you won't feel the tenths of a second the wheel weight is saving you until you have corrected a ton of other stuff on the car(suspension for example).
you can absolutely feel buyers remorse if you end up getting a brake kit and your 17s not fitting. or going too conservative on width and wanting more grip.

forged wheels aren't "proper" they are a luxury, nice to have. make sure the wheels you get now, be it the T5Rs or something else, meet both your fitment goals now and your fitment goals in the future. by that i mean diameter, width, and offset

 

Appreciate the insight dokkaebi!

The whole "buy nice or buy twice" sorta skirts over the fact that "nice" doesn't necessarily mean "expensive". I haven't heard anything bad about Work aside from the fact they're slightly heavy and long lead times due to made-to-order.

Here's somebody running the T5R's in 18x8.5+45 with the exact same suspension setup I have—I think it looks pretty good.

 

I think those qualify as "Nice". Very nice even. They are a Japanese made flow-formed wheel. For lightweight cars, especially in your use case, I believe flow-formed is an excellent choice. I don't think there's enough of an appreciable difference to justify the cost on performance alone, forged vs flow-formed.

That being said, if you have a set of forged wheels in mind you really like, and you already know the Works are a stop-gap. Just save more for what you really want. It'll be worth the wait for your own satisfaction alone.

 

if you have a set of forged wheels in mind you really like, and you already know the Works are a stop-gap. Just save more for what you really want. It'll be worth the wait for your own satisfaction alone.

I'm kinda in the opposite situation actually; the T5R's are the wheel I keep going back to when I'm shopping. I tried to justify going with WedsSports TC105X for the weight savings, but I'm not thrilled about the color and style compared to the T5R's. Admittedly, aesthetics are pretty important to me (probably more-so that performance).

Thanks for the reply!

 

I’ve always agreed with going down the middle path. For wheels, one edge is the XXR and knockoff stuff, and other end is BBS forged. What’s in the middle? Enkei. They have great styles and built relatively well, relatively light, ergo my choice for the TS-V

 

The way I look at it, daily driving and occasional track days portends some damage.

I try not to blow my wad just so I have a back stop for repairs and fixing things.

Some guys though like to have nice things, and if that is a priority, then you have to fulfill the want

 

The way I look at it, daily driving and occasional track days portends some damage.

I try not to blow my wad just so I have a back stop for repairs and fixing things.

Some guys though like too have nice things, and if that is a priority, then you have to fulfill the want

It's true, wheels are wear items. Most "nice" JDM wheels will have wait times for replacements.

 

I've had volk forged wheels on my past few builds. That being said though the main reason I opted with the TE37s on my cars outside of aesthetic is that the roads here can be pretty damn rough. I just like the peace of mind knowing my wheels are strong.

That being said, I've also owned plenty of gramlights from rays which are about the work equivalent of what you're looking at. You're for sure shopping nice wheels so I wouldn't be concerned about quality issues. Being realistic, forged wheels are a waste of money for 9/10 people. This car comes on cast monoblocks so in reality replacing them with another high quality cast monoblock is fine as long as you're running the right tires / running a bunch of stretch.

 

Buy tire rack brands and replace as needed no need for mortgage payment wheels just for bro points.

Wheels are wear items

 

I got konig ultragrams, it's advertised to be Motorsports inspired wheel, has high load capacity, knurled beading, low price (262 each plus additional 10.5% back as plugin rewards). I would have gone for apex wheels if 17x8 was available in cast wheels.

 

I think it also depends on your budget expectations. If you were about to buy a C8 corvette comfortably, but instead thought, "I'd rather get an 86 and splurge on it, and still have extra", then totally get BBS forged, and 6 piston brembos, and another set of track wheels, and a full carbon interior makeover, etc.

But if you are just ready to financially buy a gr86, then yeah maybe some used enkeis would work well.

 

Once you take your car on track, you should start thinking about wheels as consumables. I know people who have bent a fancy forged wheel on their first track day with them.

Apex has a program where they’ll give you 50% off on a replacement wheel when you damage wheels you buy from them (and send the back damaged ones back to them). But I’ve decided just buy cheap wheels and replace them when needed. I actually have 3 sets of wheels now, all bought used for less than $100/wheel. So I guess my advice is: buy cheap, buy often (but buy so cheap it doesn’t matter).

Edit: Yes, I mean buy decent quality wheels at a low price. Don’t buy crappy wheels haha.

 

Once you take your car on track, you should start thinking about wheels as consumables. I know people who have bent a fancy forged wheel on their first track day with them.

Apex has a program where they’ll give you 50% off on a replacement wheel when you damage wheels you buy from them (and send the back damaged ones back to them). But I’ve decided just buy cheap wheels and replace them when needed. I actually have 3 sets of wheels now, all bought used for less than $100/wheel. So I guess my advice is: buy cheap, buy often (but buy so cheap it doesn’t matter).

How did they bend forged wheels? (honest question)

 

Think of the weight savings from having no money in your wallet

My street wheels are gram lights because of the same reason lol

I've also been cross-shopping Gram Light and Work for this same reason lmao. Here's my findings.

Gram Light:

• Typically stores carry some stock
• LONG wait times if not in stock (6+ months)
• Rays quality, made in Japan
• 57CR is one of the sexiest 5-spoke designs
• Cast wheels
• Most colors are either Black or Gunmetal.

Work

• No stock, everything is made-to-order
• 3-4 month wait times
• Made in Japan
• Glow Silver/GT Silver finishes
• Flow-formed wheels

The twins yearn for the width

Join us in 9.5" gang

I feel like I'll be asking for a lot of tramlining by trying to daily a set of 9.5J 😅

 

I had cast wheels once in my life, they cracked on me and almost caused me to crash while driving on the freeway. Since then, only had forged wheels and never had a single issue.

-Josh

 

I had cast wheels once in my life, they cracked on me and almost caused me to crash while driving on the freeway. Since then, only had forged wheels and never had a single issue.

-Josh

Is rotary forged a good compromise?

 

Another couple notes…

I also have a set of “flow formed” SSR wheels in 18x8.5+44. Those ram 245/35r18 Conti ECS and a set of ECF as well in the same size. No rubbingin rear, front required 5mm spacer minimum to get enough out of the camber bolts. Same studs and other notes. That’s it on fitment I think…

Durability: I have run 17 track days on those wheels. I smashed one on a piece of curbing that came off (it got some other behind and in front of me too… sneaky little SOB), and I have scratched them up from one other fairly high speed off. They have been involved in several two off, 4 off, spins. No non-cosmetic damage other than the curbing smash situation. Would run them again (in fact will, they are just a backup set now).

Also at @latapx I feel you buddy… set of 17x9 and set of 18x8.5 either on the car or in the garage, and the stock 17x7.5 set somewhere in my basement lol. Never tracked the stock wheels though so can’t speak to that.

 

That fitment…

I can't tell if you're implying the fitment was good or not haha. I'm assuming good.

 

Apex also has the ARC-8 which is a cast wheel and is cheaper.

I'm spit-balling here as I really don't know the proper answer to this question. How much does heat play into the equation? There is a big difference between someone who tracks their car for "fun" and someone competing in TT who lays down a fast lap and is done and someone who runs TT, but is also trying to search for that last tenth every lap. How badly do those heat cycles from 1500F rotors affect the integrity of the wheels? Hitting a curb on a cold wheel may be no where near as bad as hitting that same curb at the end of a 30 minute session where the wheel may be a few hundred degrees?
I realize I'm splitting hairs here...but am generally curious.

 

Wider wheels and tires can take some learning out, plus would be harder on brakes (needing upgrades sooner). 225 seems to be very similar to 245 in time but much more playful and better for learning.

Apex also has the ARC-8 which is a cast wheel and is cheaper.

Really wanted those, wish they came in 17x8 size.

 

Nice (aka expensive) isn't great if they'll get stolen anyway... Just sayin. (still on stocks)

 

Where I live, if something is getting stolen its probably the whole car

 

Ya I went with 17x9s and grippy 245 summer tires and all the fun playfulness is gone haha till you get on the track atleast and then you can enjoy all that extra grip. If you want to keep that ease of oversteer fun get some all seasons and use your best judgement on width

 

I'm in the same boat. You can get the enkei ts5s for so much cheaper. I keep telling myself if I'm gonna step up to the expensive brands I need forged. Like why spend double for the name if they aren't an actual step up in quality. I get it though I'm leaning towards gram light 57crs because there's no way I'm paying for forged rays 😭

 

Enkei is fine. Just avoid garbage like XXR ESR or the other reps out there

 

I have $3000 coilovers on my $3000 Honda Fit lol

 

The VS-5RS look better in person than they do in photos.

 

The VS-5RS look better in person than they do in photos.

Good to hear. Part of it is my magnetite grey/pavement body color. anthracite is my color of choice but I'm not completely sold on that color combo. i would need to see examples in person. with other body colors, pretty much any color combo looks good (white on brushed clear, white on gold/bronze, neptune on clear or bronze, etc)

I have $3000 coilovers on my $3000 Honda Fit lol

I cant even hate on that haha. i think suspension benefits are more tangible and if you're going to touch suspension, spend the money to do it right