Hi,
Don't have a set yet, but I have looked closely at Superlite wheels at car shows and I thought they compared *very well* with Panasports, which could be seen on other cars near by. Personally, I plan to go with Superlites the next time I'm installing that style of wheel on a car in a size that they offer. The price is so much better than Panasports for a virtually identical design wheel that appears to be of equal quality.
Best way I can describe them, the style of KN Minator that VB and other vendors sell (which I think are what you are referencing) is "plainer" than either Panasports or Superlites. I have a set of KNs on my car right now. They are well made and of good quality. Fully painted, they lack the polished/machined rim of most Panasports and Superlites, which is a nice accent IMHO. (Superlite appear to also offer the choice of a fully painted wheel).
I've only seen KN wheels in silver paint finish. There might be other colors available through special order, but I'm not aware of them. Both Superlite and Panasport are offered in a range of colors.
I'm not using the center caps on my KN wheels so it doesn't matter to me, but the ones that came with the wheels are much plainer than center caps I've seen on both Panasport and Superlite. IMHO, the chromed hexagonal caps I've seen on the latter two brands are nicer looking.
A key difference I found is that the KN wheel is available in 15x5.5J size, while both Panasport and Superlite seem to be 15x6J as the closest size. That extra half inch width can be a bit of a concern for TR4 and earlier cars. For your Spitfire, though, I don't know how the wheel sizes from the various manufacturers would compare.
Compomotive is another brand that offers a wheel in the Minilite style. I've not seen these on a car here in the U.S., but when I researched them they seemed be about the same price as Panasport (i.e., pricey).
There are also Konig Rewinds to consider, which are closely modeled after Minilites. Last time I checked there were limited sizes. But, prices seemed good, maybe comparable to Superlites. These are relatively new on the market and I haven't seen any to compare, up close and personal, and I don't know about availability.
Regarding wheel weight, I think you will find the "street" wheels pretty comparable from one manufacturer to the next, and not a great deal different from a stock steel wheel. Panasport and Compomotive offer "race" wheels that are considerably lighter, but aren't recommended for street use.
Another consideration, Panasports can be hard to get, even after you decide to spend the extra $. In particular, any color other than silver is usually a "special order". You can expect to wait some weeks or months for delivery from Japan. I don't know about typical delivery times on the other brands of wheels, but I found the KN in stock when I ordered them a few years ago (from TRF, if I recall correctly). With any of the brands, I'd suggest asking the vendor if the wheels you want are in stock or special order.
You might already know, with wheels from any vendor it's also a good idea to ask about return policies and test fit the wheels on the car, check for clearance problems as best you can, before mounting any tires. Returns for anything other than warranty problems are often not possible after tires have been mounted.
Finally, you didn't mention if you are considering increasing the diameter of the wheel (sometimes referred to as "plus sizing") and going to a lower profile tire. If so, wheel widths may be more limited in certain brands. On my TR4 I considered increasing to 16" wheels. But I found the narrowest available from any manufacturer was 6", which means a wider tire, too, and again might get into clearance issues.
(Clarification regarding tire/wheel clearance: my TR4 has a modified/adjustable front suspension, which is where the clearance is close. The car is also lowered and it appears that spacers, which would help wheel clearance on the inboard side, would position the tire out where it would rub on the fender rim. There might or might not be a problem on other Michelotti-bodied cars that are using original suspensions and aren't lowered, I dunno. Earlier TR2/3 can have even more clearance issues, not to mention "hand-built" variance from car to car. But, later TR6 with their Karmann body can generally accommodate 6" wheel width easily. I've never installed any wheels on Spitfire or GT6, so can't comment about clearance issues with those Triumphs.)
Hope this helps with your decision.
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