Jack brings up a good point about the brakes - and they wouldn't just look small, they may actually be too small, as it takes more braking force to stop a car with larger rims due to the added leverage and rotating mass. So if you go with a larger wheel, try to get a lighter set if you want to keep the performance, and this may raise cost even more.

You may be right, Aaron, that those rims are not sophisticated enough for the Riv. In general, I want to make my Riv look somewhat more sporty and aggressive while still retaining the Buick class. It's a tricky balancing act.

That site (www.elites-wholesale.com) appears to be a good one for finding afforable options.

It's a shame the CTS-V calipers didn't work out.

13" rotors and a good set of pads would be a fine improvement for a set of 20"s. The CTS-V calipers are good for the track, but more for show on the street. They would let you use a larger pad though, which is good for durability - same with F-Body calipers.

Thought I'd jump in here. I just ordered a set of Vagare V9 Mayan 17 x 8 wheels from Summit. $715 dropshipped to the door. I went with Summit because I tried to get 2 other type of wheels earlier. One was off a store on E-Bay that I was watching for months. When I went to order he said they were backordered from the company and he didn't know when they would be able to get them. I checked another place and they said the same thing. I went to my back up wheel and tried a place off the internet and they gave me the same song and dance about this completely different brand of wheel. What I'm getting at is that when you go after these off-brand wheels sometimes they may be only selling air. Who knows how long it may have taken? I know I wasn't taking a chance. I figured going through Summit might give me a better chance if there's a problem or they don't come in in a reasonable time frame. The other thing was I could've gotten them cheaper from a wheel place but when the shipping is added Summit was only a few dollars more.

I went with this model because I wanted something that was "stockish" and didn't show off too much of the brakes because I have no plans on upgrading them. Maybe some lowering later.



I also went with the 17's because after staring at the factory wheels I decided that the sidewall would be getting a little too short with 18's and I do want to keep the ride nice. The upgrade to 17's with 245-50-17's should help the handling considerably without bothering the ride. There were more 225-55-17's available but they wouldn't be any wider than the factory ones, just a shorter sidewall. There are limited different brands of the 245's with the General UHPs being the only reasonably priced ones at $113 from Tirerack. I'm not buying them until the wheels have arrived. If I went to the 245-45-18's there were plenty of options although more expensive than the 17's.



Now what I'd like to know is has anybody been using the Hub Centric Rings to fit their cars? They are what centers the wheel on your hub, not the lugs. From what I've read they are mandatory with almost all aftermarket wheels these days. Has anybody purchased these for their wheels? Summit has what I need (only $10+ship) from Gorilla (73-7030) which would be a 73.1 ID of the wheel and a 70.3 mm hub on the car. Unfortunately they wouldn't be shipped until late in August and being an optimist I'm thinking the wheels will be here sooner. We'll see. I'm wondering if anybody has gotten these off the web or even better from local source and what brand were they?

I was thinking that the guy who had problems with out of round wheels might have been helped out by a set. Just something to consider.

I'll post some pics once I get them in and mounted.

Mike

Looks like a nice choice. I personally prefer to have lug nut covers when the number of spokes is not divisible by 5. I have heard that the difference between 17" and 18" is where the ride starts to go south but I would like to hear opinions from others who have tried a variety of diameters.

no-lift wrote: Now what I'd like to know is has anybody been using the Hub Centric Rings to fit their cars? i had a set that came with a set of rims i bought off tirerack.com years ago. they were made of plastic and they did not last long. new rims should come with them. but allways ask. i heard tell of these same rings made from aluminium. but ive never seen them. i would ask for those

Here is a cell phone pic of my riv with the 18's I bought a couple months ago. I went up in size from 16's and I can say the ride is a little stiffer now with the 18's but not noticable enough to where I would say it rides bad. Even with the 18's my riv still rides better than some cars I've gotten a ride in. I went with a 245/45/18 tire so it's still really close to the same overall diameter as the stock tire size.

Since this picture I have painted the brake calipers satin black also, looks good now that the calipers don't stick out like a rusty sore thumb.

Nice, I think those look really good!

The chrome always looks great on a black car, IMO

Love the exterior and interior color combination nailhead! What a slick car.

Thanks Jack, yeah the black with light gray interior is not a combo you see too often.

I will also give my vote for the centering rings if you are running aftermarket rims, I should get some new ones for mine. I have the plastic ones and they have been on there for 10 years and are starting to show some wear. I even leave them on in the winter when I put the factory rims back on...

Question:
If your running wheels, aftermarket or not, that have the correct bolt pattern (5X115) what advantage does the centering rings give you.
I've seen them for sale and was wondering how they are sized and what size is correct for our hubs?
Thanks for any input and clarification.