18" Compomotive rims on D4 3.0L

[Jesse B]

Well, the 18" Compomotive rims organised by Gordon at GOE have arrived! Mine rocked up at 7.30 am today, and by 11 am I had them fitted with the Goodyear SilentArmor 265/60 R18s that had come from TireRack earlier in the week. All went well - and I've posted pics below.

The guys who did the job (Beaurepaires here in Albany) appeared to do an excellent job - worth giving them a plug, given the bollocking dished out to dodgy operators in RMP's thread! Even tried a rim front and back before fitting the tyres, to check for clearance: about 1-2 mm from the brake calipers was the outcome. Wheel nuts were tightened with a torque wrench, not the air gun, and balance weights were carefully placed on the inside so that they didn't get wiped off by the calipers. Very impressed.

Too early to say much about the tyres - other than I reckon they look pretty cool, as do the rims! Will post up more info after a decent run later today or tomorrow. But for now I'd like to register a huge vote of thanks to Gordon for landing this one

Side on, standard height (above)

Close up of rim (above)

Side on view, off road height (above)

Goodyear SilentArmor 265/60 R18's from TireRack (above)

And yes, they do fit into the spare wheel well without deflating - but you do need to remove the tow hitch first. And as far as I can tell no rubbing on full lock - tho I haven't given it a thorough workout yet. So at this stage - all good!!

[Leo]

Good to know they fit, how much did they cost and how did you get Compomotive to sell them to you?

[Jesse B]

How much did they cost? Umm - good question! It was quite a while ago, but I think it was $330 each landed in Perth (plus freight from there). That figure may be different now. And no, mine were from this first batch brought into Oz by Green Oval Experience. Just a quick comment about tyre prices - best local quote I could find on the Goodyears was $480 each, but the five I brought in from TireRack cost me $310 each, delivered to my door here in Albany. Go figure...

[mowog]

Cant wait for mine to arrive. They look great on your D4.

[sniegy]

That is a very nice looking rim.
Congrats on the purchase they suit the vehicle very well.

Gordon, big for some input & organising this, it will make a lot of D4 owners who wish to use their vehicle at its full potential extremely happy & they will enjoy it even more now.

Cheers.

[Jesse B]

Had intended to make comment about the outgoing Pirelli Scorpions (255/55R19) before they faded from memory - I have done close to 44,000 km on them, and as best we could estimate they were about two-thirds worn. This would mean they would most likely have topped 60k, which I reckon is pretty reasonable given the weight of the vehicle. I have no complaints about them, other than feeling slightly exposed in really rough stuff - tho they never let me down. I'm happy to now have the extra sidewall height, and a more robust tread pattern - but if you're sticking with the 19s then I'm happy to recommend the Pirelli's as a good all rounder.

[Jesse B]

Just a quick update with some info & feedback after a decent drive on the highway. Firstly, the slightly increased rolling diameter has partially corrected the speedo error: with the old 19's my speedo was about 5-6 km enthusiastic (showing 115 kph was actually a real 110 kph by my gps), and that has now been reduced to 3-4 kph error. So, a "real" 110 kph is now showing 113/114, and the same down at 80 and 60 - between 3 and 4 kmh over real speeds.

However, there does not appear to have been any change to the incorrect odometer reading discussed in a separate thread a month or two back. 100 km on the odo is actually a real 103.4 km by the gps - same under-read as before. Weird but true - the speedo and the odo must pick up their info from different sources.

And lastly, a comment on the Goodyear SilentArmors - virtually no noise increase over the Pirelli's, other than maybe the faintest hum which is perhaps slightly more noticeable around town than on the highway. Handling on bitumen seems fine, and ride does not appear to have changed significantly (running cold pressures of 35/37 psi). So far, so good. Very relieved about the noise issue, and looking forward to a decent play in the scrub.

[Disco4SE]

Jesse, why the change from the Pirelli's?
The Silent Armors appear less agressive.
Cheers, Craig

[Jesse B]

Jesse, why the change from the Pirelli's?
The Silent Armors appear less agressive.
Cheers, Craig

Craig: interesting observation! I see it the other way round - Pirelli on the left, Goodyear on the right, both brand new:

I went for the Goodyear's partly because I wanted to go with 265/60 in 18 inch, to get the extra width & sidewall height and the Pirelli is a 255/60 in the 18". Also, I wanted a slightly more aggressive tread pattern - and felt the Goodyear offered that, without getting into the likely noisier options. For what it's worth, Goodyear claims the SilentArmor to be 50/50 on/off road - not that these splits are terribly reliable! The Pirelli in the pic was my back-up casing, so as already mentioned is now going cheap...

[Graeme]

Having had both tyres on my D2 (in LT form), IMO the SA is far better than the ATR in the slippery stuff.