Adriana's new shoes

Not Manolos, but you know, the staggered, 19 x 8.5(f) / 19 x 9.5(r) black w/polished lip-type of shoe. I had them wrapped in General Exclaim Ultra High Performance tires and balanced appropriately with some wheel locks.

Overall impressions are that the wheels feel solid and look good. I was set on getting black wheels to really set off the color of the car. Initially, I was worried about impending wheel gap, but they fill the wheel wells nicely with the car riding on the OEM BMW Sports suspension.

The fact that I don't have to swap my suspection out with stiffer coilovers is a good thing, since the ride in my car is already somewhat stiff (if you've been in my car while going 85mph on an uneven portion of highway, you know what I'm talking about). The car's steering responsiveness has increased, resulting in crisp turn-ins and smoother hard-corning.

The tires are a good balance between performance and comfort. The sidewalls are stiff enough to hold corners, but not so hard that you feel every imperfection in the road. They are also unidirectional and very good in the wet, which was one of my top priorities (after what happened in my Audi).

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