wheels and rims...

[redlineRACER]

i want to get diffrent tires for my redline..GRIPPING tires and new rims...i wanna go up to 18"..but im not sure what to get at the best price..all i no is i want the best gripping tires out there that i can afford

[haunter]

yo probably cant afford anything MORE grippy in an 18" than SP 8000's

in the OEM size they cost ~ 130 bucks

and if you want better you should expect top shell out for some nice tires like pole position s-02's or s-03's at like 180-220 a pop

thats looking at 7-900 bucks withouth wheels, and wheels that big will be pricey too, just my .02

Check out Tire Rack. They have good deals.

http://www.tirerack.com/index.jsp

They have a few 18" wheels. Nice selection of tires, too.

Or you can try Ronal.

http://www.ronalusa.com/

They have nice rims and have T/W packages.

[Keebler]

just make sure your new 18's will fit the bolt pattern. and are you going for looks? or performance? cause if you want performance, stay with 17's...the cobalt is using 18's, and is slower in the 1/4..just something to think about.

[Jim Lewis]

If you're looking for grip, going to an SP 8000 won't get you anything more than the SP 9000s the car came with - the 9000s have a 280 treadwear rating. Besides, the 8000 is being discontinured, and its replacement, the 8080, isn't fully available yet (and the FM 901 is $40 a tire cheaper) - to get substantially more grip you need to drop down to a tire like the Dunlop FM 901 (200 TW), Falken Azenis Sport (200) or Yokohama AVS Sport (180). It's impossible to compare treadwear ratings between tire manufacturers, but you can bet that a Yokohama with a 180 TW rating is sticker than a Pirelli with a 300.

[Sp00ner]

I think I'd just stick with the stock tires until they get worn out. They seem pretty damn grippy, it's pretty cold here right now, but I know that they are a pretty well regarded tire. Not sure what kinda difference you would feel, other than bumps feeling like canyons. The tires and rims that come on our Redline are the same size ones that are on my Camaro, and that thing can HANG a corner. Maybe you can find better tires at some point, but I think you should stick with the 17's that are on there. Unless you find some real light 18's you're gonna lose some accel from the increased weight, braking and turning will suffer as well. Plus, real light 18's are gonna be REAL expensive for what I would consider to be real minor, if any, handling gains.

That run on statement aside: The tire rack does have good deals, and if you have a Discount Tire store in your area, you can beat the hell outta them over the prices on alot of tires and rims.

[haunter]

Originally Posted by Jim Lewis

If you're looking for grip, going to an SP 8000 won't get you anything more than the SP 9000s the car came with - the 9000s have a 280 treadwear rating. Besides, the 8000 is being discontinured, and its replacement, the 8080, isn't fully available yet (and the FM 901 is $40 a tire cheaper) - to get substantially more grip you need to drop down to a tire like the Dunlop FM 901 (200 TW), Falken Azenis Sport (200) or Yokohama AVS Sport (180). It's impossible to compare treadwear ratings between tire manufacturers, but you can bet that a Yokohama with a 180 TW rating is sticker than a Pirelli with a 300.

I beleive my dads has 8000's on it, not 9000's, but I havent really looked lately.

I highly recommend NOT using Azenis Sports as a DD tire, as you are SOL in the rain, any standing water is hydroplane city, and the tire is done by 10k miles tops.

Other tires like the GForce T/A KD's are geat, but again, not alot of treadwear and a high price

[Jim Lewis]

I was looking strongly at the Azenis Sport, but will probably go with the Dunlop FM 901 or Yokohama AVS Sport - the Dunlops are $45 cheaper, per tire....it'll be a hard sell to think about paying another $180 for 20 less TW points...

I'll be doing this in the next month or so, so I can get the 9000s on ebay before too many miles - I've sold several sets of tires for crazy prices on ebay...gotta love these newbie ebayers who have never seen a Tire Rack or Discount Tire ad...