New wheels and tires.
 

I've been considering my first modification for my new Asphalt FRS. The choice was between new wheels and tires or the SpeedFactory catted headers. My car came with the Borla axel back exhaust.

I have decided on wheels and tires.

I am a complete noob at this! I've read the directory thread and a few others related to wheels and tires but I'm still overwhelmed.

So, here are my questions:

Size: 17" or 18" and why?

Width: I would like a wider tire. Maybe slightly wider in the back than front but not too wide.

Style: I kind of like the stock 17s I have. I want something in a darker look but what I've seen in the directory some of the dark wheels seem to just vanish on a dark car. Really just looking for your opinions here.

Tires: appropriate tire for the wheel. See below.

Performance: I have read that new wheels and tires will perform better. I do not plan to track the car (yet) but I live near the north Georgia mountains and driving up there is a hoot! I want something that will perform well in the tight turns.

Cost: I don't want to break the bank but I want quality. I'd like to be able to stash enough away by next spring.

(Little off topic)
Lowering: should I? I like the way the car looks lowered a bit. I am thinking if I stay with 17s I may want to.

I am really trying to narrow my choices based on good principles. I value the knowledge of this community.

All opinions are valid.

Thanks in advance.

Do you want performance or looks? If your answer is 'both' then which one do you prioritize more?
That plays a big part in what wheels people will recommend to ya.

Alot of good choices. Rota has a lot of light, good looking wheels even if most are replicas. Wheeldude.com has all you need for Rota. Another good brand is Enkei. RPF01's are the king of budget track wheels. Light, strong, and decent looking. TWS has a few good looking rims. Forgestar has a few. Remember our uses 5x100 bolt pattern. I would recommend you stick with 17x8 which allow you to run 245 width tires down the road :)

Performance would be the priority. As I said I actually do like the look of the stock wheels.

What your budget?

I also liked the look of the stockers for the most part, but wanted a bit wider, lighter, and without the machined face bits.

Hence my new ones are 17X8.5, slightly lighter than stock with wider tires, and textured gunmetal.

I may go a little lower on springs. We'll see.

Well, for performance 17s are the way to go. A good 17x9 wheel is Gram Lights 57xtremes. 1500 bucks and 19.5lbs for 17x9! Not too bad. If you have some more cash Wedssports tc105n are extremely light 15.8lbs(for 17x9) and are 1700 dollars. They look great as well. If you are on a small budget get some Rotas Titans for 730 dollars!

I liked the look of the stocks on my Asphalt, but did not like their weight. Went with 17x8 Kosei K4R ( +36mm offset, weight 15.6lbs) for ~ $800 a set... put on some sticky stock sized tires, dropped nearly 5lbs unsprung mass a corner, and dramatically increased ride quality simultaneously.

17x8 would be a good size. You really do not need to increase tire size to gain traction/better performance...increase in tire size to the next size up from stock 215/45-17 is an automatic weight increase of 2-3 lbs due to tire construction and a 17x9 would really require increase in size. If you just change to a sticky stock size tire on lightweight 17x8 wheels the car will have its absolute best ride quality and quickest reflexes possible with 17" wheels. Also, aftermarket sticky Max/Extreme performance 215/45-17 tires are wider than the stock 215/45-17 Michelin Primacy HPs...

215/45-17 Kumho Ecsta XS (because it's lighter than the Hankook RS3 with basically similar performance) on 17x8 Kosei K4R:
http://vracer111.smugmug.com/photos/...N3GCmQt-XL.jpg

Thanks for all the input! I'd like to keep it under $1500 total.

If you don't mind what is the weight of the stock wheels?

Shy over 20LBS

When I weighed mine they were ~20.8 lbs without the TPMS/valve stems...

If you replace your exhaust I'd be interested in buying your Borla axle back exhaust portion.

I'd start from there. It's easy to spend a lot. My total was about $1K more than that w/ tires, alignment, etc. I got the wheels online and tires, mount/balance, align, etc. locally. I felt it better to have that local connection and they did a great job with the install.

On tirerack, the Kosei K4R 17X8 w/ Direzza ZII comes out to $1536 w/o mounting/balancing, and swapping TPMS sensors (or getting a new set).

I'd recommend playing around on tirerack w/ different combos at least to get an idea of what is in the ballpark. You don't have to get them there, but it is easy to put together a combo (and view it on a sample car).