Wheel Choice

[itbgti]

I am in the market for new wheels for an ITB Golf. I have 6 Borbet Type C's 14x6 (thanks Mr. Miller for going to Prod and would like more of these, however, they are not made anymore. I have heard that the Type E's are very good as well, only $75 per wheel. So here is the question: What are the best wheels for a VW in 14x6??? I know one answer is Panasport, but at ~$157 per wheel, there should be some other options...

Thanks,
Alan

Please provide websites, prices, etc. along with suggestions.

[itbgti]

NO OPINIONS????????

Come on everyone, there has to be some alternate wheel choices besides Panasports or stock???

Please Help,
Alan

[Bill Miller]

No problem Alan, glad to have been able to help out. Worked out well for both of us. Did I mention that you have to sell them back to me if they allow 14" wheels on the Prod VW's???

Good luck finding some more!

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MARRS #25 ITB Rabbit GTI

[Dead Skunk]

I use some Konig "Rush" wheels that weigh 13 lb. each and were $55 each from Discount Tire. They have other Konig wheels that are the same weight.

[itbgti]

I found ATS Type 10 wheels from Discount Tire for $98 each, at 14 lbs. Does anyone have any info on these wheels??? They are German made and pass their standards.

Dead Skunk, could not find the wheels you were referring to. I called and they did not mention them, but I did not specifically ask for them. How long ago did you make the purchase?

Thanks,
Alan

[Dead Skunk]

I bought them last January or February. I imagine they were end-of-line stock ,because they aren't listed now. The Konig Divas were the same price at the time, though. They probably have inventory reduction pricing sometime over the winter , because I remember having 3 choices of wheels for $55 each. Just keep watching their site and when you see a sale print off the picture and price and walk into their nearest store where they will honour the web pricing. I even bought my Hoosiers from the store and they mounted them for the same price as Tire Rack sells them.

[racer_tim]

Originally posted by Bill Miller:
No problem Alan, glad to have been able to help out. Worked out well for both of us. Did I mention that you have to sell them back to me if they allow 14" wheels on the Prod VW's???

Bill, good luck finding 14" slicks. Stick with the 13" and with the 20x8x13 tire, you also get a better r/p ratio.


Good luck finding some more!

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Tim Linerud
San Francisco Region SCCA
#95 ITB GTI, GP for 2002

[Bill Miller]

Tim,

I know that Avon is the only one that currently has 14" slicks. However, Denver should have given me the choice of who's tire I went with. I just found it very odd that they have allowed 14" wheels on other cars and yet wouldn't allow the only wheel that a Rabbit GTI came with to be run. Not to mention that I had a large inventory of 14x6 wheels (of which Alan got a significant number!).

And, 13x6 or 13x7 wheels at prices anywhere near what you can get 14x6 wheels in don't exist anymore. I am going to be running 13x8x20 slicks, and I'll get some ride height benefit out of it, but I've got to change out the currenty 4K tranny w/ the Quaife and 4.25 Motorsport R&P. As it is, I'm at ~6700 in 5th at the end of the front straight at Summit Point, and that's w/ a 205/55/14 Hoosier (22.7" diameter). I figured it out, and I'd need to be able to get another 1000 rpm out of the motor (and make power up there) to not run out of gear w/ the 4.25. And I just don't think a l-p motor will work up to 8000rpm.

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MARRS #25 ITB Rabbit GTI

[itbgti]

OK, so I found some more you all should look at, http://www.giovannawheels.com/gio.html.

Yes, I know by the look of the site you would think I want "Da Dub to be Bling Blingin, YO!". But please stay with me and click on G-Racing, and take a look at the Suzu wheel. It weighs in at 14lbs, and is available for a VW. Any thoughts?

Alan

PS. Would Denver allow an ITB Golf to use 23" rims??? Bill, I believe this would eliminate wheel spin in the carousel, or wherever the hell else people get it. This would also eliminate the problem of running out of gear at Summit. You could probably could get away with using third

[This message has been edited by itbgti (edited December 21, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by itbgti (edited December 21, 2001).]

[Bill Miller]

Alan,

I got sick of the animated 'Loading' graphic almost as fast as I got sick of the dancing baby on Ally McWhatshername (notice I said almost, all it took was seeing it once!)

And yeah, dat Suzu be da blingiest! hehehehe

Actually, it's a pretty nice looking wheel. It reminds me of the 5-spoke wheels from the Eclipse that I like. However, I would be concerned w/ the large gaps between the mounting flange and the wheel center. Looks like a potential weak point.

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MARRS #25 ITB Rabbit GTI

[RSTPerformance]

Originally posted by Dead Skunk:
I use some Konig "Rush" wheels that weigh 13 lb. each and were $55 each from Discount Tire. They have other Konig wheels that are the same weight.

Alan buy these this guy is correct. They are the cheapest wheels you will find under $150 tha also weigh in under 14lbs. I researched for over a month and talked to every dealer and every person I knew that had to deal with the sale of wheels!!! I even got every weight for a 14 wheel from tire rack and discount tire. They (after lots of begging) faxed me the actual wheel weights... not shipping weights. The Konigs are the wheels my brother and I raced on all year and they seemed very durable (they lasted a flight over the turn three wall) and they took the abuse of my brothers (Raymond) horrible driving So anyway these are the best tires for the price $55.00 and the lightest 13.2lbs under $150.00 The only 2 other choices under 200.00 are the panasports and a certain mazda miata factory wheel which weighed in somewhere around 9lbs!!!

Stephen

PS How is the car coming???

[ILenhart]

What is the weight on most stock VW alloys? 13.5lbs still sounds very heavy to me. Let me know if anyone reading this post can tell the difference in handling between a stock VW Alloy (standard A1 GTI wheel) vs. a 14lb aftermarket wheel. The VW wheels are very economical and still very attractive.
Ian

[Dead Skunk]

On my GTI I can feel the difference in wheel/tire weight when accelerating and braking. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't experienced it myself. The various combinations of tires and wheels varied by 2 lb each. It's not much, but you can feel it. Now, I can't feel a half pound difference in wheel weight alone. I only bought the Konigs because I needed some new wheels anyway and the regular GTI wheels fetch $50 each at local wrecking yards and are as suspect as the ones I rolled the car with. I wouldn't buy 13.5 lb wheels for a performance improvement , but if you spring for Panasports or those Miata ones(if you can find any) you'll certainly feel the difference. Please note that I said I can feel a difference. I didn't say I went any faster!