AP Tires

Hello everyone, I have been a member of the RX7club for over 4 years. I have a 93 touring and have benefitted greatly from that site. I am in the wheel business and have a retail shop in Tampa FL. Up till now, I have never mixed my work with my hobby/car. Recently however we have developed our new line of staggered fit wheels. In the past we only made smaller wheels which would not have been of much interest to RX7 & RX8 folk. Now that we have our new staggered stuff, I am looking to get some product out at an introductory price. I talked to Ryan and he ok'd this group buy.

So, here is what I have. I have 3 new wheels: Manta, Pino-R, and Corsa. The Manta is available in 18x8.5 and 18x10. The Pino-R and Corsa are both available in 18x8.5 and 18x10 and 19x8.5 and 19x10. The exact specs are as follows. These wheels are low pressure cast and have a nice finish quality. The fittments are dead on for the RX8. We also have them to fit almost any rear wheel drive car (Toyota, Lexus, Nissan, BMW Mercedes, Vette, Mustang etc) so if you guys are interested in them for another vehicle let me know.


Manta/Pino/Corsa

18x8.5 - et 45 - pcd 5/114.3 hub 73.1
18x10. - et 45 - pcd 5/114.3 hub 73.1

Pino/Corsa

19x8.5 - et 45 - pcd 5/114.3 hub 73.1
19x10. - et 48 - pcd 5/114.3 hub 73.1

For the RX8 we recomend the 18/19x8.5 -et45 for the front and the 18/19x10 45/48 for the rear. All wheels come with hubcentric rings for the RX8.

The pics below are of my car with 18" Pino-R's and 18" Corsa's. For the RX8, you can run either a 245/40-18 or a 245/35-19 up front with out rubbing. In the rear you can run 275/35-18 or 275/30-19.

The group buy is for a minimum of 5 sets. It can be a combination of any 5. After I have the 5 set minimum order, I will send out those wheels and extend these prices to other members for as long as I have sets to offer from this 1st shippment. After they are gone we will be rasing the prices back to the normal level. Of course forum members will always get a 10% discount from me.

So here are the prices: Shipping is around $70-$100 for just wheels depending on how far you are from FL.

Size Retail GB
18x8.5 $225 $175
18x10 $245 $195
19x8.5 $260 $210
19x10 $280 $230

I have already run the same GB over on the RX7club site. Here is the link http://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=486952

We did an RX8 and the pics are on the last page. She is running the 19x8.5 front with 245/35-19 and the 19x10 rear with the 275/30-19. We can supply tires as well. We deal primarily with Hankook, Dunlop, Falken, and Toyo but can get all others brands as well.


Thnaks Mike

AP Tires

here the pics of the wheels.

AP Tires

here are some pics of some RX7's

shai969

any chance of different colors like black with a polished lip?

Rx8honey

Hey Mike,

Here's a better pic. Guys, Mike was awesome to deal with and he was very helpful. Delivery was w/in 24 hours of payment. The tires are Dunlops 245/35/19F and 275/30/19R.

-Lesha

AP Tires

The Corsa (5 star) is coming in Black with a polished lip. It will be new stock and not be available at these deep GB prices. I can do them for Retail minus 10% for the club. The GB pricing was setup to move the 1st shippment we received and get people interested in the wheels. The 10% off retail is still an awsome deal. These wheels are a full 10" wide in the rear and fit perfect. RX8 honey is running a 275 in the rear.

I will post a pic of the black corsa tomorrow. It looks awesome. A lot like the SSR sp1 in black.

Thanks
Mike

evilmiata

How much do they weigh?

swoope

iTrader: (5)

do you have to do a staggared setup...

just 4 18x8.5 would work for me.

beers

Rx8honey

Swoope, I was gonna do that originally, so yes. You'll see mine tonight at the meet so you can critique it for yourself first hand. (be nice!)

AP Tires

Ok here are some weights that I had written down. Like I said earlier, these are cast wheels. They are not designed to compete with the light weight stuff, but neither is the price. They are however designed to be the proper fitments for the FD and RX8 and be very affordable. This will of course apeal to some and not others. Also keep in mind that these weights are very similar to some 3 piece wheels that cost much more money. You would be suprised how much some 3 piece wheels weigh in these sizes by the time they are assembled with all the rivets. The lightest option is always going to be a one piece forged wheel. These wheels should be middle of the road.



Pino R 18x8.5 25#
Pino R 18x10 27#
Pino R 19x8.5 26.75#
Pino R 19x10 30#


Corsa 18x8.5 24.75#
Corsa 18x10 26.0#
Corsa 19x8.5 27.5#
Corsa 19x10 28.5#

Manta 18x8.5 24.5#
Manta 18x10 26.5#

mike

AP Tires

As Alecia pointed out you do not have to go with the 10's if you do not want. The 8.5's will work all around. Here are some things to consider.

1) if you have new tires on the stock 18's and you want to change the wheels only, then the stock 225/45-18 will work on the 18x8.5's. It will be a little stretched but not much. Later when the time comes to replace the rubber, I recommend stepping up to a 245/40-18 as it will be a better fit to the 8.5 and give a wider footprint while maintaining the stock tire height. This is a win win all around.

2) If you go with 8.5 all around then you have two choices here as well. We make the wheels in 45mm offset and 35mm offset. You can either run the 45mm offset all around or run the 45mm offset front and the 35mm offset rear. If you run the 45mm all around, this will allow you to rotate but will keep the slightly sunken in look in the rear. This is the same as factory and leaves the rear tires looking like they could benefit from some spacers. If you run the 35mm offset rears, this will help flush out the rear wheels giving a more agressive look while maintaining the smaller/factory tire size. The downside is the same as staggered, you can not rotate as the 35mm will be too fat up front.

3) This is why I recommend doing the staggerd regardless. Yes you can not rotate but these cars like my RX7 should wear pretty evenly if not more in the rear. A wider tire has more surface area to spread the traction out over so a wider tire will wear slower than a skinnier tire on the same car.

Mike

AP Tires

also, there is a lot of general info on the wheels in the 1st couple of pages of the thread on the RX7 site. If people want to look it over, the link was posted at the top.

Mike

AP Tires

Here is a pic of the wheel in black.

marvin_rock

Ok, I'm interested in getting the Pino-R's in black if that is possible. Would also need tires. Where do I need to go to make it happen.

AP Tires

We do not have the Pino R in Black, just the Corsa, but it is not in yet. The Pino R is available in the Hyper as pictured above. I can sell you a set and have them custom painted locally. This will add about $100 to the price of each rim. We remove all the rivets and send it to be painted when it comes back, we replace the rivets.

Let me know

Mike


also, thanks guys for putting my thread back.

Gord96BRG

No offense, but you recommend the staggered because it looks better, correct?

What about the impact on handling? What about the greater understeer and poorer handling balance that results from just bolting on a staggered setup with wider wheels/tires on the rear? I suppose you've already dismissed handling concerns when you dismissed the heavy wheel weight, suggesting that people that care about handling would be looking for lighter wheels anyway, but I thought it would be interesting to get your comments about staggered setups' impact on handling (this would be further to the discussions that have already occurred in the sticky thread in the Tires and Wheels forum section).

Regards,
Gordon

AP Tires

With cars like the RX8 and RX7 which come from the factory with near 50/50 weight distribution, the addition of extra tire width in the rear will definately cause a progression towards more understeer. Since the RX8 does not come with forced induction, there is not normally the traction/power delivery concerns that RX7 people encounter. This is not to say that people can not turbo charge these cars or super charge them to make more power. In these cases there may come a time where the extra width is needed to deliver the extra power. This then becomes a trade off. Nuetral handling at the expense of greater traction for acceleration.

For the average RX8 owner with bolt on modificatrions, a step up to an 18x8.5 with a 245/40-18 size tire would give extra grip and maintain the factory balance as well as tire circumference. As pointed out a one piece forged wheel would be the best choice. It will be the lightest but cost will be a premium. Also many one piece forged wheels do not have the 3 piece look that many people like. For those people who consider 3 piece wheels, one must then start to look at weight vs price. You would be suprised at how much some of the multi piece RH and Volk wheels weigh. Even many other 3 piece wheels end up weighing 25#'s in sizes like 18x10. Now a person just spent money on the most expensive wheel and got a wheel as heavy as many competitive one piece cast wheels.

There is no perfect wheel. There are always tradeoffs, whether they be weight, price, style, size, etc. Most people who want light weight usually look for one piece forged and are concerned with handling and usprung weight. They hopefully already understand that they should keep the same size all around. There are those who want the 3 piece look. Many end up buying wheels that are very expensive and 9 times out of ten are staggerd. Not to generalize, but how many people that you know would buy a set of 19" volks and not do a staggered setup with a larger lip in the rear. These wheels are not light by any means either, just as my wheels are not heavy considering what is out there. A 26# wheel in 18x10 is about average. Especially when you consider that I just weighed a Kinesis k5 wheel that weighed 25# and cost over $1000. My whole set cost less than this one wheel. Granted there is no comparison between the manufacturing cost of a 3 piece forged Kinesis wheel and one of my cast wheels, but look at the price per pound difference.

All this being said, there are those who want a staggerd look regardless of some of the handling issues. They want a wide tire in the rear and a large lip. This has always come in either a one piece wheel that simulates a 3 piece look or a true 3 piece wheel. For those who like the look and can not afford the 3 piece stuff, they are relegated to the one piece offerings which are usually generic in application. This is where our wheel stands out. We give you the fitmment specific for the RX8 with offsets and widths that are perfect. We supply hub rings to make the wheels hubcentic. We have priced the wheels so that there is great value considering what one can buy for the same price. The wheels are not light but they are not heavy. They are what one would expect for a quality cast wheel.

I hope this has answered your question as well as provided more info for people here. For the average RX8 owner who does not track his/her car and is looking to buy a quality fitting wheel, that in my oppinion looks great , these wheels are a great deal.

A point of interest. Most car designers engineer cars to have understeer from the factory. The reason being is that the inexperienced driver can better control a car that is understeering than oversteering. The intial reaction when a person is loosing control of a car in a turn is to let off the gas. When a car is pushing in a corner and has lost traction on the front wheels, by letting up on the gas, the natural tendency, the car will slow until traction returns and the driver regains control. In an oversteer situation this will lead to a spin.

AP Tires

I hope that wasn't too wordy

RA-Eight

iTrader: (6)

Will you have any pics of the other two style of wheels on an RX-8? Or are there any members here willing to share?

Thanks,
Ra

AP Tires

We do not have any yet. For what ever reaon, I have not had many RX8's here at our retail shop. We are just now promoting the new staggered stuff so you guys are the first with these wheels. If someone local (tampa) has an RX8 and would like to come by the shop. I could install some wheels and do some photos for everyone. If this person wanted the wheels I would also give them a good deal on some tires for the help.

Mike

BOOSTD 7

Talk to Scott at Mazsport, he's in Tampa and has a lot of RX-8 customers ... I bet he'd know somebody local interested in a set of your rims.

swoope

iTrader: (5)

if you get me your retail address i might be in town wed.

beers

AP Tires

Thanks Ryan, I'll give him a buzz.

Swoope, Our retail shop is locatted at 4607 n Lois Ave. Tampa FL 33614 813-868-1100. We are near the stadium.

Thanks

Mike

tfblkhwkce

iTrader: (2)

im interested in a set of pino-r 18x8.5/18x10 and tires

johnnyo

is it possible to have the corsa in powder white?