Where to buy wheels

[thiazole]

I need to get some new wheels for my car and I was wondering where people went to buy wheels. Do most people buy them online or are there good wheel shops where you can get quality performance wheels? I'm looking for some decent looking 16" wheels that are 16lbs each or lighter, and I'm hoping to pay $150 a wheel or less, but I'm having trouble finding local shops that carry anything I'd be interested in.

[FabzDSM]

Discount Tire usually gives good deals when buying from them. Thy rarely sell wheel packages. Well the colfax (aurora) one anyway.

[matthewdesigns]

Well, I've never purchased any. But, whenever I daydream about it, I go to Tirerack.com. You can select wheels by vehicle type, and then sort by size. When you select a specific wheel from the menu, it gives you the weight. Not only that, you can see how they'd look on your car if you select that view.

I've not had much luck, though, finding new wheels for $150 each that are less than 15lbs, from Tire Rack or any other vendor. Typically, I can find something I like aesthetically that weighs 17-18lbs for that price, but getting superlightweight usually bumps the price to well over $200 per wheel. I've decided to keep my eye out for a set of RX-7 FD wheels, as they look pretty good, weigh ~15lbs, and can be had for $200-400 for a set of four.

[thiazole]

I've found quite a few wheels that are under 16lbs (under 15lbs is pushing it) that are under $150 a piece, but places like Discount Tire never carry them. For example, Konig makes quite a few wheels in the 15.Xlb area for under $150 and Discount Tire sells quite a few Konig wheels, but they only sell the heavy ones for some stupid reason. There was one wheel I found online that was exactly 16lbs for only $89! I think it would look bad, though, and I'm a little worried about quality. I bought some cheap-ass wheels for my Scirocco once that even looked good, but they would never balance right and always vibrated like hell above 65mph - so as stupid as it sounds, I probably don't want to pay less than $115 a wheel just to avoid that happening again.

I might have to go through an internet site, but I wanted to avoid paying shipping. I guess paying tax is probably just as expensive, though, so maybe it would be a wash either way.

[FabzDSM]

The problem with going through internet sites is not getting the look you want, in addition to that you will still need to pay to have them mounted/balanced if you dont have a way to do that.

[rodent]

I'm a fan of both Discount and Tirerack. I do like tirerack.com list the weights on most wheels. Check how light the Enkei RPF1 wheels are but they do cost a little more.

[thiazole]

I just bought a set of Konig BriteLites from 1010tires.com. I've seen them on a DSM before and they looked pretty good, but most importantly (to me anyway) is they are 15lbs and $135/wheel. My cousin owns a shop that sells tires and I used to work there several years back. I'll be he'll let me mount and balance my tires myself for free.

[FabzDSM]

Well there you go, order away. Good luck with your choice post pics when you finally get them on.

[Kibo]

If you're still looking, send me a PM. I just so happen to have a set of 16x7 Rage10 wheels from Discount Tire with 205/55/16 Ecsta MX rubber that I'd like to sell before the winter to make room in the basement. I have pics, but I can't access the site from my workplace so I'll have to post the link later. I think they look pretty darned good on a DSM, but I had to upgrade to 17" wheels to fit my 6-pots up front.

[thiazole]

If you're still looking, send me a PM. I just so happen to have a set of 16x7 Rage10 wheels from Discount Tire with 205/55/16 Ecsta MX rubber that I'd like to sell before the winter to make room in the basement. I have pics, but I can't access the site from my workplace so I'll have to post the link later. I think they look pretty darned good on a DSM, but I had to upgrade to 17" wheels to fit my 6-pots up front.

Actually, I just cancelled my order because they were backordered. I'm very interested in your wheels - PM me with a price.

[thiazole]

Well, as hard is it is to find information on Rage 10 wheels, after doing some research it seems they are a little heavier than I wanted. I'll have to pass on those wheels.

[rodent]

I keep thinking about buying these wheels on this car but I already have some decent 17's.
http://www.milehightalon.net/images/wos06.jpg
www.milehightalon.net
They look light and I think they're still for sale.

[Kibo]

Well, as hard is it is to find information on Rage 10 wheels, after doing some research it seems they are a little heavier than I wanted. I'll have to pass on those wheels.

I don't think they're as heavy as you might think. I couldn't find the information on the internet either, so the best I could do was a bathroom scale (weigh myself, weigh myself with the wheel/tire, subtract the difference). The wheel/tire combo weighs 36.0lbs, and the scale reads out in 0.2lb increments. If you go by the Kumho website (http://www.kumhousa.com/print_specs.jsp?pid=KU15) weight of 20.0lbs for the tire, the wheel weighs 16.0lbs.

In any case, if you change your mind:

Rage Race 10 Wheel pics (http://www.shiftedthinking.com/erik/ForSale/Rage10%20Wheels/) (shown without hubcaps, but I have those as well)

And since this is the wrong section to post a price, I'll link you to my original For Sale (http://codsm.org/forums/showthread.php?t=652&highlight=Rage) post. Obviously I've had them just sitting around for a while, so price is negotiable. ;)

[thiazole]

Damn, that car looks just like my car (and I can also tell by the houses in the background that you are just up the street from me)! Those would look pretty good (since I know they would look exactly the same on my car). According to this website (http://www.wheelweights.net/), the 15X6.5 Rage 10weighs 16lbs which would probably put your wheels at around 18lbs. That isn't bad considering I think my current wheels weigh 25lbs or so, but I'm just thinking longer term. The lighter I get now, the less chance I'll want to buy another set in a couple years to reduce rotational mass even more.

But, to help convince someone else to buy your wheels: based on my conservative estimation, for every 1lbyou drop in your individual wheel/tire weight, you can gain about 1.3 awhp. That means if your wheels + tires currently weigh 50lbs a piece (probably a more common kind of number than people would think, especially if your sporting stock rims), that buying Kibo's wheels and tires at 36lbs a peice, would drop your individual wheel weight by about 14 lbs and would pick up about (14 X 1.3) 18awhp! My coworker has some monster street wheels and tires on his car and he bought a lighter set for the track (including pizza cutters on the front) and lost an average of 15lbs per wheel and was trapping 4mph higher than he was before! Based on a typical trap speed HP calculator, it worked out to 22whp, so this isn't something I'm making up.

[matthewdesigns]

Erik, you've got PM.

[Kibo]

That's funny, I think I've seen your car driving around. :)

Well, according to several posts on this website (http://www.miata.net/products/wheels/rage.html), the 15x6.5 weighs either 13.5 or 13.8 lbs. a piece. Not sure how you came to the conclusion that 18lbs a piece is a reasonable estimate for the 16" wheels, but that's definitely not the case.

Personally I wouldn't spend hundreds of dollars more for your estimated 5.2whp (set of 4), especially on a street car where you'll never notice the difference; but plenty of NA Honda owners prove me wrong every day. :p

[thiazole]

That's funny, I think I've seen your car driving around. :)

Well, according to several posts on this website (http://www.miata.net/products/wheels/rage.html), the 15x6.5 weighs either 13.5 or 13.8 lbs. a piece. Not sure how you came to the conclusion that 18lbs a piece is a reasonable estimate for the 16" wheels, but that's definitely not the case.

Personally I wouldn't spend hundreds of dollars more for your estimated 5.2whp (set of 4), especially on a street car where you'll never notice the difference; but plenty of NA Honda owners prove me wrong every day. :p

I'm sure you have seen my car or at least heard it (if I'm correct about where you live). I also work on the corner of Fordham and Trade Center, so I'm always around that area. It is company policy that I don't mention the name of the company I work for on a public forum:rolleyes:, but there is only one Biotech company in that area.

My car hasn't been running much the past year, though. If you hear an engine roaring down Fordham or Pike in about a month, it might be me. I think my muffler has long outlived its usefulness and I have an EWG vented to atmosphere. I'm sure my neighbors hate me.:p

I've already ordered another set of rims yesterday, but if they get held up for some reason and I have to cancel another order and you still have your wheels when I get my car running, I'll pay to have one of the tires removed from the wheel and weigh it and if it is close enough to what I want, I'll buy them from you. The way I see it is that even though the wheels I want might only be a few lbs lighter than 18lbs, there are wheels out there that are a couple lbs lighter than that. I agree that it isn't worth buying new wheels for "just a few lbs", but if I had 18lb wheels, I'd be able to buy some that were 5+lbs per wheel lighter and I would be more tempted to buy them. If I have 15-16lb wheels, I won't have that temptation - it won't be worth spending $200+ a wheel for such a small difference.

[Kibo]

That's just it--they're not 18lb wheels. I think they're sold, though. :)

[t_jolt]

your pm'd

[thiazole]

Personally I wouldn't spend hundreds of dollars more for your estimated 5.2whp (set of 4), especially on a street car where you'll never notice the difference; but plenty of NA Honda owners prove me wrong every day. :p

That's just it--they're not 18lb wheels. I think they're sold, though. :)

I see, you thought I was saying you would gain 1.3whp for every 1lb you remove from the total weight of the wheels/tires, ie, (16-15)X4X1.3 = 5.2whp. I was saying 1.3hp for every 1lb you lose per wheel, ei, (16-15)X1.3 = 1.3whp.

[Kibo]

Hehe, even more reason not to spend hundreds of dollars for 1.3whp! ;)

For what it's worth, my Volk 17x9.5 TE-37s are tanks compared to my street wheels. They're intended for autoX and (turny-turny) track use, though, and cornering grip trumps weight for turny-turny stuff. Obviously weight and rotating mass are a primary concern for drag racing, but it all comes down to deciding what's most important to you. Cheap, light, strong--pick two. ;)

[Cloud]

Cheap, light, strong--pick two. ;)

I chose some stock 16x8 3kgt wheels for $125, guess which two I picked? They are virtually indestructable but come at a hefty 28lbs a piece, sadly the way I treat my car it's a cost effective trade off. I noticed the slight decrease in bump handling from the unsprung weight way more than any straight line accel/deccel effects.

[thiazole]

I'm a one-trick pony. Drag racing is all that matters to me. I don't think I've done a single thing to my car that wasn't drag racing minded.

I just got my wheels in the mail today, though, so I'm set.

[Kibo]

Sweet, what didja get? Post pics. :)

[spoolinfool]

This posting is a bit late, but I found a good tire shop in Boulder that is actually a local vendor for Tirerack.com. They are called Tire Source 303-443-3021 and they always stock or can get you brand new sets of quality wheels for practically every application at competitive pricing. This is the place where I bought my SSR wheels at a steal of a price for my 90 GSX. If you are in the market for some aftermarket wheels, these guys are definitely worth checking out.