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Like title says, I'm looking at wheels right now and debating two options: 18" cast wheels or 19" flow formed wheels?
We don't have great road here in Quebec so I'm looking for the option that will resist bumps and holes the best. 18" leaves more tire thickness but a flow formed wheel has a stronger barrel.
The tire also comes into play in this situation since most of the impact is absorbed by it, so I'm looking at either the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 or General Tire GMAX AS-05. I already had the Firestone in 18" and it was a great tire, just don't know how it would hold in 19" though. The AS-05 is a more recent one and haven't tried it, but have heard good things about it. One's a summer tire and the other a four season, so I know they will behave differently.
So knowing all this, what would be the best option?
I had 19" wheels when I first bought the car and one ended up bending past the point of repair because of a bad pothole, I think they were cast: BE by Breyton GTS-AV. I also had some cheap chinese tires on them (came with the wheels), so that didn't help either.
Like title says, I'm looking at wheels right now and debating two options: 18" cast wheels or 19" flow formed wheels?
We don't have great road here in Quebec so I'm looking for the option that will resist bumps and holes the best. 18" leaves more tire thickness but a flow formed wheel has a stronger barrel.
The tire also comes into play in this situation since most of the impact is absorbed by it, so I'm looking at either the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 or General Tire GMAX AS-05. I already had the Firestone in 18" and it was a great tire, just don't know how it would hold in 19" though. The AS-05 is a more recent one and haven't tried it, but have heard good things about it. One's a summer tire and the other a four season, so I know they will behave differently.
So knowing all this, what would be the best option?
I had 19" wheels when I first bought the car and one ended up bending past the point of repair because of a bad pothole, I think they were cast: BE by Breyton GTS-AV. I also had some cheap chinese tires on them (came with the wheels), so that didn't help either.
Hi there neighbor to the north...
We have potholes here in Wisconsin that will take out your whole suspension! I've seen plenty of ads for a set of 4 wheels with one mismatched tire (and THAT rim is probably bent.) That being said, you'd want the tallest (45-series OEM) tire to handle the 'shock' of potholes and if your only choices are 18s or 19s, I go with the 18s. Firestones? Really??
Yeah, Firestones. They are basically the same as Bridgestone Re760 I think, but better priced. Look up reviews for these, almost everyone likes them. Very well rated.
Hadn't thought of Konig actually, I'll check them out. When saying flow formed, I was referring to any wheel made that way, whether it's flow formed, flow forged, or rotary forged, it's pretty much the same.
Although I was asking about an 18" cast vs 19" flow formed, not the same size. I know an 18" cast vs same size in flow formed will be better in FF.
Any wheel can bend or break with the right sized pothole and speed, so I'm just asking which would be the best between both options since I'm looking at reasonably priced wheels.
Living up in New England we are not strangers to large pot holes; over the years I've developed what I'll call my personal sidewall height threshold. Basically I will strive to only equip my cars with wheel/tire combinations which have at least 4" if sidewall height. Assuming you stick with the nominal 25.5" overall diameter of the wheel/tire combination that would mean the following sidewall heights:
17" wheels (235/45 R17): 4.25"
18" wheels (235/40 R18): 3.75"
19" wheels (235/35 R19): 3.25"
My take is, if you really want to go with the 19" wheels, get a second set of say, 17" wheels and use them in the winter time.
Hard to say, bruv. What price range are you looking at? What brand of cast or roll formed wheels?
All that stuff makes a difference.
A mystery 19" roll formed wheel may or may not have better resistance to bending than another mystery 18" cast wheel.
If you're comparing a good, cast wheel to a better roll formed wheel....I think the one that allows a larger tyre sidewall will probably be more resistant to potholes (as a wheel/tyre system).
What I'm guessing is that you like the look of 19's...but are worried that you'll bend them?
Otherwise, you'd just buy roll formed 18" wheels and get the best of both worlds.
What I'm guessing is that you like the look of 19's...but are worried that you'll bend them?
Otherwise, you'd just buy roll formed 18" wheels and get the best of both worlds.
Yeah, basically. Although the 19s I had before were hit a few times and it took a pretty big hole on the highway to ruin them. Haven't seen many of those holes honestly, and if they weren't discontinued in 5x114.3, I could have bought a replacement.
As for the brands, here's what I'm looking at right now:
- Aodhan LS007 18x8 +35 (recent Chinese brand, so maybe not great quality) - Cast
- Niche Staccato 18x8.5 +35 - Cast from what I know
- Braelin BR10 19x8.5 +35 (Canadian version of Ace Alloys) - Flow formed
As mentioned before, the tires I had with my 19s were cheap (Sunny Tires) so the sidewall was probably soft, which didn't help. Going with a better tire with a stronger sidewall would probably help if I choose the Braelin.
In terms of pricing, from lowest to highest per wheel, it would be Niche at $225 CAD, Aodhan at $244 CAD, and Braelin at $275 CAD. Found a good deal on the Niche for them to be cheapest, otherwise they'd be between the other two.
Hmmm, I rather doubt the impact compliance between a tire with a "soft" sidewall and a "stiff" sidewall will be all that different. Unless you're rockin' some Run Flat Tires (RFTs), pretty much any normal pneumatic tire is going to allow the rim to get damaged if a decent sized pothole or other road hazard is encountered.
With the directional CVT, it now can be had in up to 11 finishes!! No longer just silver and graphite If you don't like the CVT we have over 70 wheel options!
I know, but other vendors here will at least write something in regards to what has been discussed. This one just basically wrote "we have many wheels for sale", which anyone who knows about Vossen knows already.
Agree with cprime cuz that post has nothing to do with anything and if I had posted a thread looking for advice then that would annoy me too.
Out of the three you posted I like the first one the most but in black. If your car is that bright blue then defiantly get dark colored wheels that combo looks so good. My friend has a new WRX in that Subaru blue with dark wheels and I think that combo looks awesome.
Color is pretty much a question of opinion. Bronze wheels on a blue WRX is a classic look that's nice too. But black wheels do look good on the KBP.
That first wheel is the simplest one of the three and also the easiest to clean. Gives more of a sporty look compared to a more classy look of the others. Although the third gives off an R8 wheels vibe.
Yeah they've been steadily growing on me. The Niche not so much anymore. But I still like the Braelins. Found they're the exact same design as the Vorsteiner V-FF 107, which are also flow formed wheels.
I also have to take in consideration the final price. I currently have a set of 18" wheels and tires right now for my summers and a set or 17" tires. The 17" tires will be sold soon, I already have a buyer. So here's the two situations:
- Buy the Aodhans, I already have tires (which are barely used), need to sell the set of 18" wheels. Final price out of pocket would be about $500.
- Buy the Braelins and new tires, sell the 18" wheels and tires. Final price out of pocket around $1000.
... I think explaining it just told me what's the best option for my wallet lol!
04-01-2018, 10:37 PM
If you don't like the CVT we have over 70 wheel options!
