lightweights

Forum for Nissan wheel fitment, tire selection, suspension setup and brake discussions.
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lucas_420
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Anybody know of good lightweight forged rims?

I have seen 17" rims as light as 15lbs... is that about as light as they get or are there some hidden gems out there?At what point should I be worried about the strength of the wheels? Also, I have seen all the name brand wheels from Axis to Volk but am left wondering if there are any less mainstream companies I should know about...

I'm not really sure what other questions to ask on this topic, so any help would be greatly appriciated.

thanks

PS: I used the search but didn't really see anything, so sorry if this is a repeat.


Snarlynx
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Advan rg's fit your decription. I think they even make them up to 10 inches wide. They cost a grip though.




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Onizuka
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Pretty much any advan wheel kicks A ss, but as was already stated, they cost alot.

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MikeS14240sx
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SSR wheels are pretty lightweight. But they can be pricey. I'm looking at the SSR Type C(competition).

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Dano
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any opinions on Buddy Club wheels? (besides cost)

-Dan

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lucas_420
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I have heard good things about Buddy Club wheels, mainly from the Honda crowd.However I have run into problems finding places that sell them.

On another note, I have become partial to the Ray's wheels.Especially some of their 6spoke designs.

Anyone here run Ray's?

Anyone here able to find them for less than $500 a wheel?

IvanS13
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How much for a 17" Advan RG? $500? I was thinkin about gettin some in the summer time.

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Onizuka
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Depending on the value of the Yen to US dollar, i think about 480 but i could be wrong...

Snarlynx
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http://www.gruppe-s.com/Advan/advanrg.htm

low to mid 400's for the "good" sizes.

there could be cheaper places but I didn't feel like searching 5500 sites. :pface

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JeromeS13
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I just went with the Axis VPD in a 17x7, +38 offset. I'll settle for those, since they only weigh 16 lbs each. Oh yeah, I got them from http://www.wheelmax.com for $600 shipped, for the set.

Snarlynx
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Those are pretty sweet man. :)

Unfortionatly for me those big places don't sell them in 9 inch widths and in staggered "sets"

If I was going for something like that I'd probably get very similar wheels.

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Dori Dori
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Buddy Club wheels are awesome. The honda crowd is filled with a bunch of idiots and they buy the fake ones that aren't even forged. I just sold my buddy clubs from my WRX...they were 12lbs each in 17x7.5" They were the P1 Qf's.

Check out Racing Hart CP035. They are also 12lbs each in 17x7,.5".

Advans are cast. They are made for Yokohama by ENKEI Japan. Yes, Enkei. They are still good wheels, but companies like volk, buddy club, and racing hart makes cold forged wheels. They are so expensive b/c there is no official importer...BUT I heard a rumor that Yokohama USA is getting the License to import Advan wheels officially. If they do, they will be cheap! They sell for around $375ea in Japan!

Also, SSR wheels aren't real forged wheels. They are semi-forged and have a bending problem. I've known of many bent SSR's.

Snarlynx
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I understand that forged wheels are usually better than cast but there has to be a reason that over half of the high end tuned cars you see in Japan run advans (besides being sponcered by them), and that's a scenario were the relitively low price isn't a factor.

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Dori Dori
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I'm sorry but I have to disagree with you. If I assumed that everything I see on show cars is good, then I'd have altezza lights, strobes, and 19's.

I have a fear of cast wheels anyway. I saw a friend come close to flipping on a race track due to a cast wheel failure. The stress from the race tires and heat caused some overlooked hairline fractures on the spokes of the wheel (we didn't inspect them b/c they were only 2 track events old and we assumed they'd be OK). The spokes and hub of the wheel actually seperated itself from the edge of the wheel. He luckily didn't crash and after a closer inspection, we found that 2 other wheels were also cracked. That's the difference between cast wheels and forged wheels. Under high stress levels and heat, cast wheels crack and forged wheels don't. Under impact, forged wheels bend. Which would you rather have?

Snarlynx
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They arn't show cars. They are ~500hp tire-shreading track only beasts. So you're saying that those cars have advans for looks- a car that will never be in a car show... or even the street? Not only a track car but a track car in a form follows function culture? That's silly. Now I'm not saying that Advans are the best wheels ever or that they are better than forged ones but saying that cast wheels can't be great track wheels is also silly.

Think about it. I'm not saying you're not knowlegeable but are you really trying to tell me that you know more about a good track wheel than a team of engineers who's job it is to know just that?

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Dori Dori
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Do you think that street wheels are put on tuners race cars? If so, you are just falling for marketing bs. Those race cars usually have one-off magnesium wheels that share nothing in common (aside from form) with the street variations. If you already knew this, I am just to assume that you are talking about the cars you see at shows like TAS...right? If so, those are usually just shop cars...demo cars...SHOW cars. Not cars made by engineers or anything like that. They are simply trying to get customers. You think those air duffusers and splitters that they use really make the car handle better as well? How about those tri-spoke wheels, one of the weakest wheels designs in history; those are real good for racing too, right? It's all marketing my friend and it seems like you've fallen victom to it. A cast wheel is a cast wheel...period. After all, Advans are the cheapest 'tuner' wheel in Japan for a reason.

You are right though, not all cast wheels are bad. There are 3 different casting methods, each of which produce different results along the lines of strength and weight. They are; low pressure/gravity, counter pressure, and high counter pressure molding (HCM). Enkei uses all these casting techniques...they vary depending on the wheel. Forged wheels will always be stonger though than any of these methods. Do you know the difference between cast and forged wheels? Or the difference between the different casting methods? Curious.

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Exar-Kun
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"I saw a friend come close to flipping on a race track due to a cast wheel failure."

uh-huh. that had to suck. looks like your friend learned a valuable lesson, dont ****ing race without quality ****. what was he driving?

but, I have used cast wheels from good companies and never had problems at the track, running over 2 hours. maybe your friend HIT something at the track, causing the break, even forged wheels can crack and break man, I see it every day at my job.

more important than the forging can be the materials and actually mfg process. BBS, and VOLK, as my understanding, they cast some wheels, but do it with FEM or simulated stress analyisis, ensuing a strong wheel, without the expense of forging. a good quality cast wheel can hold up fine at a track.

anyways, if you want wheel weights:http://www.wheelweights.net

buddy club wheels tend to be stong and lightweight, but like ADVAN, VOLK and the BBS LM series, and SSR forged untits, tend to cost out the nose.

the idea of rofging a wheel was that forging created a stronger wheel, so you can use LESS material, thus lightening the wheel. if you buy a heavy forged wheel, your wasting your time.

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Dori Dori
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Exar-Kun wrote:uh-huh. that had to suck. looks like your friend learned a valuable lesson, dont ****ing race without quality ****. what was he driving?


A WRX as well. The wheels come from a large Japanese OEM wheel manufacturer and pass JWL and VIA certification just like the SSR or Volks or other well known Japanese brand. They produce wheels under many differnt names and one is being used (the same one that my friend broke) on a WRX by Gary Sheehan in the USTCC. He (Gary) stands by these.

It was an unusual occurance, yes, but something that would never happen with a forged wheel from heat and stress...especially not after 4 damn track days.

And yes, a forged wheel can crack...hell a full solid block of metal can crack, but the likelyhood is less than that of a cast wheel. If you deny that, you are just lying to yourself.

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Exar-Kun
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oh yeah a forged wheel would avoid cracking better, thats understood. I was just saying that I've been to the track, as have many others and done 2 hour long runs with cast wheels, never had problems...but I'd like to get some nice 3-peice forged rims, once I get some SERIOUS money.

wow, he foobared his WRX. thats gotta suck.

wish him luck for me man.-chet

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Dori Dori
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No, the car's OK. The fender got ruined from the wheel peices flying all over the place...somehow the car managed to drive on it's control arm without hurting anything. I think the track was more hurt than the car!

Snarlynx
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Yeah I know the forging process and why it makes it stronger. As for these Magnesium steet wheel clones I knew that they exsisted just the tuners make no mention of it.

Again not flaming.... but like I said, I'd wager Advans are perfectly fine for track use.

TheProfessional
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i might be selling my brand new 18 x 7.5 brand new VOLK TE37'S with falkens on them... theyre a beautiful wheel and arent too heavy... i think im going with a set of advan's in 17 x 8... email me.

Stee Flo
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anyone heard anything good about rotas? Are they forged? Cast? I know alot of wrx owners like them.

Snarlynx
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They are cast and strength is a concern. Usually with wheels there is, strong, light and cheap. You can only have two out of the three though.

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Exar-Kun
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you forgot ROUND.

you can get wheels that are:1. light2. strong3. round4. cheap

some of those are mutually exclusive(to an extent), you can get a cheap, strong wheel, but it will be heavy and roll like an egg....

-chet

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not_a_porsche
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Rota makes light weight wheels. Not sure if they make them for 240's, it's worth a look though.

http://www.rotawheels.com/our_wheels.htm

Not outrageously expensive either


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