Kizashi Club

How do you guys feel about the stick tires and rims? I personally hate the look of the stock rims, and the survey results for the stock tires at Tire Rack were pretty bad (which doesn't surprise me since most stock tires are awful). As much as I don't really want to drop money to replace these things after buying a $2x,xxx car, it would make sense a little bit.

Because I am going black paint and dark tint, I was thinking black rims like the Enkei AKPs. I have never replaced rims on a vehicle before so I'm not sure what to look for as far as widths, brands etc, I just thought those looked the best out of the Tire Rack selection.

Also with the tires, should I go to the trouble of replacing? I'm assuming I could recoup the cost of new rims and tires by selling the stock ones, but not sure. Also, what's up with the size, I wasn't finding any 235/45/18 in the tires I picked out, what is a good size for a 18in rim? Tires I was looking at were the obsurdely expensive Bridgestone Potenzas, the better priced Dunlop Z1s, or the very affordable Exaltos.

Again, I've only ever replaced tires once, and rims never. Should I get over my disgust of the stock rims and hope the stock tires are good enough, or go ahead and replace one/both?

While I didn't hate my stock wheels, they didn't do much for me either so like yourself I went to tirerack and picked out my own. I went with the ASA AR1 bright silver to give me some good contrast and match the silver trim on the rest of the car. I wanted to be able to see more behind the wheel as well, and as it turns out the stock wheels are HEAVY.

Personally, if I were you I would pull the trigger on those AKPs... badazz!!! If you do, please hare some pics... would love to see it!

Best prices I have ever seen are at http://www.onlinetires.com/

They have a TON of choices in 235/45-18.

What year? The wheels are quite different from 2010 to 2011. The 2011 have more "shape" and supposedly weigh 2 lbs less each.

While I haven't read any of the aftermarket reviews, there are a number of reviews for the Kizashi that "praise" the tire choice as being "better than average". Personally, I think they grip like CRAZY, I'm curious if they are achieving this with a soft compound and they'll be worn out in no time.... speaking of which ...

I think you're crazy buying wheels/tires for a car that's under bumper-to-bumper warranty, which includes a treadlife warranty on the tires, when the stockers are at least halfway decent.

My only "complaint" about the tires is I think they could be quieter on some surfaces, but it's hardly objectionable.

I bought a set of reasonable price rims, saved 7# per corner. That makes a lot of difference. Stock rims are extremely heavy. Stock rims have snows on them, the original tires are on the new rims. The OEM tires are pretty good.

i love my stock rims and tires, they look great on the car and i love the gunmetal on my black kiz. and the tires have plenty of grip. im happy