Excitement - New wheels

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Dr. FrankenRex
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Re: Excitement - New wheels

Post by Dr. FrankenRex »

kopite72 wrote:
Fri Jul 16, 2021 8:44 am
I kind of get the feeling Rod that you may have a bit of a sinking feeling after buying them, by that I mean that they may have not quite turned out what you expected them to be?

Hope I'm wrong obvs, wait til you get the tyres on Rod and see what's what I guess. Just curious as to why the change from the OZ wheels? I saw them in the flesh when I met you that day in RR and they were absolutely beautiful, was it a weight thing? I thought the OZ wheels were circa 8KG anyways?

Hope you end up being happy with the wheels Rod when all is said and done. Whatever you decide to do the car is still bloody gorgeous!!

BTW Rod these are the LED's, not cheap but they are awesome, sorry for the pic orientation, my phone does that sometimes and I dont know why? :roll: If you can't find them online I'll ask the guy who fitted them fit me where he got them

20210716_103123.jpg



20210716_103137.jpg
If you want brighter headlights please don't do Plug N Play LEDs... Please...

Get yourself a decent projector setup like a Morimoto D2S Mini or M-LED if you particularly HAVE to have LED. LEDs in xenon projectors are never going to be as good as a decent projector set up and will, more often than not, dazzle drivers and not cast light as far.

They light up the foreground nicely, so people think "OMG THEY'RE SO BRIGHT" but the actual throw from them is somewhat disappointing. Get yourself a light meter and set it up a good 20-25ft away and you'll see what I mean.
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Re: Excitement - New wheels

Post by Milos_Balunovic »

Dr. FrankenRex wrote:
Fri Jul 16, 2021 10:58 am
....
They light up the foreground nicely, so people think "OMG THEY'RE SO BRIGHT" but the actual throw from them is somewhat disappointing. Get yourself a light meter and set it up a good 20-25ft away and you'll see what I mean.
:notworthy: =D> to someone who does understand :)
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Re: Excitement - New wheels

Post by Dr. FrankenRex »

Milos_Balunovic wrote:
Fri Jul 16, 2021 11:17 am
Dr. FrankenRex wrote:
Fri Jul 16, 2021 10:58 am
....
They light up the foreground nicely, so people think "OMG THEY'RE SO BRIGHT" but the actual throw from them is somewhat disappointing. Get yourself a light meter and set it up a good 20-25ft away and you'll see what I mean.
:notworthy: =D> to someone who does understand :)
I have stripped and rebuilt lots of headlights and also played about with LED kits of varying qualities over the years. They are simply not fit for purpose, yet the number of people who recommend them is INSANE. If I can dissuade someone from spending their money on them and potentially saving a life (dramatic, but we're talking about a safety device here) then it's worth it.

Same for me as when people go "I'VE TINTED MY HEADLIGHTS/WINDSCREEN/TAILS" etc... Please no.
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Milos_Balunovic (Fri Jul 16, 2021 1:03 pm)
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Re: Excitement - New wheels

Post by Milos_Balunovic »

The only place where I tolerate the LED is on motorcycles since there is no space for projectors (the oem ones are super short) or place for a proper hid bulb. They really go unnoticed on roads and additional glare helps with this where again I'm not talking cheap sh*t but the very best focused LED assemblies which still glare more than halogen. (and high beams if they match up properly).

sorry for of topic :(
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Excitement - New wheels

Post by GreySilver Beast »

Happy 61st Birthday Rod =D> =D> =D> =D>
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Re: Excitement - New wheels

Post by RX8R3Rod »

Many thanks Nigel,

… and still going! A bit like the car, I guess? 😄

And many thanks for all the insights and thoughtful suggestions, Ian, Milos, Dan, et al.

I had a bit of a torrid week work-wise last week, and didn’t get the chance to reply, so my apologies for the dela.

Like you said Ian, I really like the Oz’s, and I just wasn’t sure about the Racelights in terms of would they fit, and if they did would I like the change in shape and colour.

So I guess in a way having a torrid week made me forget about it all, until today can round and my local ATS could fit me in due to COVID impacts.

First off they did an utterly brilliant job, taking sufficient care and attention to spend almost 3 hours fitting and balancing the tyres and wheels with absolutely zero damage …

And having had a relatively aggressive alignment last week at Ben’s, when coupled with the lighter wheels the difference is immediately obvious. Better ride, and (particularly) significantly better feel and turn-in, makes the car a joy to drive.

I’ll leave you to judge the looks 😄
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Re: Excitement - New wheels

Post by RX8R3Rod »

Oops, forgot this one #-o
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Tein Monosport EDFC Active coilovers, K-Sport BBK 8-pot forge 356mm front, 4-pot BBK 330 mm rear, 20" ATS Racelight, Michelin PS 4 245/30/20, Pettit exhaust, Pettit front and RB rear ARB's, Cusco strut and brake brace, Full Paintshieldx2, Rustmasterx2, and Rustbusterx2, M'Z Custom nose and rear skirts
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Re: Excitement - New wheels

Post by kopite72 »

Rod they are a nice looking wheel tbf now that I see them on the car but ( and this is just my own opinion ) I prefer the OZ wheels you had on it.For me the OZ wheels really suited the car.They are a beautiful wheel but like I said this is just my opinion and at the end of the day my opinion accounts for zip,diddly squat so if you're happy then thats all that matters :thumright:
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Re: Excitement - New wheels

Post by RX8R3Rod »

Hi Ian,

It is a very difficult thing, isn’t it? :-k

And I’m still not sure myself tbh.

The problem I had was that one of the Oz’s was corroding internally.

I’d had the guys rub it down and refinish it a couple of times, but the tyre couldn’t get a ‘perfect’ seal on the rim, and so kept deflating disturbingly quickly.

That’s never the safest thought to have in one’s head when motoring on …

My original plan A (I like the Oz’s a lot, too 😄) was to order up a replacement Oz, and get it refinished to match the others, or get them all done in a slightly lighter shade of grey.

That plan immediately went out of the window when I found out that Oz no longer made the 20” in an RX8 fitment #-o

What can you do … other than do plan B and get a different set of wheels?

And, as far as I could see, short of going up to the £7k/8k+ per set of custom forged wheels, if I wanted a lightweight 20” that was reasonably readily available there was a choice of:

- ATS Racelight
- BBS C-IR (or something like that, their model numbers are v confusing IME).

I rather liked the BBS, as it’s IMHO a bit more like the OEM R3 wheel even if it’s a bit heavier than the Racelight, but I could only find that in an ET35 fit.

A number of folks with years in the wheel and tyre industry have told me that the ET measurement can be a bit hit and miss (the ATS’s are supposedly the same offset as the Oz’ (ET40) but the rim does actually stick out a bit more) and I remember back in the day having to run 20mm spacers on the front and 15mm on the rear with the R3 wheels (ET47) to avoid rubbing at the rear under load or over bumps that put the suspension into compression.

The BBS thus seemed to me to be potentially too close to rubbing territory for comfort.

So the winner was … ;)
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Re: Excitement - New wheels

Post by RX8R3Rod »

Oops, forgot to say, I was also able to get a spare Racelight, so maybe I can avoid the Oz problem in future? Though I suppose after 9 or 10 years I can’t complain too much? 👍🏻
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Tein Monosport EDFC Active coilovers, K-Sport BBK 8-pot forge 356mm front, 4-pot BBK 330 mm rear, 20" ATS Racelight, Michelin PS 4 245/30/20, Pettit exhaust, Pettit front and RB rear ARB's, Cusco strut and brake brace, Full Paintshieldx2, Rustmasterx2, and Rustbusterx2, M'Z Custom nose and rear skirts
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Re: Excitement - New wheels

Post by Dr. FrankenRex »

I actually like the design of the new wheels - although not a fan of the size, but that's just personal preference.

I think they would look better if they were just a touch darker :thumleft:
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Milos_Balunovic (Tue Aug 10, 2021 8:48 am)
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Re: Excitement - New wheels

Post by RX8R3Rod »

I totally share your thinking on that. :thumright:

I suspect a light grey (or whatever that might be called in marketing speak … sunlit anthracite? :lol: ) might be just about right?

I’ve had quite a range of reactions over the last couple of weeks, from ‘too blingy’ to neighbours who’ve never said a word about the car coming up to me and saying ‘what a lovely car you have’.

I guess that shows how personal (and big in terms of appearance) a choice it is?

The thing that perhaps isn’t quite so subjective is the improvement they make in how the car drives and feels. :)

But yes, I think a touch darker might be juuust right.

Something to think hard about when my tyres are up for renewal, I guess, which will be early next year.

By which time the British winter will likely have taken its toll on the super-shiney wheels anyway. #-o

And in the meantime a final pic of too blingy / lovely / whatever wheels.
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Tein Monosport EDFC Active coilovers, K-Sport BBK 8-pot forge 356mm front, 4-pot BBK 330 mm rear, 20" ATS Racelight, Michelin PS 4 245/30/20, Pettit exhaust, Pettit front and RB rear ARB's, Cusco strut and brake brace, Full Paintshieldx2, Rustmasterx2, and Rustbusterx2, M'Z Custom nose and rear skirts
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