oobster Posted January 1, 2006 Posted January 1, 2006 As above..... I have got a set of 18" KEI Racing wheels on the car - most of you will have seen these. I have also got a set of 17" Gold STI alloys (fitted with Bridgestone RE070's) which i bought off ebay in the summer, with the intention of putting them on the car when the winter arrived. This would be to make sure the salt didn't damage the finish on the 18" KEI wheels. So far I havent bothered to change them over, and there have been gritters out for at least a month now. So - my question is - should i change the wheels over (until end of March, maybe) ? or will the finish on the silver KEI wheels stay ok with the salt on the roads? The gold STI wheels & tyres cost me just a shade over £400, so if the common opinion is that my 18's will be fine i'll sell the Gold STI ones (possibly to JC Scoob, if he's still interested). All opinions appreciated. Cheers Andy
spooks Posted January 1, 2006 Posted January 1, 2006 Runnin RE070's in the winter aint a great idea. Best bet is do what YOU feel is best for your car and wheels , other people will always differ from what you would do yourself. Most wheels are designed to run all year round though. Spooks
p1ggm Posted January 1, 2006 Posted January 1, 2006 i run my old 17s for winter and track, and keep my 18s for summer/show use
dipsy Posted January 1, 2006 Posted January 1, 2006 Regards re070 depends on how the roads are that what i do
andrew_duff Posted January 3, 2006 Posted January 3, 2006 Andy , if youve got the other rims i would deffo put them on . Most rims like yours , or mine are laquered to keep the shine on the wheel. Unfortunately if this gets damaged (be it big or small) with stones etc. water or worse salt can then get under the laquer and severely damage the finish on your rims . Ive just had mine powder coated in gloss black to stop this happening again . Andy. P.s This is just my opinion , speaking from my experiance.
oobster Posted January 3, 2006 Author Posted January 3, 2006 Cheers for the advice - one wheel has indeed sustained damage, looks like a stone has skelped it right in the middle of a spoke. Lifted the paint right of it
irish al Posted January 3, 2006 Posted January 3, 2006 Andy its winter already, just sell ur sti ones and buy a set of 19s for the summer, ones like you saw tonight
st3ph3n Posted January 3, 2006 Posted January 3, 2006 19"s! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Unless you want to pay £2K for some finest Japanese rims that weigh as much as a bag of skips you'll utterly murder the handling.
oobster Posted January 3, 2006 Author Posted January 3, 2006 No chance of 19's, or any other alloys other than the 2 sets i currently own, going on the car in 2006. Not unless there is a fair amount of cash coming my way that I'm not expecting. Coz i'm skint.
Croc Posted January 4, 2006 Posted January 4, 2006 oobster Personally, I don't think the REO70's are a good idea in winter. Those are the ones I change FROM for my winter driving (currently on Toyo Snoprox. Much better) REO70's were very slidy on moist roads and slid going round a corner at just over walking pace in some light snow... the spare wheels are a good idea though. Maybe sell the tyres and get some winter shoes on them - sounds like you got them at a good price anyway p
Croc Posted January 4, 2006 Posted January 4, 2006 oobster Personally, I don't think the REO70's are a good idea in winter. Those are the ones I change FROM for my winter driving (currently on Toyo Snoprox. Much better) REO70's were very slidy on moist roads and slid going round a corner at just over walking pace in some light snow... the spare wheels are a good idea though. Maybe sell the tyres and get some winter shoes on them - sounds like you got them at a good price anyway p
Bing Posted January 4, 2006 Posted January 4, 2006 My RE070's are off and my old WRX wheels are back on RE070 will come out again when we get Aussie temps and road conditions to match back again!
wrxmania Posted January 4, 2006 Posted January 4, 2006 Car getting a bit slidey at the rear so cleaned up my brakes yesterday, and fitted one set of new rear wheels and tyres (I have 2 sets of 03- WRX wheels) and took the fronts off and checked them all. Buy a set of WRX or STI wheels if you have a new age car, fromsomeone who has either bought STI wheels (and does not need the WRX ones) or someone who has upgraded their wheels and no longer wants the standard ones. Get as new a set as you can and buy 'em for a good price - they will 100% more than pay for themselves in the 4 good tyres alone. I still rate the Bridgestone Potenza RE-050GZ (the right pattern and type specifically listed as 2003 Impreza in the catalogue). My rear tyres, which came off yesterday had 4mm on the outside and 5mm on the inside after 29,000 miles, some rough driving and a track day. Brian
oobster Posted January 4, 2006 Author Posted January 4, 2006 Brian - i've got STI wheels already, as mentioned in my original post
wrxmania Posted January 4, 2006 Posted January 4, 2006 Yes, I read that - I thought I'd pass on my useless info to the masses. A new thread would have done, but there is so much turd on here, I don't want to waste space. And, I suppose, its' sort of on topic. Have you reached a decision, Dungeon Master? Brian
oobster Posted January 4, 2006 Author Posted January 4, 2006 Ah! Fair enough. My mistake! Dungeon Master? Eh? Have you been smoking some illegal substances again No, i haven't yet. Probably going to keep the 18's on the car & wash them regularly, and sell the 17" STI wheels, but not totally decided yet.
higgy Posted January 4, 2006 Posted January 4, 2006 Andy it all depends on the quality of the finish of the wheels,and also think how pissed of you would be if you kurbed your 18" s in the snow ect ect. I have put my 19"s away for the winter and that way i am having loads of fun smoking the 17"s lol higgy
wrxmania Posted January 4, 2006 Posted January 4, 2006 Should also say, two sets of wheels the same (ie wrx/sti/KEI 18's) is great as you don't need to be 100% worried about tiny marks etc as when all the tyres are done, you can fit new tyres to the best four Buy yourself another spare set of the KEI's when you sell the STI's. Then no hassles. And take them off, clean them and wax them to hell - that way they'll be easy to clean and barely get damaged. Brian
oobster Posted January 4, 2006 Author Posted January 4, 2006 LOL - we aint all on school-teachers salaries you know! I'm only considering keeping the 18's on because everyone says the Bridgestone RE070's on the STI wheels i have are crap in the winter. And i cant afford to put other tyres onto the STI wheels, so there is no way I would be able to afford a whole other set of KEI wheels!! I've already got a spare KEI wheel anyway, after kerbing one back in May. Got Coatek (or whatever they are called) up in Dundee to sort it for me.
wrxmania Posted January 4, 2006 Posted January 4, 2006 WE ALL LOVE YOU ANDY - YOU ARE THE BEST You can borrow the 15's off the Ian Grieve Impreza 2.0GX Sport Courtesy Car sitting on my driveway? Brian
oobster Posted January 4, 2006 Author Posted January 4, 2006 Brian - to answer an earlier point, yes the STI wheels are gold. Also, the old WRX wheels were NOT "foolishly" sold without thought to the future. Why would I have then bought the STI wheels off eBay back in April? Not for track days as I always knew my car would never see track use whilst under my ownership. As i found out with my last car (which had chrome wheels) getting a set of winter wheels during the winter season is difficult as a lot of people have the same idea. Hence why i bought them well in advance (i didnt like the anthracite WRX wheels, hence why i didnt keep them for the winter). The only issue is the tyres. If the KEI wheels are kept clean (washed regularly) then i can't see the salt attacking the paint. It is worth mentioning that this is my first winter with any kind of performance vehicle as therefore was not "up to speed" on tyre issues. Perhaps I have read your post wrongly Brian but I found it rather confrontational - if i have read this wrong then i apologise.
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