Last Wednesday, my wife made me sit through "Oprah Winfrey: The E! True Hollywood Story" on the E! Channel. It was only an hour, but it felt like I was sitting there for a week. At one point, I feared deep vein thrombosis was setting in, so to be safe, I got up and walked around the coffee table a few times.
Despite this torture, I continue to love my wife, so I decided to do something nice for her. For some husbands, this would mean flowers or candy, or maybe a new outfit. Not me. I decided my lady's ride needed a new set of wheels and tires. Or new meats, as we used to call them in Jersey.
The VW Passat Wagon we leased about seven months ago-due to the pending birth of our first baby-came with 15-inch alloys wrapped in a skinny set of Continentals. The car rode beautifully, if not a tad too softly, and handled well enough for my wife to drive to the supermarket and the mall. It just looked wimpy. Too mommy-mobilelish for even my wife, who really wanted a BMW 540i Wagon with the sport package; you know, with the deep-dish wheels.
Since she married a working stiff, she got the Passat with the base 1.8T engine, although I did spring for the heated leather seats and the automatic transmission. I quickly realized that the rich folk who buy the same car with the optional W8 engine and 4Matic all-wheel drive get a sharp set of 17-inch wheels and tires, which really give the car a muscular stance.
To keep things simple, I decided to mount the same size wheels and tires W8 buyers get, which are 17x7 wheels and 225/45-17 tires. I wanted a wheel that looked aggressive, but complemented the Passat's simple lines, one that had a touch of brightwork to play off the car's chrome trim, and one that had a rim, because I like wheels with a rim. I also wanted a wheel that was forged for strength, didn't weigh a ton and had a high level of fit and finish.
After a good deal of searching I found just the right wheel, the Akunin model from the RS Limited line produced by ADR Design Wheels, which is a sponsor of our Ultimate Street Car Challenge.
I chose the silver finish, although it's also available in chrome or white. It met all of the above requirements, and I immediately knew it would look right on the car.
For tires, I chose the new Pirelli P Zero Nero M+S, because my wife will drive the car in all weather. The P Zero Nero M+S has an asymmetric tread pattern identical to the summer-version P Zero Nero, with few grooves in the outer shoulder blocks and stiff ribs in the center divided by wide channels for water evacuation. The silica/carbon tread compound is different, however, giving the P Zero Nero M+S much higher levels of winter performance. Pirelli also says the rubber retains its flexibility at low temperatures, while giving up only a small amount of wet and dry grip vs. the summer tire.
So far so good. The new setup stiffened the car's ride just enough and even tightened the steering a tad. Overall the car is more responsive, more fun to drive and it should have significantly more traction and stability in wet weather. Plus, it looks a heck of a lot better.
How much better? Well, yesterday we baptized my baby daughter at a local church. After the ceremony, we were loading little Sophie Catherine into her car seat when the priest yelled out to us, "Hey, nice car." At first I thought he was talking about my father-in-law's Z06 Corvette. Nope. He was digging my wagon.
Isn't it amazing what the right set of wheels and tires can do?