Alloy wheels

[MartinC]

For sometime now, I've wanted to get my hands on some Rota Grid's, but the price has always put me off.
When doing a search on eBay recently I came across these:-
Junk Debris 15" 7J
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Has anyone used them, got any opinions on them?

Thanks.

[Topdownman]

No experience of those but aftermarket cheaper wheels are likely to be heavy. Certainly heavier than stock which will probably be noticeable when driving.

Those wheels are 35 offset rather than 45 so will widen the track but may cause problems at the rear with rubbing on the arch/liner depending on your tyre choice and suspension. The increase to 7j on the front should be ok as long as your tyre choice will fit a 7" rim.

I had trouble using a rear 225 tyre on 35 offset despite rolling the arches with coilovers and even more so with kybs and teins.

[MartinC]

Yeah, the weight does concern me a little. I can't find any info on the specs.  My intention is to run tyres as close to stock as possible.  7J is pushing the fronts a little, but just about acceptable.

[1979scotte]

Save up for some Enkie rpf1 or just stay stock.
Cheap wheels are rarely any good for a 2 IMHO

[Alex Knight]

I use 7J ET35 wheels up front on a 195/50/R15. No issues. A 205 would fit also.

On topic, those wheels looks the part, but would most likely be gash quality.

Don't skimp on the only things that connect your tyres to your car. Safety first and all that 👮🏻‍♂️

[SuperArt]

As the old adage goes, buy cheap buy twice.
Rota wheel used to be the butt of jokes, you could go into any forum and start a discussion on those wheels and there'd always be photos of cracked wheels or ones where the all the spokes failed on track.
I think ROTA still aren't good wheels but they have come a long way.
Never heard of the Junk brand but you'd be taking an even bigger gamble than if you went with Rota copies of the TE37.

[shnazzle]

Having gone down the route of aftermarket...
It's not worth it.

Not unless you get some seriously light (and expensive) OZ or Enkei RPF1. And even then, probably only if you're going to run different profiles entirely like tommyzoom.

I remember the disappointment when I weighed my team dynamics. Compared to stock they weren't much better at all. And they're a pig to clean (but who cleans their car anyway?).

It's 100% a case of doing it right or not at all. Commit over 1k including tyres and fitting, or just get the stock alloys tidied up and wrap them in some quality rubber.

[Gaz mr-s]

@MartinC If you buy 7j for the front the chances are 185's will look naff.

I don't like deteriorating the performance of a car, but the o/e wheels are blandly boring.(IMO)

My first set of aftermarket were Rota's (GT3 I think) & they were poorly finished on the inside. I got extra lacquer applied, but that didn't help the external appearance. They are heavier, but not seriously-so. But the the 7j necessitated 195 tyres...more weight.

I decided to buy another set, - I considered the RPF1, but I couldn't justify over £1k for a set of wheels, plus if I remember correctly I couldn't get exact FL sizes.

Tegiwa Imports were in a 20% off deal on ebay earlier this year, & I bought Japan Racing wheels. (Headquarters in Poland, btw.)  How typical mine are, don't know, but they are far better finished than the Rota, & lighter. Still not as light as o/e, but not bad at all. They are near-copies of the RPF1, but I paid well under half the price.   

[Joesson]

@Topdownman said in #1 above:
I had trouble using a rear 225 tyre on 35 offset despite rolling the arches with coilovers and even more so with kybs and teins.

Simon, was the problem with the KYB's, the teins or the offset/ wider wheels?
I ask because I understood the KYB's were more or less as OE, and I have a new set in my garage awaiting my attention.
Teins were on my perhaps list, but more likely to be KYB springs or an OE equivalent from TCB.

[Topdownman]

@Topdownman said in #1 above:
I had trouble using a rear 225 tyre on 35 offset despite rolling the arches with coilovers and even more so with kybs and teins.

Simon, was the problem with the KYB's, the teins or the offset/ wider wheels?
I ask because I understood the KYB's were more or less as OE, and I have a new set in my garage awaiting my attention.
Teins were on my perhaps list, but more likely to be KYB springs or an OE equivalent from TCB.

The 35 offset wheel pushes the face of the wheel outwards by 10mm and the 225 tyre instead of a 215 is a further 5mm per side wider making the outer face of the tyre 15mm nearer to the wheel arch. This of couse looks awesome but means that on bumps, when the spring compresses, the tyre could be heard rubbing in a very unpleasant way! The coilovers didnt compress so much though so the problem was less frequent (and I could have raised the body to stop it if I was prepared to do that). The teins and kybs move much more though so the rubbing was more frequent. I have had the 225 tyres put on the standard wheels and the rubbing has stopped. Maybe putting 215 tyres on the 35 offset wheels would also have stopped it as well but I dont want to buy news tyres just yet!

Tony, you will have no problem with standard wheels with kybs with either springs, the problem is to do with non standard wheel offset and to a lesser degree, the wider tyres.

[Joesson]

@Topdownman
Thank you for that Simon

[Dev]

I have OZ Ultraleggera wheels and the finish has held up great for the last 14 years and have never come out of balance. If you get them in 15" they will be much lighter than stock and at the same time reasonable in price especially from a top shelf brand. I think they match our cars look very well and better then the OEM. There are many copies of this design but they don't look the same once they are fitted on the car because there are subtile differences.

[MartinC]

Thanks for all the advice and input.  I've decided to get my wheels refurbed at a place local to me.  I'm getting 6 wheels (Full set of PFL 15", and 2 rear 16") done in Lambo Bronze for the princely sum of £310+VAT.  I'll post pics when I get them back.

[MartinC]

Picked the wheels up today.  I am mightily impressed with the finish.  

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[rusty0273]

Love that wheel colour. I have the same on mine although far from as good a finish (DIY job).

[Topdownman]

Very nice!

[puma2]

  its a like from me

[TheTigerUK]

Pure Gold

[SuperArt]

Spandau Ballet wants to have a word..