Imports

[happycorey]

I care what a car looks like too. Authentic parts look different than replica parts.

 

[CodeRedR51]

True. 👍

 

[Keef]

I would prefer the bottom edges of the body kit to be painted flat black to match the front lip, but meh, still looks pretty good. With all the work he's put into it he should be embarrassed by the wheels. I hope he's searching for some SW388s.

 

[misnblu]

Not everybody can afford the real deal rims like Works, SSR's, and Advans.
Rota's aren't bad rims and actually look good for what they are. I'd rather a Rota rim than American Racing or some other junk out there.
I do own a set of Rota Boost rims for my car and love the workmanship, paint, and everything about the rim.

 

[Azuremen]

If it wasn't for the Rotas and the fully painted body/removed rocker panels it would be a lot nicer

I actually own the same style of Rotas, just in bronze. They are cheap and weigh under 12 pounds each, so I can push the car at Auto-X etc and not worry about curbing my rims or rocks scuffing them, etc.

And anyone that spends more on the wheels than the car itself cost is just, well, their priorities are a touch off

Also, why does it look like someone is comparing a ZR-1 to an R34?

 

[Eric.]

These cars are practically setup for understeer. Toyota was afraid idiots that can't drive would buy them and kill them selves so they had to neuter the handling.

...I'd hate to know what they'd do if they were set up for oversteer, as my car has plenty of it...

 

[happycorey]

Not everybody can afford the real deal rims like Works, SSR's, and Advans.
Rota's aren't bad rims and actually look good for what they are. I'd rather a Rota rim than American Racing or some other junk out there.
I do own a set of Rota Boost rims for my car and love the workmanship, paint, and everything about the rim.

If you can afford Rotas you can afford the real deal. Why quality has a price is beyond me.

 

[misnblu]

If you can afford Rotas you can afford the real deal. Why quality has a price is beyond me.

Well I'll tell you this much.
I had to have these Rotas custom bored to 57.1mm hub size so that they could fit my hubs on my American made car. They don't make Rota's for Domestics so I'm almost sure that the other high dollar rims would've had to be done too.

So you'd take a set of Works rims and have them bored?
I don't buy junk for my cars and do try for name brand parts but sometimes you have to do what you do because of economics, vehicle, or availability.

I'm still happy with these.

 

[Perfect Balance]

I have nothing against someone who "cannot be bothered to save some money cannot afford" expensive wheels.

I'm just gonna say there's hundreds of cheap options out there without giving money to someone that's cashing in on someone else's R&D.

 

[Keef]

That's right. Most Rota wheels these days are certified but they haven't always been. Despite certification, they still didn't engineer and design the wheel.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Not everybody can afford the real deal rims like Works, SSR's, and Advans.
Rota's aren't bad rims and actually look good for what they are. I'd rather a Rota rim than American Racing or some other junk out there.
I do own a set of Rota Boost rims for my car and love the workmanship, paint, and everything about the rim.

+1

I had some Drag DR-21's on my Civic and I think they looked great. Why? Cause I couldn't afford some RPF1's so I went for the next best thing. I got the look I wanted, without the added cost. (my set with tires was $450 shipped)

 

[speed junkie]

And anyone that spends more on the wheels than the car itself cost is just, well, their priorities are a touch off

There is not one bit of sense in this comment.

+1

I had some Drag DR-21's on my Civic and I think they looked great. Why? Cause I couldn't afford some RPF1's so I went for the next best thing. I got the look I wanted, without the added cost. (my set with tires was $450 shipped)

So you got the least desirable look of the rpf1 (Im aware that only the larger sizes come with the concave face) without any of the performance? Plus the lol knockoff factor?

 

[Keef]

MY 15x7 RPF1s set on a scale weighed less than the 9.5 pounds cited, and were also strong enough to keep the round part part intact after slamming into a concrete wall at highway speed.

I'm not saying others wouldn't, because I don't know, but these did.

 

[CodeRedR51]

So you got the least desirable look of the rpf1 (Im aware that only the larger sizes come with the concave face) without any of the performance? Plus the lol knockoff factor?

The LOL factor only comes from picky people like you. I got asked several times what kind of wheels they were, and most of the time I would mention they were knockoffs and still got the "they look good" comment from everyone. No performance? Seemed to handle my local track just fine paired with some Falken Azenis. Never had any issues with them.

 

[happycorey]

We can discuss real vs fake for a thousand pages but personally, I would rather support the companies who make the import scene what it is and engineered the product in the first place. With out the original there would be no replica.

 

[McLaren]

+1

I had some Drag DR-21's on my Civic and I think they looked great. Why? Cause I couldn't afford some RPF1's so I went for the next best thing. I got the look I wanted, without the added cost. (my set with tires was $450 shipped)

Seriously?

I can understand when people buy replicas of Works or SSR's, but a RPF1? If you can't afford an actual set of RPF1s, stick with what you got. That's sad in my eyes considering it's one of the cheapest, high quality wheels on the market.

The LOL factor only comes from picky people like you. I got asked several times what kind of wheels they were, and most of the time I would mention they were knockoffs and still got the "they look good" comment from everyone. No performance? Seemed to handle my local track just fine paired with some Falken Azenis. Never had any issues with them.

Um, I wonder if that's because that's their main reason for being built; to look good without costing you a lot of money by copying the design of another wheel.

 

[motortrend]

Has anyone seen a Lexus IS250/350 with nice wheels and a drop if possible? If so, can you please post them?

 

[McLaren]

Of the top of my head, just this one. Owner's a nice guy, but it took him about a year before doing this shoot. He has no interest in this sort of thing.

 

[motortrend]

Interesting, a bit too much though, Im just looking for ideas since it's pretty probable Ill have an IS250 a few months from now

 

[misnblu]

I have nothing against someone who "cannot be bothered to save some money cannot afford" expensive wheels.

I'm just gonna say there's hundreds of cheap options out there without giving money to someone that's cashing in on someone else's R&D.

13,000 invested in the car so far and the engine and tranny is still stock. Hmm, let's see who's spending and saving their money.
Maybe I need to make 100,000 a year to be able to have what everyone here seems to be able to afford.
Interesting points of view here and quite narrow focused but I digress.

 

[Perfect Balance]

13,000 invested in the car so far and the engine and tranny is still stock. Hmm, let's see who's spending and saving their money.
Maybe I need to make 100,000 a year to be able to have what everyone here seems to be able to afford.
Interesting points of view here and quite narrow focused but I digress.

I have half that "invested" in my 240, and it's not really anywhere special (not to mention I like cheap parts like the next guy). 13k isn't a lot to have in a modified car, and if you went in expecting to ever get this money back, you're doing it wrong.


I don't think my point of view is narrow focused at all.

Like I said, I have nothing against cheap wheels, I just don't see supporting a company that has made it's profit in selling stolen designs. I don't think that's some kind of crazy notion at all.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Seriously?

I can understand when people buy replicas of Works or SSR's, but a RPF1? If you can't afford an actual set of RPF1s, stick with what you got. That's sad in my eyes considering it's one of the cheapest, high quality wheels on the market.

Stick with the steelies? No thanks.

I had an opportunity to get the wheels and tires BRAND NEW for dirt cheap and I jumped on it. Absolutely no problem with that. It's all about personal opinion and taste, and some people are pickier than myself. I try to keep my cars in good taste, but really couldn't give a 🤬 what people think.

 

[Keef]

Interesting, a bit too much though, Im just looking for ideas since it's pretty probable Ill have an IS250 a few months from now

There's a good number of them now, actually.

He eventually painted his wheels green and got a "colorful" hood vinyl...

They stance guys tend to focus on airbags and whatnot. Lexus's F-Sport line offers various mild tuning parts though.

As for the knockoff wheels...I just posted 4 sets of Works that I can't imagine affording, and a set of Volks that cost $500 per corner, before the custom paint job. They own Lexuses, I don't, but why didn't they just save a little money and get Varrstoens?

 

[homeforsummer]

Like I said, I have nothing against cheap wheels, I just don't see supporting a company that has made it's profit in selling stolen designs. I don't think that's some kind of crazy notion at all.

I think it's more of a problem than you're making out though.

The aircooled VW community have been using replicas of bigger-name wheels for years and it's done the original companies like Fuchs no harm at all. If anything, it's made them more desirable because people do want the originals and strive to get them as soon as they can afford them. In fact, the watercooled lot are the same. Plenty of people running BBS-alike wheels and I'm damn sure if they could afford some actual BBS they'd be running them - but there are plenty out there who can afford BBS so it doesn't affect the company.

Same with all these JDM wheels. I can't see Enkei and all getting harmed too much by companies like Rota, because there are always people around who strive to get the best products if they can afford them. All Rota is doing is creating a new segment of the market for people who can't afford (or can't get hold of - I know from looking around in the UK it's a hell of a lot harder trying to find Watanabe or Work wheels than it is popping to a store and buying the equivalent Rotas) the original designs, but I'm quite sure with more disposable income they'd go for the originals.

Obligatory pictures (VW-ness is coincidental)

 

[McLaren]

As for the knockoff wheels...I just posted 4 sets of Works that I can't imagine affording, and a set of Volks that cost $500 per corner, before the custom paint job. They own Lexuses, I don't, but why didn't they just save a little money and get Varrstoens?

Because if they can afford it, why not....

Stick with the steelies? No thanks.

I had an opportunity to get the wheels and tires BRAND NEW for dirt cheap and I jumped on it. Absolutely no problem with that. It's all about personal opinion and taste, and some people are pickier than myself. I try to keep my cars in good taste, but really couldn't give a 🤬 what people think.

Anything besides crap ass Drag wheels work. Buying dirt cheap knock offs is just one of those things that could potentially drive the real manufacturers out of business.

 

[hemisport15]

There's a good number of them now, actually.

They stance guys tend to focus on airbags and whatnot. Lexus's F-Sport line offers various mild tuning parts though.

Yea, if you take a look around a lot of the stance and VIP sites you'll notice that it's a platform that's starting to get a lot of attention.

i'm pretty sure his car is static too.

and here is another static one...

and he daily drives that car at that height too.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Anything besides crap ass Drag wheels work. Buying dirt cheap knock offs is just one of those things that could potentially drive the real manufacturers out of business.

Well we'll just agree to disagree. Don't feel like arguing with people who always think they are right. 👎

 

[Keef]

Because if they can afford it, why not....

Anything besides crap ass Drag wheels work. Buying dirt cheap knock offs is just one of those things that could potentially drive the real manufacturers out of business.

At first it will drive them to downsize their consumer operations, making their wheels more expensive, harder to get, and therefore more exclusive. More desirable, like a Rolls Royce or Bentley. But the market could eventually get too narrow, to the point where the prices you charge in order to make profit on your extremely small production lot puts you out of business. See various coach builders and high-end car companies, Bugatti in particular. While Bugatti's modern offerings are some of the rarest and most expensive in the world, it still took a company as large as VW to bring them up from the dead, and even now the business case for such a product is a tough one to sell.

Because of these wheel brands' wider interests, they may be able to support a highly exclusive consumer product, but at some point they would have to kill it so it stopped hurting their bottom line. No company likes supporting a product line with a negative return, no matter how iconic it is.

 

[speed junkie]

 

[Stotty]

S1 Exige's rock... they always reminded me of a mini grp C car.

And I heard that they are becomingly increasing rare and expensive here in the UK as a lot of them have been exported to Japan.