Need opinion on wheels!
 

Looking forward to winter already. How about these wheels on a 05 sterling grey? 18 inch matte black and looking to mount A/T tires on em 255/55 R18. Really wish I could see them on an X5.

http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/5764/wheelx2.png
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/9613/wheelx1.png
http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/6931/wheelx3.png

I think those would be sick for the winter. And you have sterling gray with sport package, so it would go along with the black trim really well.

Yes Naz, good point. I have the sports package. Normally I shy away from black rims, but I am going for that beefy tire look. So I think a matte black with the beefy tire will achieve that off-road winter look im going for.

The most important thing is that, YOU like them! Personally I wouldn't ask anyone on this site their opinion on wheels. They'll just tell you to get a set of style 87 wheels and paint them black like the other 95% of the guys on this site...lol!!! By the way I really like those, where did you find them, how much did they set you back and what brand winter tire are you going to run?

^^ Yea I wouldnt let one opinion decide for me, but I am struggling with picturing how they would look on the X. I am planning to go with an all-terrain tire. The boys on the land rover forums swear by them in the size im looking for- General Grabber AT2's. Good for light off road and kills in the snow/ice.

Just a suggestion coming from a guy that did 15 years of off-roading in the 80s-90s, All-Terrain and Mud Terrain tires are not winter tires. Yes, they will grip on snow, but the rubber compound is not the best for winter.
I ran those tires during winter because I was young, ignorant:stickpoke, and on a budget, and I didn't want to change the Big Foot look of my truck, but on frozen asphalt, or ice, the are like hockey puck, they just slide.

It's up to you, but real winter tires are a lot better for winter traction.

+1 on that, A/T are not for winter on road.


:iagree:

PS - Those wheels are very, very nice!!

I had the AT2's on my 04 Discovery and they were fantastic. I highly recommend! I plan to place a set on my X5 when I wear out the Hankooks I have at present.

Hearing conflicting reviews now. Def leaning towards the wheels but now AT2's or dedicated snows?????? Tirerack review on them is great for snow/ice. Anyone have any more experience with the AT2's?

What style # are those wheels? They look nice, but they look like they are more suited for a car, not an SUV. Sometimes nice looking car wheels do not translate well onto the X, imo. This may be the case here. I would like to see them mounted on an X though to be sure.

It depends of your driving. If you are mainly around town, and mostly on asphalt, I would say a winter tire, with ice capability would be better for you. If you are in the subburbs, or often at the cottage with lots of snow, the AT2 would be great.

Selecting a winter tire is like selecting a car. If you go for performance, you loose comfort, same for the inverse. A winter tire can be made to exel in snow, but will loose performance on ice (unless studded). A true ice tire will be excellent on ice and frozen roads, but won't be as good on loose snow.
The AT2 from what I see, would be a good performer on snow, but I'm not sure of its performance on frozen hard surfaces.
If you look at the picture I made, the AT2 has almost no sipping (cuts in the tread blocks, parrallel to the circumference). Those sipping are edges that help traction on ice. In comparaison, the Pirelli has more sipping, and also some voids to grip in snow. The voids are not as big as on the AT2, but that tire will be more versatile.

I'm not selling tires, and don't have anything againts the AT2, but I just wanted to share the little I know on that topic.

.http://www.angeleyescontroller.com/W...intertires.jpg

The wheels are on EBAY and look to be similar to stock ZHP style. I feel they may look out of place on the X as well. Too bad I suck at photoshop...

As for the tire, Turbo is def swaying me to winter tires. On the CT shoreline we get alot of the icy, slushy stuff. And I really don't plan on any real serious off-roading, maybe just some dirt roads here and there for fishing/ camping trips.