Don't know if this was posted before, but I was amazed at the wheel sizes they used (especially on the front).


According to one of the sales guys at HRE:

(snips from 3 or 4 emails)

"The wheel and tire combination that we used on the SEMA Z was a 19x9.5" front w/ 275/30/19 and a 19x10.5" rear with a 295/30/19."

"The suspension was lowered with Eibach springs that dropped it about 1.25". There were no mods necessary to fit that combination under the car. It never even rubbed while turning full lock. We do provide offsets with an order confirmation."

"It was the brushed aluminum center. The only thing is all pictures make it look like a flat silver. If you go to our finishes section on our web site you will get as good idea as any. Sorry I can't help out more on that request, just for some reason the photos of the brushed just don't do it justice. It is an absolutely stunning finish."


Pricing from the HRE website for the 440R series is:
19x9.5 $1148
19x10.5 $1216
Brushed Aluminum Center $ 227/wheel

Grand Total would be $5636 (zowie!)

Man, I love'em but that's over 6 grand by the time you get tires on'em. I just don't think my wife is gonna go for that.


And a comment from the HRE sales guy regarding the ride difference between 18" and 19":

"Going from an 18" to 19" wheel you will notice that there is a more athletic feel to the car, however it is not unbearable as long as the roads are in good condition."


I'm thinking maybe 18" is the way to go. Roads in Seattle are terrible.

 

Nice to see such wide rims on the car. Did the sales guy happen to mention the offsets required to showhorn the rims in there?

 

Nope.

Couldn't get offsets from him without placing an order. He wouldn't even say if they had to go below 20mm or not.

 

That's weak... Its amazing the lack of cooperation one gets from salespeople these days. It's almost like they are there to dissuede you from purchasing their products.
Have you actually seen the 9.5 and 10.5 rims on the car, in person? I wonder if this is just salesmen bs or if it's for real.

 

Their website's pretty cool.....you can see what each different style HRE rim looks like on the Z.

You can even make it look more like a Porsche!

 

nice rims, not a nice price

 

Hey, I spend A LOT of time researching and measuring new cars, why should we give away offset info to our competitors?

It takes an hour to measure a car, then a couple of hours to draw & calculate potential wheel widths, offsets, verify brake clearance with big-brake manufacturers, calculate tire sizes, and enter the data into a huge Excel spreadsheet (for fitment consistency). The wheels for the LeMans Sunset SEMA 350Z fit perfectly the first time, with NO spacers, modifications, or hassles. How many wheel companies can do this?

Fitment is partly what makes HRE's so bitchin'- part of the look is how they fit! , part of it is the style & finish.

I'm not mad- I just like to protect my hard work!!

 

There are other wheel companies that can do this. Kinesis, Fikse, iForged, many other CUSTOM wheel companies can do the same thing.

 

Yep, the last C5 Corvette I saw with Fikses had spacers in front... one of the guys at Kinesis has spacers on the rear of his personal Porsche... won't bag on you, your stuff fits the Audis and BMWs I've seen pretty well.

 

oh ok I did not know that about those two companies. I also thought they had a big enough forging to clear most of the aftermarket brakes and custom offsets. Did not know they used spacers. Your stuff on the otherhand is nice. Saw a few of your wheels at body pros not too long ago.

 

Fair enough.

Fikse has only recently introduced a forging with sufficient clearance for bigger brakes. Their Profil series is actually pretty sharp.

Time to go home! Just finished spec'ing an '84 Porsche 911 SC and an '03 Navigator... talk about extremes!

 

Any chance we can get a closeup of the tire/wheel?

Looks like there's a "lip" of rim sticking out from the tire sort of. Hard to tell. Might just be the lower quality picture.

Still looks beautiful though!

 

It's the photo- the 275/295 combo fit the wheel widths perfectly.
I have a close-up, but it's too big to post...

-Bob

 

Bob, send me the pic again (it never got to me). I can reduce the size on photoshop and post it for these guys,,,,,,Jeff

 

You go right ahead and protect your interests. I am a professional as well and understand that info like that is not free. It's like asking a doctor for a free diagnosis and treatment plan. I understand the offset issue is complex and that is a big part of the reason I have chosen your company to order rims from. I know they are more expensive. But I also know exactly what to expect with regards to fit and quality. There are still a lot of people (like myself) who do not mind paying for expertise and quality. Keep up the good work and stick to your guns.

zh.guitar

 

Thanks guys... it's tough to get any respect in this business! The HRE name is pretty well known, but it's the people that make the company and our products so great. Why else would I commute two hours a day for what is (honestly) mediocre pay... The bottom line is: we love what we do.

iforged: you probably saw the production Saleen S7 wheels at BodyPros- they paint them for us (the last six sets have actually been fully polished, we do that in-house). Derek still has my MR2 tail lights (he smoked 'em for me). That reminds me, better call him...

zland/Jeff: I'll shoot that e-mail again. I got a failure notice on it for some reason.

zh.guitar: you're right: if a Rolex was $65, would anybody really want one? Most people are floored when they see our wheels in person.

 

Could I get some full-res pictures of the car/wheel/tires emailed to me?

That would be great!

 

Hope Jeff/zland doesn't mind but these hi-res shots are too sweet not to post here for everyone.

See this thread for the lo-res shots
https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....6&pagenumber=2
about 1/4 or 1/3 of the way down the page


zip with 1424x1068 of "350z 445r ft.jpg" (161,594 bytes)

 

zip with 1424x1068 of "350z_hre_445_19_rear.jpg" (88,483 bytes)