There has been a lot of talk on this forum about aftermarket wheels on the XLR and those of you who have seen my comments know that I am very picky about what I think you should put on the XLR. Like I said before, I have put a lot of time and research into this and Highly reccommend using a 19" wheel with Michilen Pilot tires.
I will not bore you with the why's and how's of this, just want to re-affirm that staying with this size will increase performance while not affecting the speedometer, magna-ride, traction control, cuise control, suspension, and other features.
While returning home from vacation Sunday on a 3 hour plane flight I descovered some new information that I did not think of before. Basically, it was an article in one of the popular auto mag's about how GM is trying to educate people on the pit-falls and danger of after-market wheels. While reading the article it basically re-affrimed all the arguements I made earlier and added one other VERY important thing I overlooked. What is it? SAFETY! It seems that the wheels (size and materials) are very important in determining the crumple zone of a vechile. By putting on larger wheels & tires made of different design stiffness and durability, you have drastically changed how the car will perform in an accident! The article basically showed a pick-up truck that upgraded from a 16" steel wheel to 20" alumiumin wheel and doing so would have crushed the leg of the driver. The same accident with the standard wheel would have cause little or no injury to the driver.
So, I guess it is back to the drawing board for me. However, I don't think that I can solve the safty question without extentive help from GM which I don't think they are going to offer anytime soon. This does re-affirm why 20" are a very bad idea. In the end, it is buyer beware!
I will not bore you with the why's and how's of this, just want to re-affirm that staying with this size will increase performance while not affecting the speedometer, magna-ride, traction control, cuise control, suspension, and other features.
While returning home from vacation Sunday on a 3 hour plane flight I descovered some new information that I did not think of before. Basically, it was an article in one of the popular auto mag's about how GM is trying to educate people on the pit-falls and danger of after-market wheels. While reading the article it basically re-affrimed all the arguements I made earlier and added one other VERY important thing I overlooked. What is it? SAFETY! It seems that the wheels (size and materials) are very important in determining the crumple zone of a vechile. By putting on larger wheels & tires made of different design stiffness and durability, you have drastically changed how the car will perform in an accident! The article basically showed a pick-up truck that upgraded from a 16" steel wheel to 20" alumiumin wheel and doing so would have crushed the leg of the driver. The same accident with the standard wheel would have cause little or no injury to the driver.
So, I guess it is back to the drawing board for me. However, I don't think that I can solve the safty question without extentive help from GM which I don't think they are going to offer anytime soon. This does re-affirm why 20" are a very bad idea. In the end, it is buyer beware!