Exterior Mods Part 1 - WHEELS, HP Design Evo 19's
 

Hey everyone, I finally got off my butt and started making some changes to the exterior. I have an '03 and I really wanted a change, so I'm first starting with the wheels.

Actually I started with springs a while ago. I'm riding on Eibach's that dropped the car about 1.5" all around. Wheel gap looks bigger in the pics than in person because of the bright flash. Here are some pics of the wheels. These are just a few because Part II of the exterior changes will be the Nismo 3 piece aero kit that will be installed end of next week! When it is all done I'll post a lot more pics.

Wheel Specs:
HP Design Evo Hyper Dark - 19x8.5, offset +38

Tires:
Cheapo Nankang 245/35-19 (needed the cash for the body kit so I sacrificed here)

First impressions were great. The wheels look great on a black car. The tires are not as bad as I would have thought. They do stick, but not as well as the more expensive ones. They do have a nice profile though. The ride is now a bit stiffer than before. I can definitely tell a difference. I like it! The fitment is perfect, absolutely perfect. No rubbing at all. I even loaded up the car with friends to check. Flush at the fenders.

Thanks to everyone here that answered a lot of my PM'd questions! Let me know what you think!

http://constjs.home.insightbb.com/im...5/DSC00256.JPG
http://constjs.home.insightbb.com/im...5/DSC00257.JPG
http://constjs.home.insightbb.com/im...5/DSC00258.JPG
http://constjs.home.insightbb.com/im...5/DSC00259.JPG

Best Regards,

John

wow looks good, but you shoulda gone w/ a staggered setup, im gettin 19x8 in the front and 19x9.5 in the rear........should look good w/ 19" Asanti Af-116s in black........

cons looks great. I've always liked those HP's. I think having the same width wheel front and back is a wise choice. You'll be able to rotate your tires.

I think you have a 1" drop, not 1.5". The Eibachs typically give you a one inch drop.

Looks great. I just went with a similar set up about a month ago except with 18's. I was nervous about having 19's with all of the pot holes on the streets of Philly. I went with a staggered set-up, 8.5 in front, 9.5 in back. Cru is right, with the directional tires there is no way to rotate. I don't put that many miles on my cars, so I wasn't too worried about the extra wear. I also installed Eibach springs and I got 1" all the way around. Now I need to clean her up and take some photos. Next for me is tinted windows,grouning gear, and midpipe or exhaust.

By the way, nice Jeep also. I bought my neice one for her birthday last summer and she loves it.

Looks good, nice and clean. Another +1 for the sedan owners.

Looks great! I have Raveanns and they have the same look as the evos.

That's what I would have thought too. When I first put them on 2 years ago I got a 1.25" drop right after installing them. I checked for any change and settling for a few months after the install, but I stopped checking for a long time until a few days ago. Before I mounted the new set I measured again and now I'm at 1.5" average all around. I just put new stock tires on the OEM rims last month too.

True about the staggaring - I wanted to rotate. Even though these tires are directional, I eventually may not use directional tires. I was keeping my options for future costs, rotation, and resale in mind.

Thanks for everyone's comments!

Best Regards,

John

Interesting. I also have 19" wheels and a 1.5" drop (HKS LS coilovers) and my sedan looks much lower than yours.

Looks very nice !!!!!! I to have and 03 Emerald Mist and just put on Nitto NT 555 and HP R5's in the 18' all around. I do love the HP wheels and was a little torn between the Evo's and the R5's but the 5 star design won out. The car looks really aggressive this way which is how it's supposed to look. Tell me more about the 1" drop and the springs. You can PM me. Also, I got 245/45 x 18's all aroundl.

i like the jeep. man... is that thing low or what? just take the springs off of that, and put them on your g!!!
looks awesome. those rims look good. i also went with the same setup all the way around. it does look less aggressive, but the difference between 215 (stock) and 245 is night and day. no need to go any wider. i'm not running that much power.

As soon as I get the body kit on, hopefully Wednesday, I'll take better pictures that show a better angle of the drop and/or wheel gap. It's hard to tell from the pics I posted above.

I can't do the "two finger" gap test at the rear, it's more like just over 1 finger. (my fingers aren't fat ;) either)

Best Regards,

John

Thanks! My kids love that jeep. Everytime I wash the G the kids wash and detail their jeep, it cracks me up watching them! At least they're learning to take care of their stuff and respect the other kids toys.

Best Regards,

John