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After seeing a post by Armadillo at Dodgetalk.com, I decided on Zinik Z1 Shoguns. They're just gorgeous in my opinion. Armadillo went with 20's, like most everyone else who is putting aftermarket wheels on a Magnum. The 20's actually look quite a bit different as the increased wheel size translates into an increased spoke length, which really improves the look of the wheel.
Nonetheless I decided on the less-aggressive 18x8 version of this wheel. The two biggest factors in the decision were economy and ride preservation. I wanted to be able to put bigger rubber on these wheels (probably a 255/55/18) when the time comes, and lower it a bit with the performance springs, while still maintaining plenty of clearance for smooth-to-rough high speed highway driving. Even with these almost-stock-sized wheels I still (gently) bottom out a touch when travelling my regular Monterey-to-Fresno milkrun. When I add in the springs this won't get any better and with 20's on top of that... For my style of driving 20's were visually appealing but a bit of a risk, which I opted not to take.
It doesn't hurt that the wheels at 18" were $100 apiece cheaper, and the various available tires are also cheaper individually by the same amount. Its likely I'll go with some BF Goodrich 245/55/18's, although I would rather put a bit more rubber on the road and use 255's. We'll see, since I still have the stock Conti's to run through.
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Update:
Now that I have run 1/4 mile times, I think that my decision to stick with 18's has had some other benefits as well. I doubt I'd be averaging the times I am with the bigger, heavier wheels. |
And speaking of those much-maligned stock Continental tires, I really have no problem with them. I have found them to stick to the road just fine in a fairly wide range of conditions: light snow and ice (which I had to go look for since I am in California), what can best be described as a monsoon (record rain this year, and on the coast it was as bad as I have ever seen it) and of course dry roads. If I could point to one thing about those tires it is consistency. You know where you stand with them, and when you begin to push the envelope they give you plenty of warning when they're reaching their breaking point.
To me, thats worth something in a new auto that is getting its limits tested and expanded repeatedly by a driver that is growing into familiarity with the car.
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Personal BS
