Wide 5 Aluminum Wheels Orders

Drool!! 

No drool, get them for the coupe. 

I assume there is no problem with disc brakes. 

As usual, Vintage Spyders is making some nice stuff the hobby has been pining for for years.

The wheels look to be identical to the batch of Bivens wheels half a dozen guys (and me) were able to pony up for about 10 years back. Those wheels were crazy money ($2500/ set). I got mine used and in need of work for $1800, and thought I'd scored shards of the true cross.

Assuming they are the same, discs from a lot of places will fit (it's not like there are 2 dozen places to buy wide 5 discs). The hot setup would be these wheels and the best disc package you can buy. In 2005 that was CB's AL hub brakes. But if I'm not mistaken, there are several places now selling vented rotor packages (CSP, and I think AirKewld) with AL hubs. Bolting a light, stiff wheel on a 15 lb hub/rotor doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Part of the magic is in the unsprung weight.

if you want the wheels, buy the wheels, Lane. It's a new car. Now's the time. 

We're awaiting our first samples from Greg and if they are as nice as they look we'll be offering them our Speedster and Spyder, but wide fives on Lane's "C" coupe? IDK.

chines1 posted:

We're awaiting our first samples from Greg and if they are as nice as they look we'll be offering them our Speedster and Spyder, but wide fives on Lane's "C" coupe? IDK.

It's easy to get "lost" in a build. Wide 5s are supercool, but would've been the first thing in the trash if a guy had been modifying and racing a speedster in the 60s, once the Cs came out. 

If I were doing it again, I'd absolutely use later Porsche 5 lug wheels with modern vented rotors, and a wide selection of fantastic wheels. 

ESPECIALLY if it was a C. 

x2, Stan!

Marty Grzynkowicz posted:

No drool, get them for the coupe. 

I assume there is no problem with disc brakes. 

Yes, no disc brake issues.  We have been R&D and testing the wheel for months.  Been a pretty exhausting process.  They are DOT wheels and load tested way beyond any speedster or spyder will ever put them through.  I'll post the exact weight soon, but they are way lighter than any steel wheel.

"I'll post the exact weight soon, but they are way lighter than any steel wheel."

Yeah, what do they weigh? Because enquiring minds want to know. Any chance of a 6" or 7" wheel?

Stan Galat, '05 IM, 2276, Tremont, IL posted:

If I were doing it again, I'd absolutely use later Porsche 5 lug wheels with modern vented rotors, and a wide selection of fantastic wheels. 

ESPECIALLY if it was a C. 

Stan, what wide selection of wheels are you talking about that would fit our cars?

Being a wheel whore, I'd like to know.  I like my fake Fuchs, but I'm tired of seeing them on every second speedster/Cal Beetle.  I'd like to try something different....that didn't cost an arm and a leg.

Even a nice set of Porsche spares are getting WAY up there in price.

I got to see these in person today when I stopped by... HOLY WOW! They are gorgeous! It has made me question the direction I went with rims... :/

"Wheel whores"  oh my, yes indeed you guys are all of that.  This is a mutation of the madness that I have not quite yet plumbed, and surely do not understand.  Not sure I want to.  Could get REAL expensive . . .

Ron O posted:

Stan, what wide selection of wheels are you talking about that would fit our cars?

Being a wheel whore, I'd like to know.  I like my fake Fuchs, but I'm tired of seeing them on every second speedster/Cal Beetle.  I'd like to try something different....that didn't cost an arm and a leg.

Even a nice set of Porsche spares are getting WAY up there in price.

Well, to start with: the Fuchs you mention. We don't have the issue of bumping into "every second speedster/Cal Beetle" in my part of the world, because nobody's seen either of those things in 30 years (if at all).

Then there's the nice set of Porsche spares. Yes they are expensive, but bear in mind that before Alex and Greg came out with these Wide-5s, a set of Bivens ran north of $2400, for the 3 months or so (10 years ago) it was possible to buy them.

There are no end to aftermarket wheels from places like Image in the UK, who offer really nice (and pricey) wheels for late Porsche drillings. There's nothing cheap about any of this, but we are kind've rounding the bend on most stuff. The day of the "affordable people's car" is pretty much in the rear-view mirror.

With late Porsche drilling wheels, sizes besides 15" are possible (and actually more plentiful). Personally, I think that 16" wheels are a better bet than 15s now because of the paucity of decent tires for 15s. 16 is the new 15 and decent tires are hard to come by in 16" as well, but the selection is better, and the wheels themselves don't look stupid (to my eye) like larger sizes tend to.

I think the wheel selection is good, and the tire and brake selections are enough better than I'd do it even if they weren't. That's just an opinion, but regardless of what some folks think, there's nothing wrong with me having one. You can have yours too, but there it is.

I was considering new blank rotors and getting them drilled for 4x100.  There are literally 100s of good looking, light, inexpensive wheels in that bolt pattern.  Two things are stopping me-first, most of the 4x100 wheels are at least 7 inches wide, and that's too wide for my car.   Second, most of the modern wheels don't look right on our cars.

I'd also like to go with a 16 inch wheel, but I don't want to pay a king's ransom to get a set.  Miatas, in the early 2000s, came with a light, six inch wide  16 inch wheel.  They can be had for well under $500, but I just can't see them looking right on my IM.

I have a set of Minilite styled wheels that had mounted on my old track Miata and they would look (in my opinion) great on my IM.  Unfortunately, they're 7 inches wide and probably wouldn't fit.

Ron:

Quit saying what you are going to do with your car, and just drive the damn thing! 

LOL, your brother.

Stan wrote:  "There are no end to aftermarket wheels from places like Image in the UK, who offer really nice (and pricey) wheels for late Porsche drillings."

Yes, I am on the Image Wheels site regularly, as their selection is fantastic.  Not cheap, as you say, but their wheels seem to be worth it. 

Choices, choices, choices...

I may be getting one of the first sets of these wheels on my second/new Spyder. In fact you should probably bet on it. It's about the same probability of me drinking a few beers at Carlisle LOL!

Stan wide5 in any iteration are heavy. CSP have an AL hub, and they're heavy. Airkewld are thick CNC aluminum and they are pretty heavy, even with the drilled iron rotor. I would bet drums are lighter, but then you can't stop!

The Airkewld brakes, once bedded in, stop REALLY well. And they just don't fade at all, which was my reason for getting them. Best brakes I've ever used on an aircooled car with no power assist. They are 4 piston front, single piston rear(with e-brake), for those who don't know what I'm running.

Bob: IM S6 posted:

Ron:

Quit saying what you are going to do with your car, and just drive the damn thing! 

LOL, your brother.

Very soon now.  I'm flying over on Tuesday and Henry is picking me up at the airport.

Just in time for a glorious summer of driving. 

As for Wide Fives, I wish someone would make a wide five lookalike that would fit on a five stud 911 suspension set up, at 16" diameter, please.

Stan, you are entitled to your opinion but your also entitled to mine... lol  

The funny thing is that I went from 15 to 16inch on my new build with Fuch's I love them they are light and very true wheels and the restorer did a great job on them.  

And I do agree that the choice of tires are better. I am running Yokohama Avid Envigor and I had those on my old IM and they seem to work pretty well and are resonably priced. 

I wouldn't mind a set of 16" Fuchs wheels.  I wish our dollar wasn't so damn low.

DannyP posted:

Stan wide5 in any iteration are heavy. CSP have an AL hub, and they're heavy. Airkewld are thick CNC aluminum and they are pretty heavy, even with the drilled iron rotor. I would bet drums are lighter, but then you can't stop!

I'm aware of that Danny, but the combo I don't understand is light wide 5 wheels (Bivens, Technomagnesio, or these whees) bolted to the EMPI/SoCal giant iron-rotor wide 5 brakes.

AirKelwd makes some nice stuff, and the AL center hub and Wilwood caliper is probably as good as it's going to get for now. Part of why Wide 5 brakes are as heavy as they are is the dinner-plate sized hub, and there's just no getting around that. It's why Porsche (and everybody else) ended up going with a narrower bolt pattern wheel/hub. It's just easier to have a lighter package with late Porsche drillings.

The only downside of running the CSP or Airkewld 5x205 set-ups is the increased track width.  On some of these cars (mainly Spyders) you just don't have room to add 1/2" per side...  so, you have to have the wheels custom made or modified to change the offset.  For most people that means spending thousands on the custom made wheels, or paying for a narrowing service...  unless you are Danny, who I believe recentered his own wheels at home. 

By the way, the "Bivens" wheels are available through us or directly from the manufacturer (Chris Coddigton @ alloy replicas) but plan on spending $3500-5000 depending on size and specs.

These aren't wide 5 but the 5x130s Porsche pattern. They are 16" x 6 aluminum and look amazing.  

I had almost forgotten about the increased track issue. It's not the only problem, it's one of many problems. Heavy hubs, increased track, calipers from Brazil that use pads for Brazilian domestic market cars, master cylinders that don't match the brakes, etc. Wide 5 brakes have gotten better, but there's still no ideal out-of-the-box set-up.

It seems like if you were doing this from the ground up, you'd take the time to do a true 0-offset hub. CB used to advertise their set-up as such, but even theirs added some track in the back. It seems like you'd use vented rotors and Willwood calipers. It seems like you'd do enough design work to make them weigh as little as possible. It seems like you'd sell them as a set: front, back, MC, and not have them "sort've" work right.

There's just a lot to love about later Porsche brakes and wheels.

You are correct, I should have said "one problem" LOL  It would be nice if  Wilwood had a rear caliper (for these rotors) with an e-brake so you could skip the Brazilian Monza calipers/pads...  a few extra people own their QC dept. would be nice too, but that is a different story.

As much as I love the "cool factor" of wide 5s, the 5x130s seems like the perfect setup to me.

PaulEnvemo posted:

These aren't wide 5 but the 5x130s Porsche pattern. They are 16" x 6 aluminum and look amazing.  

These are nice.  Remind me of Porsche spares.

Can these still be bought and, if you don't mind, how much?

That car is a willhoit build so you might want to check with him. Me thinks they are going to be mucho bucks.  They are aluminum and replicate the late 356 and early 911 912 steel wheels and the cool thing is they are 16s. The spares you mention I have on my envemo. I pieced together a set over the years buying one at a time at swap meets. They are 5.5 inches and exactly the same as the wheels used on 68 and up 911/912. The SOB of a time is getting the 30 year old plus space saver tires off of them.  We wound up having to cut them off.  They are plentiful and pretty reasonable in price. You just have to watch your part numbers because there are some that look the same but with a crazy offset for the 944 turbo. You don't want those. 

ALB posted:

"I'll post the exact weight soon, but they are way lighter than any steel wheel."

Yeah, what do they weigh? Because enquiring minds want to know. Any chance of a 6" or 7" wheel?

 

10lb wheel.................

A wider and 16" wheel are on the boiler plate, but that is a way off for production.  There is a lot of R&D, testing, and qualifying to make a DOT wheel. 

10lb wheel.................

how much per pound?

art posted:

how much per pound?

16 ounces

Alex:

Are you going to post the prices on the new light weight wheels?

I am pretty happy with my Fuchs. But always interested in new design/technology.

10#'s per wheel, pretty impressive. 

Vintage Motorcars - Alex posted:

Hello All,

We have a product roll out. I posted before it was soon to come, now they will be available in mid July... 

Yes, Now Taking Pre Orders
15"
5x205mm aluminum VW Porsche Wheels
4.5 wide 4" Backspace silver or Polished
5.5 Wide 4" Backspace silver or polished
Delivery Middle of July 2016
Please email info@vintagespyders.com or call the shop (714)894-1550 for more info

Alex - What's the price on these and can you get the hub cap tabs? It looks like there are holes drilled for them.

Rusty S posted:

Vintage Motorcars - Alex posted:

Hello All,

We have a product roll out. I posted before it was soon to come, now they will be available in mid July... 

Yes, Now Taking Pre Orders
15"
5x205mm aluminum VW Porsche Wheels
4.5 wide 4" Backspace silver or Polished
5.5 Wide 4" Backspace silver or polished
Delivery Middle of July 2016
Please email info@vintagespyders.com or call the shop (714)894-1550 for more info

Alex - What's the price on these and can you get the hub cap tabs? It looks like there are holes drilled for them.

Target MSRP is under $175.00.  They will come with button head allens and clips.  We have tested hub caps on them and drum skins under with disc brakes.  No issues.

Thanks Alex,

Art

Robert M posted:

art posted:

how much per pound?

16 ounces

Fricken funny!

Vintage Motorcars - Alex posted:

Target MSRP is under $175.00.  They will come with button head allens and clips.  We have tested hub caps on them and drum skins under with disc brakes.  No issues.

That's a GREAT price!