Any interest in aftermarket light 15x7 alloys?

[wastintime]

Hey everyone,
D Force Wheels who supplies a lot of BMW racers, callaway corvettes, etc... is making us up a set of prototype wheels for the B-Spec Sonic for the DC Auto Show... to run in B-Spec we have to run 15x7s, but the only rule is the tread edge must fit under the fender lip. We took measurements and had about 30mm to come out, so these will be very low offset wheels probably 15mm - 20mm offsets. and designed around 205/15 tires. They will be exactly 13.1 lbs and I think the price I'd heard was pretty darn cheap.

I believe they will be this style:

Anyway, just wanted to see if anyone might be interested in a set of these even on their street cars. If so, let me know and I can let them know how much interest there is and they may produce some larger quantities of the wheels.

 

[theenico]

I would be interested depending on price.

 

[wastintime]

I would be interested depending on price.

Lol, of course, that's always the case. I believe they'll retail for $120ea, but don't hold anyone to that, that was the estimate from D Force depending on manufacturing costs, etc.

 

[Sonic]

Same here, depending on price I would be interested. Also, is that the only color they will be offered in? That color would actually probably look good on Inferno Orange.

 

[wastintime]

Same here, depending on price I would be interested. Also, is that the only color they will be offered in? That color would actually probably look good on Inferno Orange.

They powdercoat in-house, so realistically you could probably order any color you wanted, but I think they usually make silver, black, and that gunmetal color I posted.

 

[keto06]

Look awesome.

 

[Daedalus]

Look awesome.

Agreed! And 13.1 lbs is LIGHT!

 

[wastintime]

Agreed! And 13.1 lbs is LIGHT!

Yep, rotating mass is bad! They were going to be 12.1lbs, but then the SCCA raised the minimum wheel weight because too many people complained about the lack of 12lb wheels available... wusses. We have to race with the wheels at 13.0lbs so 13.1 is a safety net and we don't have to worry about getting protested for the wheels.

 

[keto06]

They were going to be 12.1lbs, but then the SCCA raised the minimum wheel weight because too many people complained about the lack of 12lb wheels available... wusses.

No doubt. Definitely gonna keep an eye on this thread. I might buy wheels for my sonic before I even take shipment!

 

[theenico]

Lol, of course, that's always the case. I believe they'll retail for $120ea, but don't hold anyone to that, that was the estimate from D Force depending on manufacturing costs, etc.

Understood. I'll bet that's pretty close though since they're basically the same wheel (even the offset) as their Spec Miata and Spec 3 Series wheels. They just have to drill a different bolt pattern and account for any hub-centric differences that may exist.

 

[Eric Smit]

If they were around 120 a wheel, they'd be relevant to my interests.

 

[wastintime]

Cool, well I'd honestly been worried no one would be interested in a 15 or really low offset 7" wheel, but awesome, I'm glad there's interest. Actually this is a good amount too because D Force needs to sell 25 sets for it to be worth it for them... honestly sounds like between B-Spec racers and sonic owners that may not be difficult.

 

[Danny5]

I had Konig Heliums on my last car. 11.5lbs. I've been toying getting some RP-F1s and bolting up some adapters. It's actually awesome news that we can run 30mm because I was honestly worried that adapters would push the wheel out too far.

Just for grins, RP-F1s are 9.8lbs each for the 15x7.

I would definitely be interested if they can powder coat these any color!

 

[wastintime]

I had Konig Heliums on my last car. 11.5lbs. I've been toying getting some RP-F1s and bolting up some adapters. It's actually awesome news that we can run 30mm because I was honestly worried that adapters would push the wheel out too far.

Just for grins, RP-F1s are 9.8lbs each for the 15x7.

I would definitely be interested if they can powder coat these any color!

Actually The only Enkeis that would fit are 13.7 lbs, lol, so we beat them by .6lbs each. Looking at the 4-100 bolt pattern, I can only assume the 9.8lb wheels are for Mazda racers without wheel weight restrictions.

Just to clarify these will not be even close to a 30mm offset. The stock wheels are 15x6 ET39. These wheels will be 15x7 ET10, probably... that's how much room there is under the front fenders especially with any negative camber added... and there's about 5 more mm in the rear! In other words, designing these around a 205 B-Spec tire, there is about 38mm of clearance between the outside of the tread and the fender lip. Going to 205s you come 5mm closer to the edge, so you're left with 33mm to come out and that's with 0 camber. Going up to a 7" width doesn't really affect the position of the tread, but rather the edge of the wheel. Well, generally the more a tire is stretched the wider it is, so you probably lose a little, but not a huge amount and of course in this case the tire is wider, as well so it usually is a pretty linear progression of how much wider the treads will be.

So, realistically depending on some more measurements and what D Force recommends these will be somewhere between a 5 and 15mm offset, so somewhere in the ballpark of 10mm would be safe to assume. Which is almost a full inch away from a 30mm offset.

 

[keto06]

Actually The only Enkeis that would fit are 13.7 lbs, lol, so we beat them by .6lbs each. Looking at the 4-100 bolt pattern, I can only assume the 9.8lb wheels are for Mazda (or Honda) racers without wheel weight restrictions.

So, realistically depending on some more measurements and what D Force recommends these will be somewhere between a 5 and 15mm offset, so somewhere in the ballpark of 10mm would be safe to assume. Which is almost a full inch away from a 30mm offset.

 

[Danny5]

Actually The only Enkeis that would fit are 13.7 lbs, lol, so we beat them by .6lbs each. Looking at the 4-100 bolt pattern, I can only assume the 9.8lb wheels are for Mazda racers without wheel weight restrictions.

Just to clarify these will not be even close to a 30mm offset. The stock wheels are 15x6 ET39. These wheels will be 15x7 ET10, probably... that's how much room there is under the front fenders especially with any negative camber added... and there's about 5 more mm in the rear! In other words, designing these around a 205 B-Spec tire, there is about 38mm of clearance between the outside of the tread and the fender lip. Going to 205s you come 5mm closer to the edge, so you're left with 33mm to come out and that's with 0 camber. Going up to a 7" width doesn't really affect the position of the tread, but rather the edge of the wheel. Well, generally the more a tire is stretched the wider it is, so you probably lose a little, but not a huge amount and of course in this case the tire is wider, as well so it usually is a pretty linear progression of how much wider the treads will be.

So, realistically depending on some more measurements and what D Force recommends these will be somewhere between a 5 and 15mm offset, so somewhere in the ballpark of 10mm would be safe to assume. Which is almost a full inch away from a 30mm offset.

So does that mean we'll have a decent sized lip on these wheels? How wide of a tire can we fit before we worry about rub?

I am envisioning a 15x8 with 245s!

 

[wastintime]

So does that mean we'll have a decent sized lip on these wheels? How wide of a tire can we fit before we worry about rub?

I am envisioning a 15x8 with 245s!

I'm glad you asked because that is the problem. We're also running 400lbs springs and custom valved shocks on the front (if all gets approved) so we're not worried about rubbing. I also think the ride height is high enough you're not going to rub anyway, but... We're willing to tolerate a lot more on a race car.

I would bet money the biggest tire you could run without worrying and/or with minimal massaging of the fender lip would be a 215. Basically we're creating the wheel to maximize the B-Spec rules which only allow us to run a 205. So we may have a tiny safety net, but it's meant to bring a 205 all the way to the fender lip. To widen the track as much as possible we want the wheels as far to the outside as we can get and stay within the rules. Honestly 205 is a good size though, the '89-'97 911s all came with 205 front tires on 7" wheels. It's a lot of grip especially for a "light" car. So, these are not the wheels for fitting super wide tires on, but they will completely fill out the fender wells/gap.

I don't know about the Lip on the wheel. Because sometimes the wheel is designed where the spokes always kind of mate to the wheel at the outer lip, but the inner portion moves farther inside to bolt to the hub... I honestly don't know how these will change though, especially with weight saving in mind.

Like we have 18x10 ET20 and 19x10.5 ET25 wheels on the Camaro but they have no lip at all really.

I'll let you guys know as I hear more... and we'll have set 1 in a couple of weeks, so... I'll post a lot of pictures of the wheels and the wheels on the car. LOL we may have racing slicks on them though. IDK yet.

 

[Sonic]

Can you ask them about the possibility of getting a bronze color produced if they agree to produce them for regular customers?

 

[Sonic]

Any update on if these are going to happen and if any other colors are possible?

 

[wastintime]

Any update on if these are going to happen and if any other colors are possible?

Sorry, just got back from the track... I will have a more definitive update by the end of this week... right now we're waiting to hear what exact style wheel will work best for the offsets we need, the Dforce 5 pictured, or a new, unreleased style. As far as I know, since they powdercoat in house any color is technically available, but I'll confirm that, as well.