, for $100/set of 4. each Pilot, new, costs $180-$220 EACH depending on area. so i have 12 barely used tires for less than it would cost to buy just 2 of them new.

 

That's a great idea, gotta check bmw & benz dealerships.

 

Yeah michelin are great tires, I've got Pilot XGT H4's on the car right now. But Toyos T1S's are the ULTIMATE, so I figure I'll get the best to max out the fun factor on this car until I move on.

Hey Rosamax, we're at different parts of the country, so buy away

 

"Hey Rosamax, we're at different parts of the country, so buy away"
Alright Eric, as long as I don't see you in Chicago trying to get into my car or something I guess I'll go ahead and get them, by the way, what color are you going to get?

 

just to be clear, the dealerships will typically use another entire business, a stand-alone company open to all of the public, as their aftermarket 'tire department.' your job is to find out who that is. for example, the local one i use is "ron's wheel & tire" on sherman way. you would never know they cater to dealerships from the outside look of it.

i found mine by accident. however, you could probably go to the parts and service department of any dealer and ask them who they use. tell them you own a beemer or mercedes.

 

I'm still ticked off that I'll only be saving 3lbs, I was looking more for a little performance gains rather than bling. My stock rims are still in awesome shape, but the tire size isn't correct and I'm losing a little performance from that.

I've seen on the www the gun metal with the polished lip on a black prelude, It looked real nice but I really dont like the gun metal that much. So I really haven't decided, still leaning towards black, but the silver finish I think will complement the car much better.

 

Right now I have silver colored 17's, not chrome or anything, but they look good because they are easier to keep looking shiny. You could keep black shiny but I know I wouldn't like it on a black car. I like wheels that are opposite colors of the car, like dark wheels on a light car and light wheels on a black car, but that's just my opinion and it's totally your call. Saving 3lbs won't be bad considering you're upsizing on rims and tires. Right now my setup weighs about 43 lbs a corner, wheel is 19 and tire is probably 24. So I will be happy with about 8-9 lbs per corner, that should make a big difference. Even if it is not much weight savings, I'm sure you'll be happy with the added grip and handling if you are just running on your stock ones now.

 

I think chrome rims only look good on black or sometimes red cars. Silver look always compliments a neutral color or white. I know it's a horrible pic, but my picture phone is all i have These are polished silver 16" BSA 187's on 225/50 falcen 451 tires.

 

My current setup weighs 37lbs, not too bad. Thats why It will be tough to beat it by a worth while amount.

Take a look at the prelude with the polished lip slipstreams:
http://www.superhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=154680

 

Hey, have you ordered these wheels yet? I'd like to see a pic if you order them anytime soon. I will have to take a look at that prelude pic when I get home tonight because my work computer won't let me on that site. I'm really close to buying these myself because I think I sold my extra set of 17 tires already.