I had a set of Volk GT-U wheels on order with Mackin.... guy working there quit and my order was lost.... a 3 month wait for nothing 
. But I found a set of Roja Formula 7 wheels at Wheels Boutique and Ben hooked it up for me with the Falken GR Beta FK451 tires at a great price
.
I'm kind of glad I didn't get the Volks because I see them all the time on lots of different cars around the So Cal area, plus the OEM 7-spoke look had really grown on me and the Formula 7 wheels are perfect for my needs. One thing I liked is the lip on the front & rear wheels. I really don't like the look of some Volk wheel setups where there is a huge lip in the back and then no lip up front. At least these Roja wheels have a somewhat uniform look for the car - a small lip up front and a medium size lip in the back.
As for the tires & rubbing, I don't have any rubbing problems at all. The car is lowered on Bilsteins (upper perch) and Eibach springs. 18x8 and 19x10 wheels, both with 45mm offset (3mm spacers are needed for the front and it barely clears the stock caliper) and I'm running 215/35-18 tires up front, and 275/30-19 tires in the back. At full wheel lock, there is no rubbing when I'm making a turn into a parking spot or into my garage. The only time I would experience any rubbing is if I take a hard sharp turn or a U-turn at faster speeds, and then the splash guard would briefly hit the top of the tire if the car bounces when making the turn.
The ride quality hasn't really be sacraficed. Going from 16/17 wheel setup to the 18/19 really wasn't as bad as some people said it was going to be. If I really feel for it, I can notice the bumps are easier to detect but overall it's still a smooth ride when driving around. Braking did get a little worse but it took me a day to compensate with the larger wheels so now I'm used to them. My only concern now it to just watch out for some pot holes in risk of bending the rim with the 30-series tires.
The Falken GR Beta FK451 tires are actually pretty good. I've been driving on the Yokohama ES100 tires for the past 4 months on my old 16/17 OEM wheels (For Sale here
) and from the regular driving I do around town and on the LA freeways, I've noticed a few differences. Both are rated around the same for tread wear (280) but I noticed the ES100 tires feel like they're a harder tire. Thus, I can swing the back end out pretty easy with the Yoko tires and driving at high speeds on the freeway, banking and merging onto another freeway or even taking an on or offramp fast, the ES100 tires feel like they want to break loose on me and cause the car to slide. With the Falken tires, I've noticed that it feels more sticky and I can take the same banks/on & offramps at the same speed the and car feels much more solid going around the turns. This may just be me or my type of driving, or the fact that they're bigger/wider tires, but in my opinion for an everyday daily driver tire the Falken GR Beta FK451 tires seem to be a great choice, especially over the Yokamama ES100 tire.
Here are some pics of the wheels on the car. I haven't put the center caps on yet because I'm removing the "Roja" logo first for a cleaner look.
. But I found a set of Roja Formula 7 wheels at Wheels Boutique and Ben hooked it up for me with the Falken GR Beta FK451 tires at a great price
I'm kind of glad I didn't get the Volks because I see them all the time on lots of different cars around the So Cal area, plus the OEM 7-spoke look had really grown on me and the Formula 7 wheels are perfect for my needs. One thing I liked is the lip on the front & rear wheels. I really don't like the look of some Volk wheel setups where there is a huge lip in the back and then no lip up front. At least these Roja wheels have a somewhat uniform look for the car - a small lip up front and a medium size lip in the back.
As for the tires & rubbing, I don't have any rubbing problems at all. The car is lowered on Bilsteins (upper perch) and Eibach springs. 18x8 and 19x10 wheels, both with 45mm offset (3mm spacers are needed for the front and it barely clears the stock caliper) and I'm running 215/35-18 tires up front, and 275/30-19 tires in the back. At full wheel lock, there is no rubbing when I'm making a turn into a parking spot or into my garage. The only time I would experience any rubbing is if I take a hard sharp turn or a U-turn at faster speeds, and then the splash guard would briefly hit the top of the tire if the car bounces when making the turn.
The ride quality hasn't really be sacraficed. Going from 16/17 wheel setup to the 18/19 really wasn't as bad as some people said it was going to be. If I really feel for it, I can notice the bumps are easier to detect but overall it's still a smooth ride when driving around. Braking did get a little worse but it took me a day to compensate with the larger wheels so now I'm used to them. My only concern now it to just watch out for some pot holes in risk of bending the rim with the 30-series tires.
The Falken GR Beta FK451 tires are actually pretty good. I've been driving on the Yokohama ES100 tires for the past 4 months on my old 16/17 OEM wheels (For Sale here
) and from the regular driving I do around town and on the LA freeways, I've noticed a few differences. Both are rated around the same for tread wear (280) but I noticed the ES100 tires feel like they're a harder tire. Thus, I can swing the back end out pretty easy with the Yoko tires and driving at high speeds on the freeway, banking and merging onto another freeway or even taking an on or offramp fast, the ES100 tires feel like they want to break loose on me and cause the car to slide. With the Falken tires, I've noticed that it feels more sticky and I can take the same banks/on & offramps at the same speed the and car feels much more solid going around the turns. This may just be me or my type of driving, or the fact that they're bigger/wider tires, but in my opinion for an everyday daily driver tire the Falken GR Beta FK451 tires seem to be a great choice, especially over the Yokamama ES100 tire.Here are some pics of the wheels on the car. I haven't put the center caps on yet because I'm removing the "Roja" logo first for a cleaner look.
