Last time on the daily driver, we tried on a set of staggered 17″ wheels and tires intended for our race car. It looked okay in our reckoning. We drove on the GT Radial SX2’s, mounted to Vesta Eins Kahn 5 wheels, for about 500km to break them in.
Since then we had planned to mount another set of staggered 17-inchers that would serve as the car’s actual aftermarket shoe. We had the wheels on hand for quite a long time, but we have not bought tires for them yet. Mostly because we were distracted by other footwear that appeared themselves onto the proverbial shop window.
We’ve gone through a surprising number of sets between then and now. We’ll show you what they were, let you know the specs of each to the best of our knowledge, and make a comment on how much we loved them on our daily. If you have a UN-chassis Kia Carens, this may help you on your fitment decisions. And do let us know which among the wheels we’ve tried on do you like.
Kia Carens EX Wheels
Our club-mate Mr. LDG got a set of Rota SVN 16″ from us and traded-in his 2014 Carens EX 17″ wheels. They had the dimensions of 17×7″, a bolt pattern of 5×114, a 67.1mm hub bore and a 50.5 positive offset.
Compared to the stock rims, these were pretty inboard into the wheel wells. If we still had these, we would have put in some Kone Sport Performance hubcentric wheel spacers to correct their stance. They look pretty good on a side view.
The stock Hankooks on 225/45R17 size as fitted to them were not very fun. They were not quiet, not grippy, and not comfy. Carens EX owners complain about ride harshness or tagtag. I think a change to more comfortable “shoes” would do the trick for most.
This set was barely with us a week before it was picked up by a fellow Carens owner. Annyeonghi gaseyo to this set. Too bad, it looked nice on our daily, we think.
Genesis Coupe Wheels
A few months later we ended up with this set of 19″ Genesis Coupe wheels. These are staggered fitment, 19×8″ front and 19×8.5″, both offset +35, PCD 5×114 and also with the correct 67.1mm hub bore. They also had Genesis “wing” emblems for center caps, a Korean Domestic Market (KDM) fitment on these alloys.
We think that among the wheels we had so far, these were the absolute showstoppers. They really fit perfectly flush to the fenders, and made the car look more like a fashionable wagon and less like a people carrier. They never rubbed as well.
We got them with pretty worn Bridgstones RE050A’s, the set that came with the Gencoupe this was originally mounted on. The fronts are sized 225/40R19 and the rears 245/40R19. But regardless of how meaty they were, our driving time with them was pretty limited as a result. You can only drive so far with bald tires.
Consequently, we let these go because 19″ tires are not really that cheap and the fear of curbing these alloys was intense. Hopefully, these are now mounted on a Kia Soul, with fresh rubber.
Outlander Wheels
Of all the sets we had, these OEM Mitsubishi Outlander Wheels were the ones we really liked. We felt that these really suited the Euro-inspired looks of the Carens so well. Who cares if the center caps belie the Diamond Star badge?
These came from the 2005-2009 Mitsubishi Outlander, second generation pre-facelift. They are sized 18×7, PCD 5×114 with ET38 offset and a 67.1 hub bore. When fitting these to the Carens, one has to get “washer-type” lug nuts as the standard conical seat nuts that are standard on our daily do not mount well with these wheels.
We fitted these wheels with a set of used 235/40R18 Dunlop LM703 tires. Despite them being almost worn and five years old, the tires had very good dry grip, enabling us to take turns at a faster speed than with the standard wheel/tire fitment. The limited tread remaining was a concern on wet weather driving, though.
I think the guy who will put these in a Tucson will enjoy them immensely. After dropping them off to him. he did say that we will be regretting this sale. We almost are.
What’s Next
Not to worry though. We still have the wheels originally intended for the daily, should we be able to budget for appropriate tires.
The Enkei Selbach wheels we have are an uncommon set, being staggered in both width and offset. The fronts are 17×8 ET32 and the rears are 17×9 ET38. They are multi-holes with the same PCD, both 4×114 and 5×114.
These means that, just like the Vesta Eins Kahn 5 we tried on the Carens last time, we can use these in Project Elantra as well. We may use this to our advantage, putting tires on these that will depend on what is required by the organizer of the specific racing category we are wishing to join. And use them on the daily when we aren’t playing.
In the meantime, we’re rolling on the stock steel wheels and hubcaps. These are 15×6″ pressed steel wheels with a bolt pattern of 5×114, center bore of 67.1, and a positive offset of 41. The tires fitted are Federal Formoza FD2 tires on the stock size of 205/65R15.
The beauty of the stock rims is that they are lighter than the sets of wheels we fitted, netting better fuel consumption than the others. The thick sidewalls also offer a better ride quality. And we do not have fears of scratching these wheels. The hubcaps are already pretty scratched, so who cares?
Stay tuned for the next part, where we start working on the daily’s in-car entertainment.
great read. awesome how you just ended up with what you started. form follows function!
so stock is better overall? but how did the outlander rims perform with fuel consumption?
Well, stock is nice given that the car is driven almost everyday, sometimes by drivers who may not be careful of curbing your nice alloys and low profile tires. FC might have been worse on highway runs with the Outlander wheels. It’s just that we cannot quantify this fact, but definitely the car feels lighter on the stock set than with any of the wheels so far. But still, when we have budget and know exactly what tires to put on the Enkei Selbachs, maybe that will be the car’s ‘permanent’ aftermarket wheel, interchanging with the stock set of course.