Since the STi comes with summer tires
and expensive BBS wheels ($700 each if you buy them from the dealer!),
I elected to purchase some winter wheels and tires. I used the Tire
Rack, just as I did with my Accord, and the wheels were back ordered
and wouldn't arrive for 3-4 weeks. I placed the order and they arrived
after just one week! That's the second time that an order from The
Tire Rack arrived 2 weeks early!
I ordered ASA KA3 17"x7.5" wheels ($149 each) paired with
Bridgestone Blizzak LM-22 Winter tires ($155 each).
Switching wheels and tires is pretty straight-forward. If you need
more details, check out my Accord
DIYs.
Here is a close-up of the tread pattern.
If you notice the little squiggly lines in the treads, those are to
help channel water away when driving in snow/ice so you get maximum
direct contact between the rubber and the snow/ice/road.
The wheels/tires came mounted and balanced along with special lug
nuts. These are Gorilla lugs that use a special bolt design.
Here's a close up of the socket and one
of the lugs. As you can see it does not have the traditional hexagonal
shape of most nuts.
These means that the nuts cannot be taken off with a standard socket
set which means petty thieves can't take them off. Of course, an experienced
thief that really wants to steal the wheels could get the necessary
parts, but that's much less likely to happen and besides, the wheels
aren't that expensive.
I didn't have my floor jack here, so I
just used the stock jack with my dad's help.
Here's a look at the Brembo Brakes (note
that this pic was taken on the opposite side of the car).
Here's the new wheel installed.
Here's what the front looks like with
my dad's Z06 in the background.
Side view of the car with my dad's Z06.
After a full year, here's what my wheels
looked like.
