[otaku]

Alright so I want to paint my calipers either black or red but also think doing so requires some new wheels however I'm having trouble picking some out. What do you guys think of black wheels on a white fusion (black interior) ? Also what size would be best? Seems like the stock wheels won't show off the calipers much so which size would be best for that? I don't want to lose my ride quality and MPG much if I can avoid it. Also I've heard handling can improve with new wheels is that true? I've seen alot of people with 20s how do they ride, whats MPG like? Thanks guys

 

[pkoko]

Painting the calipers has no effect on which wheel you use. I personally wouldn't bother with Black Paint. Red looks sporty on any car. To show off the painted calipers; you might need:
A- Bigger wheel(rim)/tire
B- A wheel with smaller spokes and more air in them.

Here is what I wrote before about bigger rims:

Personally, when I did my rims & tires. It was a choice between 18" & 20". 19s, which were my initial plan, are too rare and expensive. Since stock my car had 17s; it made no sense to go to 18s. So I chose 20s from discount tire store. If you upgrade to 20s; plan for much harsher ride. It will no longer feel like a 4 door family car. It will feel like a camaro or 2 door sport coupe. As a plus, handling will sky rocket. So it is you choice between better looks/ handling over harsher ride.

Keep in mind my rims are 20s. 20x8.5 on 245/35/20 Kuhmo ESTA SPT (Amazing tire; excellent price; Highly reccomended.) I also use stocks in the winter so I just switched from them. Let me state couple of ammedmums:
1- MPG: droped at most 1MPG; It definaltley did not improve. It got a little worse. I do around 70% highway. No idea on city milage. The big decisions on MPG are wheel weight and tire choice. Most 5 spokes are light b/c of the empty space. Lighter (alluminuim) rims are much more expensive than steel ones. Tire choice is more dependent on tread design. I would ask tire specialist about it.

2- Ride quality: It will be a lot harsher. You will learn to avoid pot-holes and big bumps. Bumps will feel like you are on a truck or so. The Fusion will feel a lot firmer. Ride fimness will feel like a mustang on 18s or BMW z3. Is it extreemly awful?? NO. Can you live with it?? Absolutley! Bear in mind, that is on 20s the biggest rim you can put on the Fusion. Just plan to slow down more than normal for bumps. Ride noise-- more of tire issue than rim issue. For me the Kuhmo's are exxcellent.

3- Handling: The biggest improvement to handling on any car is the tires. The stock tires are all season grand touring. My new tires are Summer Ultra high performance tires. Go to http://www.tirerack.com/tires/types/tiretype.jsp for further explanation.
Summary: Grand touring all-season < Performance all-season < High performance all season < High performance Summer < Ultra High peformance summer. That is 4 levels of upgrades. That is extreemely significant improvement in handling/braking/ dry traction. My personal opinion- Stock Michelins to Kuhmos; there is 20% improvement in braking/accleration. 30-40% improvement in handling. I know the Kuhmos are a little wider (20mm or 1 inch); A wider aspect tires improves handling as well. Getting a bigger rim size will only reduce wheel flex ( improves handling by a small margin. It only comes into play at limits of car suspension & tires traction ). Bigger rims don't improve handling; Better tires do.

If want to improve handling w/o messing up ride quality; then :
1- buy racing beat rear sway bar. Instalation is a breeze and is at most 1 hour job at a mechanic.
2- replace the OEM tires with better (stickier) tires. I reccomend the Kuhmo ESTA SPT.

Good luck
sorry for long post.

 

[ciniko]

thanks for the info pkoko i'll look into that

 

[RedFireSEL]

If you want to get 20's, you will need to get a wheel that is no heavier than, I'd say 25-26lbs. This is because the tires will be about 24lbs in the size you need. After looking on tirerack.com for a few minutes, I found that acceptable 20" tires for the Fusion are all taller than stock. This means that your odomoeter will turn slower/speedo will read slow. What this equates to, is you will travel a longer distance for every mile your odometer shows and moving faster than your speedo shows (3%). Assuming you find a 20" combo that is equal to stock in weight, you should actually travel 103 miles for every 100 miles your odometer reads. If the wheels are heavier than stock, then the power/gas required to overcome the intertia of the wheels will result in a loss of mileage. If we look at pkoko's combo, he says he lost maybe 1mpg. However, his tire is 26.8" tall vs. 25.9" stock. A 245/25/20 turns 777 revs per mile vs. the stock 225/50/17 at 804. All else being equal, he should have gained MPG because the engine turns slower for every mile he drives. The loss in MPG is from the gas it takes to get the wheel turning from a stop, or under acceleration.

Now, all this said, what is most important? If you value the MPG, your choices in wheels can get really expensive for 20's if you want light. Otherwise, take a -1MPG hit and buy the rims you like.

 

[bbf2530]

[quote author=pkoko link=topic=73415.msg1305438#msg1305438 date=1175475928]


Summary: Grand touring all-season < Performance all-season < High performance all season < High performance Summer < Ultra High peformance summer. That is 4 levels of upgrades. That is extreemely significant improvement in handling/braking/ dry traction. My personal opinion- Stock Michelins to Kuhmos; there is 20% improvement in braking/accleration. 30-40% improvement in handling. I know the Kuhmos are a little wider (20mm or 1 inch); A wider aspect tires improves handling as well. Getting a bigger rim size will only reduce wheel flex ( improves handling by a small margin. It only comes into play at limits of car suspension & tires traction ). Bigger rims don't improve handling; Better tires do.

Good luck
sorry for long post.
[/quote]

Hi pkoko. :wavey: Almost all of what you say in your post is 100% true. However, I just wanted to address your above estimates (from #3 in your post) as to the percentage of improvement you feel can be achieved by going to an "Ultra High Performance Summer" tire. Please believe me that this is not to start a debate with you or anyone else, just to put things into perspective for those with less automotive knowledge than you.

Let me state up front, that I understand you were just trying to quote some numbers off the top of your head (and I know how hard that is to do) to help others. The only reason I am replying is due to the fact that some forum members will take the numbers that you (a respected and knowledgeable forum member) posted, and truly believe them as achievable by just replacing their tires, only to be greatly disappointed.

Just so we have a baseline, I will take the figures from a Motor Trend test of the 2006 Fusion V-6 SEL: 0-60 time of 7.2 seconds, and a quarter mile time of 15.5 seconds. A stopping distance from 60 mph of 137 feet. And an average lateral skidpad performance of .80g's.

If a Fusion owner were to buy "Ultra High Performance Summer" tires and get a 20% improvement in braking and acceleration, their car would now accelerate 0-60 in 5.76 seconds, and do the quarter mile in 12.4 seconds. Their braking performance from 60 mph would improve to 109.6 feet. The Fusion's skidpad performance (granted, just one measure of handling) at a 30-40% improvement figure, would improve to .96 - 1.12 g's.

As you can see, it would be impossible to see anywhere near an improvement of that magnitude by merely replacing the tires. Some of those numbers are now in "Supercar" territory (quarter mile, braking and handling)

In closing, I felt I should put the numbers into perspective, so no other members pay for "Ultra High Performance Summer" tires, and then wonder why they don't see the type of improvements cited (I agree 100% that better tires will noticeably improve braking, acceleration and handling, just not that dramatically).

Please take this post in the friendly manner it was meant (informational, not confrontational at all).

Good luck! :cheers:

 

[pssdmilan]

here's what you wanted to know about black wheels on white. my opinion would be not to go any bigger than 19's w/245-35-19. I have already bent and blew out a tire w/stock 17's. when I get wheels I'm not going any bigger than 18's! good luck, hope pic helps.

 

[pssdmilan]

btw I'm getting these next year on black, both wheels are found at tirerack. watch prices they're cheapest in winter