I had new tires and rims installed this week. I bought 18" ZR1 chrome replica rims for front and back. I coated them with a strong resin that dries clear and hard to protect against chemicals and road salt. I may sell my polished aluminum factory wheels and Michelin Pilot A/S tires. Anyway, I ended up with 245 40 18's in the front and 255 45 18's in the rear. This gives me the exact height and stagger suggested from the factory. I ended up with Michelin X-ice Xi3 tires. I am so far very pleased. I had the tire up to highway cruising speed and drove in town and to my surprise the tire is dead quiet. It is every bit as quiet as the Pilots. Traction is increased dramatically over the Pilots. Driving to the tire place, the roads were wet, if I gave the car just a tad more throttle than what was needed the tires would start to spin a bit and traction control would light up. With the new tires there was none of that. I got a chance to drive the car in very cold temps and almost sleet and it held the road great. I drove in freezing rain too and the car handled perfect. One more benefit is that these tires smoothed out the ride. A little taller tire in the rear helps too. The Pilots are firmer but not objectionable at all. However, when I select Tour mode (F55 option) the car is way smoother. These tires are non-run flats so that might play a factor. Handling seems to be great so far. I had Blizzaks on a BMW and those tires were too soft and the car handled horribly. In fact, I read of several people who had Blizzaks and Michelin xi3's and the Michelins were lasting on average twice as along. In another test they shaved the tire to minimum thread depth and it pretty much retained all of it's grip on snow and ice so I'm sold.. This tire rides like an A/S with the benefits of a 40k mile warranty (if u can rotate them) and incredible grip in ice, snow, sleet and rain. I'll have more to report when there is snow on the ground. Maybe I'll by a small plow (: Images here: http://traderfjp.zenfolio.com/p145873640/slideshow

 

love the new wheels, chrome to boot

 

Thanks. It's amazing how much the rims make the car. http://traderfjp.zenfolio.com/p145873640/slideshow

 

 

Looking good.

 

 

 

 

Very Nice!

 

Any reason for changing the rear to 18's.