[Eric B.]

Any photos of 19" Sport wheels w/ painted pockets? My Cooper Zeon mini review too.

Hey there. I have some damage to my stock 19" wheels and am getting them re-machined. The rim repair shop says they can paint the pockets a nice gunmetal color while leaving the spokes unpainted which sounds intriguing to me (my car is silver) but I'm not 100% sure I want to do it. Has anyone else done this and has some pics to share or maybe some photoshop skills?

Also, just got the Cooper Zeons put on and am not overly thrilled with them. Have intermittent wheel shake between 50 & 60 mph now and they start making more noise at highway speeds, almost like one is ever so slightly out of round. It seems they may be getting a little better with more miles but I really can't tell. Had them balanced twice and they have not really gotten better. They also seem a little more squirrely on higher speed ramps with bumps which is a bit disappointing. Maybe I'll get used to them but at this moment I am missing the stock Potenzas. We'll see how this plays out.

 

[Eric B.]

So, since initially starting this thread I got a new set of Coopers and they were doing the same exact thing as the first set. I then went to a different installer and they did a road force balance. They said the road force #'s were good but that all 4 tires were out of balance so they re-balanced and I'd say about 90% of any noise/vibration is gone so I'm feeling much better about these tires. Very glad I don't have to go chasing all of those gremlins responsible for wheel shake and vibration in so many of these cars. Also, just got the stock wheels re-machined and painted the pockets since the tire joint scratched all of them upon installing the first set of tires. I was going to keep the wheels stock but decided after having the car for 4 years to do something a little different so I let the wheel repair guy do his "custom" color in the pockets. It's pretty subtle gunmetal-ish and there isn't a ton of contrast but I think it looks pretty good and makes the 5 spokes stand out a bit more- plus I'm just glad all of the scratches on the spokes are now gone. I didn't want to do the pockets black since I saw G8 wheels on a GTO and it had black pockets and it was just too much for me. Pics attached for those that are curious. Let me know what you think.

 

[Sly]

I like the way the wheels came out very nice!!!

 

[601hotboy]

Yes they look nice.

 

[768MPH]

Wow, those do look nice! How much did he charge?

 

[Eric B.]

Thanks. It was $150 per wheel to paint and re-machine but I did not have to pay since it was compensation for the damage.

 

[Atlasdriver88]

I just had cooper zeon rs3-a installed and I absolutely love them. Great dry and wet performance and supposedly good winter performance. I actually noticed that these were substantially quieter than the stock equipment. They are also slightly taller and wider so the comfort went up over rough roads.

The wheels came out great and the cost. Even though u didnt have to pay was pretty good too. I was quoted $125 per wheel at the shop cost and they said they charge the insurance $198 per wheel.

 

[Silvereagle]

I've got 15k miles on these now, I can say they are most excellent tires since I put them on March 2012. Wearing well too.

 

[tripower]

Not bad but I think if the gunmetal were a bit darker it would contrast better. The shade is light enough that it almost looks like dirt or brake dust on the wheels.

 

[Gatorfan]

What size tire? I need to find a cost effective tire to put on in the next few weeks

 

[HOT 2009]

looks good I like it

 

[Eric B.]

Not bad but I think if the gunmetal were a bit darker it would contrast better. The shade is light enough that it almost looks like dirt or brake dust on the wheels.

Agreed...

The expectation was that it would be darker but this is how it turned out. I just have to keep the car spankin' clean so everyone will know it's NOT brake dust.