Hi Everyone

I just wanted to give my review on my wheel and tire upgrade. I figured that some of you were asking yourselves if this would be a worth while upgrade and I can give you some feedback.

I was originally looking (price/performance issues) at 17" volk rims (white) for my red/black S2K. I wasn't really picky with tires and was going to mount S02s on them. I was looking at about 3000$ canadian or maybe 1800$ US for the set.

Along came Sam Yau and he posted on the group-buy list a set of 18" volk rims (bronze) with Michelin Pilot Sports. After much negotiation, we settled on the set for 2200$ US or about 3300$ Canadian. This was a steal considering if I paid this new it would cost me rougly 6000$ Canadian!! Sam was great and sent out the package a few weeks later.

I installed the set for the Montreal car show and noticed that the wheel gap was pretty apparent... I decided to pick up some H&R springs (1" drop) for 199$ US and installed them 2 weeks ago along with a Spoon X bar from Giampiero.

So my car now has 18" tires with 225/40/18 in front and 235/35/18 in back. The tires are Michelin Pilot Sports. 1" Sport springs from H&R and a Spoon X bar complement the suspension.

Unfortunately the weather has been pretty lousy (30-50 f) or about -2 to 8 celcius but I was able to drive the car quite a bit and take some nice corners. I will get a much better feel when summer is here and I am driving on hot asphalt.

My overall impressions are quite good. The car is much more planted in the rear when taking corners. It is more difficult to induce oversteer now due to the wider contact patch I have, which makes me more happy. The tires that come with the S2K are too narrow in my opinion. I think some people on this board are running much wider in back but to me this combination works well. Unfortunately I do not have the offset.. Maybe Sam remembers.

Taking low speed and high speed turns feels much better and I am now more confident. Going from a the best FWD car in the world (I had a 1998 type-r) to a twitchy RWD car was difficult as you had to learn how to drive all over again from a racing/lapping perspective and the oversteer that many of you experienced was quite nerve racking. This new package definately increases my confidence.

Downsides? Well the front will rub on some corners but only if you turn in early on a low speed corner. If you turn a bit later and the weight is on the back there is no problem. I only rub on extremely hard bumps.

Overall I am quite happy with my investment and I definately recommend this upgrade if you enjoy driving in a more spirited manner.

Any questions?

Rob

 

Rob,
Just curious....what part of the tire rubs against what part of the fender or liner?

 

Is the rub on the plastic well or the steel body (i.e. will it cut the tire)?

 

s2kmtl,

Yeah...I was scared to run 225's on my 18 inch volk's also. By the way...I am also lowered.

That's why I used 215/40/18 (Yokohama Parada's).
I have 245/35/18 (Toyo Proxes T1-S) in rear.

18's are awsome, but I hear that the vetical tire tread contact is not as wide as the 16's. The stock S02's are pretty damn wide...take a tape measure and compare the tread to cement contact surface (tread width) to your 235/35/18's. The stock s02's measure ~ more than 8 inches...my 245/35/18 were just under 8 inches.

The pilot sprorts are probably stickier than my T1-s...but I get beat in a drag race by someone with stock tires. Someone with stock tires will have a car lenght jump on me on the launch...and then I follow by the car lenghth for the rest of the way. lips2000 and I did a pretty thorough test (guestimation). It could be the launching techniques...but the wider and stickier So2's have something to do with it.

 

Hi

The rub is on the outside of the tire at the beginning of the sidewall. It seems to be the plastic/rubber lining of the wheel well.

I was taking a curve today (highway off ramp) at a steady 90 km/h and the car was pulling major g's and had no rubbing. So far the only time it rubs is pulling into a curve to early and abruptly.

Rob