Boostd4
02-15-2001, 01:13 PM
Well, I bought new rims and tires for my 91 AWD about a year ago. I thought I'd give them the thorough testing before posting a review. They've been through EVERYTHING now, so here goes:
17x8 Konig Villains:
I got the set with the offset largest to keep the rims in the wheel wells. However the fronts STILL stick out about 1/4-1/2" Really not too noticeable, and I rather like it. My brother had the same rims in 17x7 and they fit under the wheel wells on my 91.
These rims look awesome.. I had to take the ricey "Villain" stickers off them, but afterwards they almost look like the deep dish cobra rims.. Anyway, in 17x8 these have proven to be the best handling rims I own.. noticeably less roll and unbelievable steering input. I can't move my steering wheel an eighth of an inch without getting response from the car. It's great. They are super easy to clean being 5 spoke design with NO LIP. Takes me maybe 10 minutes to clean all four to new shine condition after the nastiest road grime.
235/40/17 Yokohama A520's:
These have been THE STICKIEST tires I've ever owned. I have Progress springs, AGX shocks and the above rims on my car and I have to REALLY try hard to bust these tires loose. Where I could peel all four on a launch on stock tires at 4000-4500 rpm, these tires stick to the ground launching 1000 rpms higher and more aggresively. The car is like a go kart around turns. My neighbor is full of little 90o turns I used to be able to take at maybe 35mph, now I can take them with very little noise at 50+mph. The difference was just amazing.
These tires have my full endorsement from a performance aspect
Now.. the bad side. The sidewalls are *SO* stiff, that it's like adding an upgraded swaybar BUT unlike an upgraded swaybar, your car's ride quality goes in the crapper. I can feel every seam and bump in the road and have set my AGX's to full soft so I can tolerate daily driving. I would recommend these tires for Miami and other areas where roads are nice and smooth and not all cracked up like Chicago because of winters. At first I wasn't sure it was the tires, but swapped on my brothers 17x7 Villains with Nitto 450's and it's MUCH MUCH more comfortable - however they can't even HOLD A CANDLE to the performance side. On Nitto 450's I thought my car had 205's 16's, on they're that bad.
Also, the Yokohama A520 235/40/17's handle adequately in the rain, but ARE A HEALTH HAZZARD in the snow. Not a big deal for most, since most put their stock tires back on for the winter, but if you're planning on running your good rims in the snow, get new tires. I slid around like a rwd for 2 months before I got different tires. Defintiely not safe in the snow.
HTH,
Adam
17x8 Konig Villains:
I got the set with the offset largest to keep the rims in the wheel wells. However the fronts STILL stick out about 1/4-1/2" Really not too noticeable, and I rather like it. My brother had the same rims in 17x7 and they fit under the wheel wells on my 91.
These rims look awesome.. I had to take the ricey "Villain" stickers off them, but afterwards they almost look like the deep dish cobra rims.. Anyway, in 17x8 these have proven to be the best handling rims I own.. noticeably less roll and unbelievable steering input. I can't move my steering wheel an eighth of an inch without getting response from the car. It's great. They are super easy to clean being 5 spoke design with NO LIP. Takes me maybe 10 minutes to clean all four to new shine condition after the nastiest road grime.
235/40/17 Yokohama A520's:
These have been THE STICKIEST tires I've ever owned. I have Progress springs, AGX shocks and the above rims on my car and I have to REALLY try hard to bust these tires loose. Where I could peel all four on a launch on stock tires at 4000-4500 rpm, these tires stick to the ground launching 1000 rpms higher and more aggresively. The car is like a go kart around turns. My neighbor is full of little 90o turns I used to be able to take at maybe 35mph, now I can take them with very little noise at 50+mph. The difference was just amazing.
These tires have my full endorsement from a performance aspect
Now.. the bad side. The sidewalls are *SO* stiff, that it's like adding an upgraded swaybar BUT unlike an upgraded swaybar, your car's ride quality goes in the crapper. I can feel every seam and bump in the road and have set my AGX's to full soft so I can tolerate daily driving. I would recommend these tires for Miami and other areas where roads are nice and smooth and not all cracked up like Chicago because of winters. At first I wasn't sure it was the tires, but swapped on my brothers 17x7 Villains with Nitto 450's and it's MUCH MUCH more comfortable - however they can't even HOLD A CANDLE to the performance side. On Nitto 450's I thought my car had 205's 16's, on they're that bad.
Also, the Yokohama A520 235/40/17's handle adequately in the rain, but ARE A HEALTH HAZZARD in the snow. Not a big deal for most, since most put their stock tires back on for the winter, but if you're planning on running your good rims in the snow, get new tires. I slid around like a rwd for 2 months before I got different tires. Defintiely not safe in the snow.
HTH,
Adam