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Wedge TR8 wheel group buy?

tr8todd

Jedi Knight
Offline
Is there any interest in getting together a group buy on some TR8 15X7 minilite style wheels? I am participating in a group buy for some 15X7 Rota RBs for my BMW 2002. They have a common bolt pattern(4X100) and a common center bore(57.1mm), but the offset is unusual at 12mm positive. The distributor only needed an order of three sets to get the wheels made up. I don't see any reason why the same distributor couldn't do the same thing for the TR8. The price was right too at $500 a set delivered. The only downside is a three month delivery. Just throwing it out there to see what people think.
 
I woudl be interested... are they the black spoked ones?
 
I just spoke to the distributor that has the BMW group buy going. He will do one for us. We need minimum five sets, all the same. That means same color, same stlye, same size, same offset. They carry a 15X7 with a 57.1 center bore in a 25 offset. All they would need to do is change the bolt pattern. I was thinking silver with a polished lip. He can do it for 550 to 575 a set shipped to your door. You would have to post a $100 non refundable deposit. The rest of the payment would be made at the time of shipping. Next logical question would be, will 25 offset work. Stock is 23. I would assume that the 25 would help keep it away from the fender lips a couple of mm, but it would also push it a little closer to the struts. I haven't owned a TR8 with stock struts in over ten years, so I'm not the guy to answer that one.
 
I bought new Superlights for my current Spridget Project from Hap at ACME Speed Shop. They were reasonably priced and delivered to my door in four days. When I replace the wires on my TR3 I'll probably convert and run Superlites.

Hap is a regular on several of the BCF Forums; Spridget, MG, Racing, Tools. He's a racer and full time LBC guy. He's also building the new engine for my '62 Sprite.

Personally, I like talking with someone who knows the product and has used it, even under harsh conditions like racing. Hap has the expertise and can offer suggestions on considerations such as size and offsets.

I have no financial interest in ACME Speed Shop but do appreciate Hap's willingness to support our love Brit cars; seems the least I can do to send a little business his way.

Here's ACME's Superlite page:

https://www.acmespeedshop.com/catalog_c272720.html

Ray
 
That's a great point, but most non TR8 owners do not realize just how difficult it is to get decent sized wheels in a 4X3.75 bolt pattern. Trust me, I would love to buy wheels off of someone with a sports car racing background as opposed to a tuner background. If it was just a matter of calling up a wheel distributor and pulling them off of the shelf, we wouldn't even be having this dialogue. Long story made short here, essentially there are very few choices, and the ones that we do have, are heavy and expensive. I own two race cars. A TR8 and a BMW 2002. Both have somewhat unique wheel criteria.
 
Todd- I hear you got in touch with Hap's dist. I am leaning in his direction as we think he has the wheels I need. 4.5" BS.+25mm OS. He can get them in charcoal too. They buy them not drilled and then drill them to our want.
Nice guy .
 
I bought Superlites for my TR8 last year, price was good but I went for the 14 X 6.
15 X 7's available but a little more expensive.
Great wheel and look great.
Try https://www.packracingproducts.com in Arizona.Great service and quick shipping bu USPS.
My car is on their website under customer gallery, top L/H side, the only TR8 there.
 
There is about a three pound difference per wheel between the Rota and the Superlite. Either way, they are both still too heavy for my needs. I don't run stock bolt patterns on either my street car or my race car. The street car has Rover SD1 front hubs and a Ford rear end. It runs a 5X4.5. I had the race car hubs offset drilled to run a 4X100. Since the wheels wouldn't come to me, I went to the wheels. Now finding fairly inexpensive light weight wheels is not a problem.
 
The superlites are to heavy.
Airfix said:
I bought Superlites for my TR8 last year, price was good but I went for the 14 X 6.
15 X 7's available but a little more expensive.
Great wheel and look great.
Try https://www.packracingproducts.com in Arizona.Great service and quick shipping bu USPS.
My car is on their website under customer gallery, top L/H side, the only TR8 there.

Which one. The regular or the GTR
 
I think I remember that the Superlites are 17 plus pounds per wheel for a 15x7. The GTR's are around 3 pounds lighter. If I am mistaken here, please correct me. The Rotas are 14.3 or 14.6- something like that. To put that into perspective, in the Spec Miata racing class, competitors are allowed a 15X7 that is no less than 12 pounds. That is a rule designed to keep costs down in a spec class. Competitors mostly run a Kosei K1 that costs 119 each. In the class I run, there is no such restriction. My competitors are all running wheels that weigh in at around 10 pounds for a 15X7. Tire rack sells several wheels in 15X7 that weigh less 10 pounds each for less than $300 a wheel. Unless something comes along in a 4X95.25, I'll keep changing my bolt pattern and buying 10 pound wheels for the same price as the 17 pound ones that are available in the TR8 bolt pattern.
 
Todd- Did you make a typo?
$300/wheel from the Rack for 10 lbs
210/wheel for the GTR at 12 lbs
190/wheel for the superlites at 18 lbs
Didn't know the RB were 14 lbs for 138/wheel
Why are the rack ones cheaper. Please ,I'm not taking a shot just looking for a good wheel.

On a street car can you feel the difference from 18 to 14 or 12?
 
https://www.packracingproducts.com/acatalog/15__Superlite_Wheels.html I got my numbers from this site.

15X7 superlites in 4X95.25 25mm offset 18.9 pounds $190 each. The 13 pound GTRs are not offered in 4X95.25, but if they were, they would be $215 each. You can not buy any wheels that fit our car at the tire rack. That is why I changed my bolt pattern to 4X100. Non of my cars still have the stock bolt pattern. Now that I have 4X100, I can buy Motegi Traklites $224 at 10 pounds each, or Enkei RPF1 $209 at 9.5 pounds, or Kosei K1 $119 at 13.0 pounds each, or SSR Type C at $307 at 9.5 pounds each, and the list goes on and on. $100 worth of machine work, and $50 worth of racing studs and light weight lug nuts, seemed like a small price to pay considering all of the options I now have. 99 percent of TR8 owners can't be bothered with changing bolt patterns. That is why I brought up the topic of a group buy. If some of the 99 percenters got together, they might be able to get something made up that was better than what is currently available. All I can tell you about the weight, is that the lighter wheel accelerates quicker. It is also a major component of the unsprung weight, which is the biggest enemy to handleing that you can't control.
 
Good info. Thanks Todd. One thing that was not quite correct is that The wheels from Pack are CNC'd to your hole pattern at the dist.
Don
 
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