Winter Tire Setup - Drag DR31 Gunmetal 18s w/ Hankook i-Pikes
 

I'd like to say big thanks to Chris@wheelsdirectonline for suggesting this setup!
I was very pleasantly surprised at how good they looked for "budget" wheels.
Never thought that this gunmetal finish would work so well with red paint.

We haven't gotten much snowfall in chicago yet, but I'll report on how the Hankook i-pikes perform when we do.
Thank jebus my commute is only 5 miles one way....


Here's some quick pictures I took this morning before going to sleep (I work overnights):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...6/IMG_2482.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...6/IMG_2458.jpg

The rear wheels are sunk in a bit, but I don't mind the look.

P.S. changing out the front wheels was a major pain in the *** due to a sixth stud that makes it difficult to
mount the wheel perfectly on the 5 bolts. In addition, I had to use a spare set of lug nuts I had laying around
from my altima to install these since the lug nuts from the sport rays 19's would not fit, just a FYI for anyone
thinking about this setup.

Looks really good! I put my winter tires back on today as well, just in time for Chicagos first snow storm of the season...

What is that 6th stud you talk about? The bolt behind the stock wheels? You can leave that off, it's not needed.

That sunken look of rear wheels can be taken care of with a set of spacers. I have 25mm spacers for my rear wheels, makes it look like stock. Check my album if you want to get an idea of what it looks like.

yeah, that 6th stud is only there to keep an incompetent tire guy from putting the back wheels on the front.

they look great though!

i took the 6th stud off. is that a problem?

the wheels look really nice for a winter setup!
what tire size did you get in the rear? i see you got a 225/15/18 up front.

Was thinking about spacers but I'm lazy and the look doesn't bother me enough for that :p

Ahhh never knew the purpose of that, I never had a car with a staggered wheel setup so this is the first time I saw it.

Damn! I didn't know you could remove that 6th one.... would've made things much easier. Oh well, now I know

As far as the tire size, they're actually 225/50*/18 all around, hence the sunken-in look in the rear.

I'm lazy too, but the looks did bother me. Luckily adding the spacers only adds a few minutes to the whole wheel swap, so that's acceptable, even by my lazy standards :icon17:

it looks pretty good. no worries.

yea you can remove that thing. you need 2 vice grips, or at least thats how i got it off. a ratchet with the right size hex head would work too, but i couldn't find one.

Those do look really sharp for "snow wheels". How much, if I(we) might be so nosey?

Looks GREAT man! They don't look budget at all. As for rear wheel sinking in, you should look at mine! :ugh2::icon17:

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...w/DSC03022.jpg

6th stud should be removed and thrown away as spear and few others already mentioned.

Now go make some snow driving videos! lol :tup:

I think if I remember correctly it was 1300 with the tires mounted. shipping was ultra fast too...

oh, btw, make sure you keep 5 of the OEM lug nuts in your car for if you get a flat and need to throw the donut on. the spare needs the OEM lugs, not aftermarket.

Good call! Totally forgot about the spare...

Did you happen to weigh the wheels?

Nah... They came with tires mounted so I didn't see the point. I may weigh them when I do switch out the tires in the future.

they look good man, impressive!