TRD Wheels
 

Anyone have an experience with the TRD 5 spoke wheels?

I had these on my Scion tC, dealer-installed on delivery. They were, hands down, the best wheels I ever owned. They are heavier than most wheels though, if you care about that sort of thing.

They're made by a third-party whose name I can't remember now, but you could buy the exact same wheels minus the TRD center cap that way (then go to a parts department for a set of center caps). Each TRD wheel was close to $300, and just ordering the third-party non-branded equivalent was a lot cheaper. I wish I could find the name for you.

Please explain why these wheels were so magical.

I enjoyed them because they were a drastic improvement over the stock tC wheels, and they were the only wheel I've ever thought didn't cheapen the way a car looks. No offense intended, but third party wheels make cars look terrible. This is all, of course, just the opinion of a single person but the quickest way to take an otherwise well-designed car and make it look absolutely cheap is to put aftermarket wheels on it.

Otherwise, the powder-coating was incredibly resilient. I drove on them for three years without a single mar anywhere on the surface. They clean very easily.

I hate to say it all boils down to appearance, but I guess I have to admit that it does. They won't make your car look like a used Accord driven by a nineteen-year-old.

If a poor choice of wheel is chosen then yes it will look bad, but there are many aftermarket wheels that dont make your car look "like a used Accord driven by a nineteen-year-old."

There are many more that do though. The right combination of car/third-party wheel is very, very rare. I haven't seen a single third-party wheel on the FR-S that I haven't found personally hideous. Then again, the OEM wheels are hideous.

I have the TSW Nurburgrings on mine, and I hate them. There's just nothing out there that looks any better. Either way I was asked why I found the old TRD five-spokes to be so magical, and I answered: they're not stupid-looking.

TRD Japan > TRD USA imo

most of the TRD USA parts are rebranded third party products that were not even designed or manufactured by Toyota and should not be affiliated with Toyota.

imo this is the proper TRD wheel to put on the 86 if you decide to stick with the TRD "brand":

http://cdn.speedhunters.com/wp-conte.../IMG_01202.jpg

There are many reasons people put aftermarket wheels on their cars. For those who are running wider rubbers to improve performance on the track, I would have to say function > form, and people tend to find wheels that have the appropriate offset and width within an acceptable budget. On a street/show car, there are plenty of brands and styles that do not "look like a used Accord driven by a nineteen-year-old." Sticking with JDM brands, some of the ones that comes to mind are Rays (Volk), Wedssport, Advans, Work, SSR, etc. There are other non JDM brands that are really good quality such as BBS.

On the other hand there are a lot of replica wheels that looks good, inexpensive, but are heavy and weaker than genuine wheels. Just remember when it comes to wheels, it is almost always true that you get what you paid for. If you dont mind used wheels you can pick up a quality used set for a good deal if you look hard enough.

Good luck!

I can't reiterate enough, it's all personal preference. I think aftermarket wheels are tacky and cheapen the way a well-engineered car looks. That's just me. I'm not here to threadjack him or argue about it.

He asked for opinions on a wheel from somebody who owned them, and that's what he got: I had them, I liked them, they were well-made, very heavy, and not to pay for the TRD-branded ones. That's all.

I think all wheels look good by themselves. But the cars the people put on them, wow!!! :mad0259:

I think aftermarket wheels get a bad rap because A. many good looking wheels have crap centercaps (Enkei, I'm looking at you), B. there are TONS of cheap crap wheels out there, and C. most people don't have a clue when it comes to fitment and most tire shops aren't any better. So you get people putting 19" chrome monstrosities on their Camrys and it just looks terrible.

A nice set of properly fitted wheels and tires with a clean centercap and non obnoxious lugnuts will in my opinion, be hard to notice as "aftermarket."

What is the cost of the TRD wheels? I think that would be a consideration in what I would buy. TRD parts are notoriously expensive.

Liking these wheels.:thumbsup:

These retailed for $287/wheel back when I ordered my tC. $200-220 seems to be common now for the TRD-branded ones. If you can find the non-branded ones before being repackaged by TRD, they're much cheaper.

Me too. Unfortunately they are $1198 EACH :(

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...52&postcount=1