Howdy y'all!

As I'm planning every component of my next vehicle, I decided to now turn my attention to rims. Of all the various aftermarket rims I've seen these are some of the most beautiful to my eyes, so I'd like to get some opinions on 'em... (some pics are borrowed from other threads)












Now... picture those rims on an 03 A-Spec in ABP... I was thinking to make these my summer rims and use the A-spec rims for winter.


Thoughts?

 

they are hot

 

yes I love them.

 

dam man.. you've been starting threads like.. left and right.. but yea, those look hawt.

 

lol, yeah. I know I've been starting up a lot of threads but my problem is I'm an extreme n00b, but I want to know everything! Especially since I decided to get rid of my car and get the A-spec next year. I want to have absolutely everything in place and ready to go as soon as I get the car

 

I like them, but because of the number of spokes, 19s is the only size that will look right.

 

unique..i likes!

 

Really? I was thinking 18...

Here's the manufacturer website:

http://www.wald.co.jp/parts_acce/wheel/index.html

anyone have a clue what the difference between forged and casted wheels are? The multi-piece one looks like garbage IMO.

So anyways, say I were to go with 19's as you suggested... any suggestions on what size rubber to put on it? I'd still LIKE to have a fairly smooth ride, but would I have to put very little rubber like that guy in Japan with 19s? Or could I put something more... normal sized?

 

lol, this is interesting... I decided that I should stop drooling over the rims and find out how much they cost... but I can't seem to find any prices anywhere for 'em.

Anyone know how much they are? hehe

 

Well then, I decided to check out the price at this retailer:

http://wheelsperformancecom.stores.yahoo.net/wald.html

I called 'em... I asked 'em... I almost had a heart attack

For the 20" versions, $1,900 per wheel... holy sweet Jebus!

That, ladies and gentleman, is the sound of my erection deflating... I'd LOVE to have 'em... but a set of 'em would cost more than my current TL!

 

yeah wald.international is really expensive... it's VIP status... their body kits are ridiculous too $$$.

 

You should read up on the basics of wheels. Forged wheels are much stronger than cast wheels, and also much more expensive. Multi-piece wheels are in general better than 1-piece, and also more expensive.

 

Indeed.. so possibly the rims I was quoted on were the forged? Hmm... the guy I was talking to didn't seem to be too interested in talking, lol. I'll look into it...


And yep, I have much to learn aboot cars in general... I know practically nothing about wheels so far.

 

Based on the prices in Yen listed on the Wald site, the 19" cast wheels are about $900-1000 each, and the 18" cast are about $700 each.

 

See those prices I could deal with and be VERY happy with.

I contacted the retailer I linked to above and he'll be e-mailing me some more details and various price quotes for different sizes and types of these rims... hopefully today.

I'll keep ya all updated in case anyone else is interested in ordering 'em too.

 

Wheels with a lot of spokes only look good big. Even though they are nice, expensive wheels, they would look cheap in 18s.

 

i llove those rims i wish i had the money for it. those cost too much

 

Hmm... so at the very least 19's then eh? Just out of curiousity if I were to put 20's on a TL, what challanges would I face? I know I wouldn't be able to put a standard amount of rubber, and less rubber = rougher ride... but should it basically be a simple plug & play operation or are there special mods you have to do to our cars to fit 20" rims?

 

19s or nothing.

 

*NOTE* your car will only look good with those wheels if you were as slammed as that guy

 

before i was lowered i was running 225/35/20 with 20x7 +34 offset and i was rubbin in the back with humps on the road or people in the back...the ride was the same as my 19's right now..a lil rough..but u can get 20's in a higher offset and u will be perfectly fine...

 

Hmm... so it seems like there's a fine line that needs to be walked to make these rims work on our cars and still maintain a somewhat comfortable ride. 19s seem to be the size of choice to both maintain an aesthetically pleasing appearance of the rims without having to sacrifice too much in the way of ride quality.

Hmm... I guess I'll have to think about it... and learn more about this stuff so I can figure out what in the blue f*ck Zeus's numbers mean in his last post, lol.

Mild7blues: From what I understand that guy is riding on an air suspension kit. I would definately love to have one in my next car, but the cost and life of the product compared to alternatives like coilovers are the main reasons I won't be going that route... sadly

 

Coilovers with replacement springs to go lower. cut tabs, roll fenders.

 

Well, I've searched and searched, and I can't seem to find any prices on the 19" casted versions of these wheels.

I've e-mailed Wald but no response yet. Anyone know of a place where you can buy these rims in North America?

 

i found this site and it says get a free quote...
http://wheelsperformancecom.stores.yahoo.net/wald.html

 

Heh, yeah, I called them already (mentioned it above)... they're the ones where I got quoted $1,900 for each 20" forged rim. The guy I spoke to said he didn't think they could get the 19" rims, and their site seems to indicate they only have 20 and 22s


Ah well... thanks for trying though!

 

....didnt realize that....damn...lol...

 

Ok, good news. I finally got a response with regards to the pricing for these rims!

Here's the e-mail I got:


We are the exclusive importer for WALD in North America. The wheels are instock in japan and will cost you 2660USD per set. 19x85 et43 all around. Please let us know where you're located in Canada so we can provide you witha shipping quote.


Jonari Corporation1439 N. Carolan AveBurlingame, CA 94010O: 650 343 9253 F: 866 481 0144info@jonari.com www.jonari.com




I've responded and am now waiting for a price on shipping. Glad to know that the price is nowhere NEAR the $1,900/rim I was quoted for those other ones.

So... $2,660 for a set eh... is that pretty average for rims?

 

u said cast? $2660 for cast is BS. forged or semi forged..

its about quality.

 

... but forged is so much more expensive

$1,900/rim is what I was quoted for 20" forged rims...

 

Ok, I got a response from them about shipping, and it'd be $250 to get it shipped to my door. So $2,910 + whatever duty I get charged at the border for the Portofino rims... damn...

Well, I'd still LOVE to have them, but I do have to take into consideration the possibility that I might not be able to afford them when the time comes. As such I just did a very quick scan through some other rims and came up with these 2 options... picture 'em on an ABP TL and give thoughts please!

http://www.wheelsnext.com/wheels-rim...yperblack.html



or

http://www.wheelsnext.com/wheels-rim...k%20Gloss.html

 

Whoa

Talk about the total opposite end of the spectrum..

 

Yep... mainly because I don't have a frickin' clue as to what's considered "good" or not, lol.

I went through a list of a couple hundred and picked out those two cause they seemed to look ok...

Ahh, I hope all goes well and I can get the Portofinos... but hell, if I could find a knock-off version of 'em that was considerably cheaper I wouldn't mind that either

 

Ok maybe I'm going about this the wrong way. JUST in case I'm not able to afford the Portofinos, what rims would y'all suggest?


I'm still going to do my best to get 'em, but I always like to have a back-up plan just in case

 

Rays G-games sidewinder 2-pc 19X8.0 48offset

 

I would suggest not buying from Wheels Next.

You would find nicer wheels on tirerack anyway.

What is the most you will spend per wheel? (w/o tires) That info would help greatly.

 

Assuming that for whatever reason I didn't have enough for the Portofinos, I'd say probably $1,500 would be what I would spend.


Also out of curiousity, but since I'm already looking at $3,000 for the Portofinos, what other rims in THAT price range would y'all suggest? I mean, is that price absurd, or pretty reasponable in your opinions?

 

Yeah +1 on that hahaha.

cleannn


to OP, $3000 and $1500 is a huge gap in quality... Rays Engineering makes really well-made rims, namely Volk Racing wheels. They're cheaper than the WALD's, but they aren't VIP style wheels.

 

Well my goal is to make the car pure VIP... thusly I suppose the Portofinos are the way to go...

Basically I want to use the Portofinos only for summer, and use the factory rims for winter... should keep them in good condition for the several years I'll want to keep the vehicle...

Are there any other VIP brands out there other than Wald I should be considering? Or are they one of the best?

 

work are a little more affordable, heavy though. but still nice and a very good brand in my book.

don't go 20" unless you're going to do a widebody of some sort.
work vs-xx
work varianza t1s
these are the most popular, of course their varianza line is very "vip" look into their products.