Blacked Out 2019 CX9 on 21’s

[Robbo]

This is my new CX9, the chrome was wrapped with gloss vinyl, the front windows tinted and the wheels replaced with 21x9 Satin Black Advanti Wheels.

I did initially have the stock 20*s painted black but wasn*t happy, so went for the slightly wider and more aggressive set up. My main priority was an improvement in looks and handling, without too much increase in road noise. I do realise 22*s would*ve looked better, but wasn*t willing to compromise the refinement of what is the quietest car I*ve ever driven.

The tyres are 45 profile so still have plenty of sidewall, which I think is key for noise - 22*s would be 30 or 35 profile which would ruin the car in my opinion. I*ve learnt that lesson already after putting low profile rubber on a CX5 - which I*ll also post a pic off...

Cheers!

[Robbo]

This is our 2018 CX5 - it was quiet on the stock wheels but adding these 20*s with cheap low profile tyres did ruin it a bit - handles great and looks quite aggressive though.
(I also had a 2017 CX3 but ended up hating it)

We are also thinking about blacking this car out...

[Robbo]

Here*s a pic of the car with the stock rims painted black - I guess there*s not much difference in photos, but in real life the new set up is a lot more aggressive.

On the road it handles a whole heap better too - it used to really feel soft on the standard eco tyres!

[sm1ke]

Pretty noticeable difference in wheels to me! Blackout looks great, I probably would have done the same if my car was black. Did you do anything to the horizontal bars in the grille, or did you just keep them silver?

In my experience, the difference in road noise going from the OEM 20" setup (Ecopia tires) to my 22" setup (Nexen tires) came mostly from the tire itself. I didn't notice much of a difference in noise when going over train tracks or road seams. I definitely feel them a little more though, lol. But the trade-off is worth it!

[dougal]

Man, that looks great!

[Robbo]

Pretty noticeable difference in wheels to me! Blackout looks great, I probably would have done the same if my car was black. Did you do anything to the horizontal bars in the grille, or did you just keep them silver?

In my experience, the difference in road noise going from the OEM 20" setup (Ecopia tires) to my 22" setup (Nexen tires) came mostly from the tire itself. I didn't notice much of a difference in noise when going over train tracks or road seams. I definitely feel them a little more though, lol. But the trade-off is worth it!

The grill was a real pain for the wrap guy. I know other people have resorted to painting it gloss black rather than wrapping it. My guy just spent hours and hours wrapping each little part of the grill.

It is hard to know with tyres, I would've love to tried some 22's with 'quiet' tyres just to see the difference - with 21's there aren't so many options with tyres. I definitely notice more thump, pop and ping with the 21's. The standard Ecopia's were so squidgy tho - the car felt really floppy in the bends.

One bonus of 21's is the brakes still look ok - some 22's make those discs look so tiny! My workmate has an SQ7 with 22's - the discs pretty much fill the rim lol.

[Robbo]

Man, that looks great!

Thanks yeah quite surprising with how factory it all looks in real life. Looks quite up to date - lots of audi's and other euro's seem to have factory black out now it seems.