After sitting in boxes in my garage for months, Spring finally came and I bought the Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas to mount onto my 18"x 8" Enkei GTC01's that I bought from Ebay. I was lucky to get an awesome deal on them because they had some minor paint chips, possibly from shipping or perhaps they were in a showroom. In any case they were about 50% off perfectly new ones so I jumped at them. I'd been hearing lots of good things about the Ultra Sessanta's and wanted to try them out especially at their price point. The only tire that was close to its price was the Dunlop Direzza Starspec but I figure the Vredestein's might be better plus I love their Giugaro designed tread pattern and the fact that tread pattern was not merely scaled up for wider tires but actually designed to be optimal at each size.

I used to have the Rays 19" coupe wheels but decided to follow advice I got and switch to a non-staggered setup. It definitely drives better and I feel like it rotates better. Haven't really pushed them yet but I would say they feel like they are more prone to power oversteer should I want it. One thing I really like about the 19s though was the tire profile and I was concerned that my 18s might be a bit tall looking. So, in the end, I cheated it a bit and got 245/40/18s which are actually 2.3% smaller than stock. I figured that 2.3% would not be visually noticeable as being smaller but definitely noticeable as lower profile. I'm pretty happy with my decision now as they look just about right for my tastes. In case anyone wants to know the 235/45/18 is a perfect diameter match for the stock sedan 17's.

 

Looks good..

 

what are the offsets?

 

look very good, just don't pull a corner too tight (like i did) and get curb rash on the back right tire

 

nice

 

Thanks, all. The offset is +48 which is not as ideal as I'd like. I'd rather have it closer to +40 for a more aggressive look, however, it still decent. I suppose its more stock and I don't have to worry about the tire ever touching the fender if I lower it even more. Its still 10 mm further out than stock. I considered spacers but that would be too much work and would add more weight. Speaking of weight, they are pretty light and when combined with tires is only about 46 lbs. Still lighter than my forged 19s oddly. I guess that while the forged wheels were light, the tires weren't. Acceleration feels about the same as stock but from what I can tell, the stock 17s with my winter tires on them might be still a touch lighter.

 

Looks great, I know I really like my Enkei GTC 01 20's. They are a nice wheel. You got a great deal on Ebay

 

Great-looking wheels. Have you considered Z springs to bring that front down a little?

 

How do you like your Vredestein? I absolutely love these tires compared to my previous set.

 

Love those wheels, they are one of my favorites from Enkei. Shame about the offsets, but they still look pretty good.

 

So far the tires are great. Haven't really broken them in yet but so far already respectable amount of grip. They communicate the road surface very well and for all that crazy tread pattern doesn't make much road noise. Hopefully that continues as they wear down a bit and doesn't get really noisy like some other tires I read about. Definitely no regrets getting them.

 

@ Swivelhips - it is starting to bother me a bit that the fronts are taller but I guess its not uncommon for cars to have a larger front opening. I think some of the Bimmers are the same. I'm too lazy to switch them out though and don't I need to spring compressor to swap out the springs from the struts? I'm too lazy unless I get a pair of front struts with spring on them already. For the money I rather get some sway bars first.

 

Yeah its unfortunate that our fenders in the rear ride so low compared to the fronts, but i guess it gives it that Euro look.

I would still look around for some used Z springs in the marketplace, you should be able to find them for $40-50. I was pretty happy with my stance when i was running that combo.

 

Very nice. A clean and modest look.