Finally ordered new wheels and tires!

[swits]

I've been wanting new wheels ever since I bought my car. I planned to get some about a year ago, and ended up having to spend my money on other things, until now!

I ordered a set of 17" Mille Miglia mm 11-2 sports in silver with a set of Kuhmo Ecsta ASX 235/40/17 tires from Tire Rack. They should be here next Tuesday or Wednesday. I'll post some pics as soon as they're on!

[cali-ti]

sweet.

[bmw318tiChic]

Awesome, I bought the same wheels as you about a month ago, except mine are 16's, and I got Kuhmo 712's. Those wheels are BEAUTIFUL!!! I'm really happy with mine.

[Tyler]

Nice


Strange on tirerack they don't show them in 17's anymore just 18's. Hmm thats weird,anyone else notice this??

[rendoll911]

i think those are the same exact wheels and tires that i have on right now hah!

[aceyx]

I have the same shoes. They're a bit slippery from the factory and take a while to break in, but I heat-cycle all my tires.

But once they do break in, they're quite fun. Very predictable, and good recovery if they do lose traction.

[cali-ti]

what do you do to "heat cycle" them?

[Tyler]

what do you do to "heat cycle" them?


Umm blow dryer

[DustenT]

I won't be getting Kumho 712s again. Rear tires are completely bald on the inside from negative camber and burnin' em. The fronts are ok yet, but I'm going to replace all 4 this spring.

The tires got REALLY noisey after about 2 months. The tire guy said it's because they wore uneven, so they make a lot of noise.

[aceyx]

what do you do to "heat cycle" them?
Drive around on 'em to warm them up, pull them off and let them sit separately on their side (not on cold concrete) for 24-48 hrs; repeat. If you're anal, repeat again.

It just allows the compounds in the rubber to stabilize.


Dusten; I liked the 712s. For an autox tire, they've got really good grip and are inexpensive (relative to pirellis). Unfortunately, one of the side effects of good grip is that the compound is soft so they wear quickly.

Consider yourself lucky they aren't motorcycle tires, good ones only last 2500-3500miles!

[bmw318tiChic]

Nice


Strange on tirerack they don't show them in 17's anymore just 18's. Hmm thats weird,anyone else notice this??

Yeah, they're discontinuing this wheel style. When I ordered mine, they only had 5 wheels left in my size in the entire US.

[needle332rur]

I have the same shoes. They're a bit slippery from the factory and take a while to break in, but I heat-cycle all my tires.

But once they do break in, they're quite fun. Very predictable, and good recovery if they do lose traction.

I thought heat-cycling was only for competion tires, w/ really soft compounds that have a great deal of molecular bond change in different temps.

"A competition tire is built with a highly sophisticated tread compound, capable of sustaining traction throughout a much wider temperature range, but also extremely sensitive to the first heat cycle of its use. During this cycle, if controlled precisely, the tread compound stretches as it heats, breaking the weaker, shorter molecular bonds within the rubber. The benefit of this process is a tread compound that lasts longer and provides better traction. However, if the first cycle is not performed correctly, the tread may develop irregular compounding, leading to poor wear and inconsistent traction."

So only needed for tires with a tread wear rating of less than 100 i would say. I believe that khumo asx are about a 320-400 TW tire. In conclusion no need to heat cycle, especialy if your not tracking or autoXing.

[swits]

Yeah, they're discontinuing this wheel style. When I ordered mine, they only had 5 wheels left in my size in the entire US.

Yeah, I was disappointed to hear they're being discontinued, but Tire Rack still had a few sets left of 17's when I called them even though they aren't advertising them on-line.

[aceyx]

I thought heat-cycling was only for competion tires, w/ really soft compounds that have a great deal of molecular bond change in different temps.
I've always thought it was just a byproduct of the vulcanization process. I know that street-rubber compound technology has increased a large amount in the past 10 years, but it's not that hard to throw the car up on jackstands for a few days anyway.

[needle332rur]

I noticed your car is white so here is a sort of preview, I have H&R race/bilsteins and 11-3's (very simular) but you'll get the idea.

http://www.318ti.org/gallery/data/566/medium/105_0541.JPG

This is last year, did some changes to the front end.

http://www.318ti.org/gallery/data/566/medium/103_0327.JPG


aceyx... You have a good point.

[cali-ti]

it's not that hard to throw the car up on jackstands for a few days anyway.
yeah, i've had mine up for a month or more already :tongue: