whats the difference?
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shaun_bayarea
- Posts: 50
- Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2004 6:43 pm
whats the difference?
i was wondering what the difference is between say 500 dollar wheels and 1500 wheels. i'm allways seeing these wheel/tire packages in import magazines for like 400-600 bucks and i'd like to get some but i need to know if they are just horrible?
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Grant@tirerack
- Posts: 722
- Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2003 9:17 am
- Car: Auto racing (AMLS, Cart,F1,IRL in that order), old show rods, classic monster and bad sci-fi movies,
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There are a lot of factors that determine if a wheel is a good fitment. Price will vary greatly even when you are looking at good quality wheels. There are things to look for:
1) Is the wheel hub-centric? It should fit and center right on the nose of the axle either right out of the box or with a ring, not just center on the lugs.
2) Is the offset correct for the car? It should not require a spacer to 'work'.
3) Have they test fit this wheel on your model car?
4) What tire size have they actually test fit using this wheel? You'd be amazed how many times I get calls from people who already bought the wheels and then try to figure out what tire size will work.
5) How is the wheel constructed? Forged wheels cost more than cast wheels to produce. There are many very nice cast/low pressure/counterpressure cast wheels out there that are a very good value. It just depends on what you are looking for. For the most part, multi-piece wheels are for looks only. They cost more and tend to weigh more than single piece wheels. All of this can factor into the price of the wheel.
1) Is the wheel hub-centric? It should fit and center right on the nose of the axle either right out of the box or with a ring, not just center on the lugs.
2) Is the offset correct for the car? It should not require a spacer to 'work'.
3) Have they test fit this wheel on your model car?
4) What tire size have they actually test fit using this wheel? You'd be amazed how many times I get calls from people who already bought the wheels and then try to figure out what tire size will work.
5) How is the wheel constructed? Forged wheels cost more than cast wheels to produce. There are many very nice cast/low pressure/counterpressure cast wheels out there that are a very good value. It just depends on what you are looking for. For the most part, multi-piece wheels are for looks only. They cost more and tend to weigh more than single piece wheels. All of this can factor into the price of the wheel.