Open discussion of my current budget lightweight wheel options, please keep it civil.
 

So my build theme is "Quick On a College Budget" and the next thing on the list is lightweight wheels.
I already know that in the future I will be purchasing 17x9 +45 RPF-1's or 17x9 WedsSport TC105N's with 235/40/17 or 245/45/17 'Extreme Performance' tires for track/autocross. This will be after I start co-op'ing as an engineering student and have more income. The 235's would be for autocross if I decide to do more of that, the 245's would be for tracking if I decide to do more of that.
Okay, now that that's out of the way: for the moment I'm really sick of the looks of the stock wheels, painting them got me a year more out of them visually but I'm tired of them. For my street set I intend to buy 17x8 with offset ranging between +45 and +48.
I'll be running 225/45/17 Hankook RS3 v2's on these wheels, I'll be running this tire with an exactly 8" wide tread to have a solid sidewall and preserve the steering feel that makes the BRZ so fun to daily. The chosen offset range is also to preserve the steering feel. I live in a very warm climate and am not at all worried about going year round on RS3's plus I'll have the stock wheels and PSS I've been running for years as spares just in case.

Now for the part that will likely make the internet explode. :bonk:
The two wheels I'm looking at are:
Advanti DST Storm S1 17x8 +45's: they're newly released in BRZ friendly sizes, are flow formed, and weigh "16.95" pounds a piece for $214 a wheel, plus shipping. They've been a popular option for Miata's for a while.
http://www.tirerack.com/images/wheel..._b_pdpfull.jpg

Rota Titan (Flat Black) 17x8 +45
The WedsSport TC105N is easily my favorite wheel for the car, especially at ~15 pounds a wheel:drool:, but at ~$2000 a set they are WAY WAY WAY out of my price range. I have every intention of switching over to them once I have the money, regardless of what I go with for the next year(ish). The Titan's are just 17lbs a piece, and $695 shipped. People knock on Rota's all the time but I haven't recently heard of one failing, they seem to have their act together. The lip on the Titans also look like they would be easier to repair if a minor curbing ever occurred, because shit happens.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...lL._SY355_.jpg

Regardless of which wheel I go with I will be doing about one AutoX a month (I host the AutoX's for crying out loud, so they're free for me) and about one canyon run a week. Again, you can shame Rota all you want for ripping off other people's designs… I never thought I'd ever consider replica wheels: but they're still quite light and I'll be buying the sub 15 pound genuine articles eventually anyway..
Opinions? Thoughts? Thanks for reading. :cheers:
Oh and no 17x8 RPF1 suggestions please, the spokes are hideous on all the sizes below 17x9 (when they become basically straight-spoke) and I'm not putting figurative Crocs on my car. I think it's clear from my top two choices what kind of style I prefer, I also looked at Kosei K8R's but after seeing them on an 86 I decided the offset just didn't look right at all.

Given the "theme" (which personally I find it silly, since your not building a pc nor a mmo character) I would say slap some R-comps on the oem wheels.

Buy good wheels when you have money.

I already have some of the RS3's on order actually lol, for when the current PSS are burnt out :thumbup:
I'm putting 225/45/17's on the stock wheels, very C-Street style, and then switching them over to the new wheels when I eventually decide what to buy.
And gee thanks, I have found that having a theme helps me keep my priorities in line, i.e. it keeps me from spending more than I should in this situation.

Budget+lightweight? Kosei K4R won't do? I'd also hunt classifieds here / nasioc & alike places for used forged wheels. Currently runing set of Teneisya/Techni Craft T6 bought for price of one new forged wheel :)

The K4R's have too high of an offset for me, I've driven on them and they are noticeably more vague. Great for all out grip but I'd rather have the steering feel and just slightly less grip honestly. Also not really a fan of them visually. I'm on the classifieds here probably 3 times most days lol, if something awesome comes up I'll jump on them haha. Can't bank on that though. Wish I could pick up a set of 13.8lb T6's for that price haha :cry:

What about 949 Racing wheels. 16.6lbs and budget freindly. 17x8+40 or 17x9 +40 and at 16.9lbs

Black
http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/medi...arcoal-1_2.jpg

Silver
http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/medi...silver-1_1.jpg

Gold
http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/medi...onze-1_2_1.jpg

Tungsten
http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/medi...ngsten-1_1.jpg

Ooooo totally forgot that 949 Racing had released them for the twins hmmmmmmmm. You make a good point. I'm likely to consider those for a 17x9 track wheel but I'm not sure if I'd want them as a daily. I'll definitely add it to my my 'track' wheel options list, that +40 offset is exactly what I want on the fronts for AutoX.

Cheaper than TC105n and same construction:

http://www.ssr-wheels.com/wheels/gtx01.asp

$370(!) a wheel and heavier than the flow formed Advanti's, those 949 6UL's, or even regular TSW Nurburgring... at that point it'd be worth the extra money to just get the gorgeous and much lighter TC105N's. SSR's aren't budget :cry:

yea this is always a pain. You can get the black STI wheels from the series.blue for about $1000 and they weigh 18lbs.

Would you consider going to 16's? There seem to be some in the 15 lb range for reasonable money out there.

I second the suggestion of scouring all the STI/WRX boards looking for second hand wheels. There's actually about half a dozen of them out there. Should be a good deal on wheels you will like somewhere.

720Form wheels
17x9 +35
180 each (not including shipping)
16.8 lbs each

https://www.trackwerks.com/shop-whee...f1-wheels.html

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...Z/IMAG1024.jpg

My personal opinion would be to not waste money on an interim part that isn't what you want; that money will account for a big chunk of the wheels that you actually want.

Especially if you plan on doing Auto-x or similar, I would be wary of cheap wheels.

Have you considered looking for other sources of income? When I financed my car, I was a student working a part time job, so I had virtually no money for modding it. I started selling a lot of my older stuff on eBay, and made $4k in a few months just getting rid of stuff that was cluttering my space, or sitting in storage (video games, toys, collectibles, electronics.)

I loved doing it, and was relieved to clear up so much space - just a thought?

If you're someone who doesn't want to go that route and wants to get rid of the stock wheels now, then maybe consider searching the local member classified threads - a lot of the members on here have awesome wheels and tire packages up for sale for a steal as they're just trying to part out the car, or want to move them for another set of wheels they have coming in.

That's just my musing though - GL either way with the budget build and the modding; between the two I think the Advanti DST Storm S1s would compliment a DGM BRZ.

$370 is MSRP. Last I checked, the TC105n in 17x8" was $475 MSRP each

Average sell price of TC105n is around $400-450 each wheel, lower in some group buys. The GTX01 is already lower in price.

But as is the case with many other threads, if you don't want my opinion you don't have to accept it.

-alex

and the weights.

Nice find.