NewGen 500s (olds SSIs) on my 442

[71OLDS]

My 18" New Gen 500s are mounted. Don't have the Olds caps yet and only one coat of painted on white letters but these pics at least give an idea of the look. I know these are NOT the smaller sidewall, lowered "pro-touring" look (especially with the white letters) but I'm going for a little bit "older school" with fatter sidewalls fully exposed. Not sure I'm feeling the Nitto painted letters but I do love the Nitto tires. May switch to some Goodyear Eagle GTs in similar sizes just to get the letters to look better. Sizes are:

18x8 255/45/18
18x10 305/45/18

[Flash68]

Those look great on that car. Nice choice!

[cencalc6]

Very Nice!

[buickfunnycar.com]

That looks badass...!

[DriverzInc]

Love the wheel on this car, perfect application for the wheel. I think once you get the custom caps EVOD is machining for you, then it will really be the finishing touch.

I'm 50/50 on the white letters myself. I kinda like it, but kinda don't...

[71OLDS]

Thanks guys. Appreciate the positive feedback.

I'm 50/50 on the white letters myself. I kinda like it, but kinda don't...

Jon, I feel exactly the same. Problem is I don't think this much sidewall exposed WITHOUT the RWL would look right. I think I would need to go to a smaller sidewall and then lower the car front and back so it sits right over the top of the rim. Then I would lose that Old School look I'm going for.

The Nitto letters are too far away from the rim. Obviously Nitto doesn't make a RWL tire so it really didn't matter where they put the blacked out letters. If you look at the 15" RWL tires like BF Goodrich Radial TAs or Goodyear Eagle GTs you will see the letters are closer to the rim and centered on the sidewall. Goodyear Eagle F1 GS rear tire (295/45/18) would be perfect with painted on letters in the rear and the Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 2 tire (only available in the UK right now) in a 255/45/18 tire would look perfect in place of these Nittos. With about 5 coats of paint on there no one would be able to tell they weren't 18" RWL tires. The front tires would be a non issue to swap (if I could get them from the UK) but the rears would never be as good as my 305 drag radials. I've be giving up traction (and about 1/2" in diameter and a little width) for the correct RWL look.

We'll see. Maybe I could go with the fronts, shave the 305 Nittos so there are no letters, and the stencil on the Goodyear letters?? Sounds like a lot of work!

-Joe

[nacnac]

they definitely work. Like the white letters too.

[AvatarOfAwesome]

Wow, those wheels look great! These are definitely the wheels that will go on my '79 Z28. I like the painted white letters, but I can see where you're coming from about them being too far away from the rim. Still, I think it looks like a good mix of old and new school, just like the car.

[nvmyss]

Great wheel choice for an A-body.
The white not so much, the rest A+

[buickfunnycar.com]

Originally Posted by DriverzInc

I'm 50/50 on the white letters myself. I kinda like it, but kinda don't...

Completes the look for me...dare to be different!