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!

I just ordered mb weapon wheels from discount tire. I was going back and forth between these and the weapons. I'm second guessing my decision after seeing these on your Z. They look great... I received the weapons and they aren't half bad
Either but due to there design they are going to look smaller than yours I think.

Seriously considering maybe returning mine for yours but
The weapons only weigh 21.4 in the rear 18x9 , I like that because they can be used as a track wheel. If these are light weight too I may steal your idea .. Sorry ! Ha

just curious, how come all of you who went with winter setups decided to go aftermarket for 18's instead of using the stock ones? was it the width or wanting a square setup or something?

Taller, narrower tread is better in the snow.

UK winter tyres
 

Hi all

I have had my Z (GT auto titanium grey) for 1 month and the snow here in the UK is horrendous. Cannot get the Z off my driveway!!!! No matter who I ask here in the UK I cannot find winter tyres for my rims.............


Front 245 40 R19 94W
Rear 275 35 R19 96W

Can anyone help please?

Cheers

Mark

That's why most of us have bought fuul tire and rim setups the recommended size for the Z are 225 50/18. you can get the sizes that you posted, but they are extremely expensive and really won't drive as well as the sizes that I posted.

this is my primary reason, but also, finding winter tires for 19"s for a reasonable price is tough.

Also, I actually like the stock sport rays so I'm going to stow them away for the winter, and use them when the weather gets better.

It's also easier to just swap between two sets of wheels, rather than changing out the tire... I don't have to go anywhere to get them changed, I do the work in my own garage.

Today I got my first chance of driving in the snow (although briefly) and I must say I felt very confident with these wheels.

Man I had MB weapons in gunmetal and they have this kind of blue tint to them which i hated. I think the Drags look 100x better, if I were you I'd exchange them! And you're right - they will look smaller due to the slight "lip" on the MB weapons.

Either way good luck!

I test fitted one of the rears today, and It was better than I thought...

It will do for the winter and for the drag radials next year... Looked better than I thought it would... It wouldnt be worth the 100 in shipping and and 100 price difference for just a few months and 1k miles of use...

I didnt take a pic with the rear actualy on the car, my phone died right after the first shot, the guy threw it on after that to test fit it,

here are two pics of the MB Weapons just laid next to the car though( 510 shipped 18x8, 18x9 black friday sale ) , sort of resembles te's.... neither of these wheels look bad for a winter wheel...


http://www.the370z.com/members/chuck...-mb-weapon.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/chuck...weapon-18s.jpg

Definitely a good look for the winter. post up pics when you get them mounted... I'm interested in seeing how these look. I think part of the reason I hated how it looked on my altima was because of the huge wheel gap. It's not really an issue with the z so I suspect it'll look good.

Those look pretty good for winter wheels.

i have the same tires, with the studs - amazing in winter! Also i found winter tires for the stock wheels but they where $829 each for rears and $549 each for fronts. Thats my cost price at my dads fountain tire in edmonton. I was able to get a wheel for a 128 bucks a wheel, 18" five spoke http://www.formuladistributors.com/ go to new arrivels - scroll to the bottom i bought the ar8 -3181 in gun metal. My setup was 1200 all in, but i mounted and balanced my own so add another 100 bucks.

Wow that came out really good, I just noticed the thread. Man I dont like to toot my own horn haha, but we nailed it on the head their.

op - not bad for snows! :tup: