Redfoot:

Congratulations, I love your wheels and cannot wait to see them mounted. What size tires are you getting? When did you order your wheels? I ordered mine too from Avalon so maybe I am getting close to them being delivered? I ordered 445's but almost ordered 545's. FYI everyone, the 5 series HRE wheel is an older design than the 4 series. That was the final blow that crossed me over to the 445's instead of the 545's. I went to the HRE factory and held them both in my hands, big wt difference.

Be sure to post pics, a lot of HRE guys are excited to see the fisrt ones mounted!

for the anti-HRE people, one thing I know, those who buy top quality never regret it. To each his own.

Jeff

 

I believe then that Racing Dynamics should be getting most of the credit then.

 

I guess you missed the verbage: "As the newest wheel in the Racing Dynamics range, the RS 2 features the most advanced construction technology available today. This wheel tips the scales at a mere 21 lbs. with steel hardware, and is below 20 lbs. If ordered with the Titanium Hardwae option (+$ 200.00 per wheel). "

"New" technology- but it's not forged (unlike HRE).

We know the Racing Dynamics guys... Federico was here this morning, in fact. This RD wheel was introduced in 1999...

 

I probably won't be mounting them too soon, the Z hasn't been out of the garage in 2 1/2 months since the snow & salt have been flying around Michigan. I'll be using 245/35 & 275/35 Toyo T1S. Ordered from Avalon on 1/14. As far as the weight question goes, I am not into high performance driving on the public roadways, (learned my lesson the hard way) not that I won't push it, but I won't miss a small loss of hp. A different set of wheels will be used at the track.

I don't understand why some people seem to get in a yank about the cost of this or that. Each of us has our own tastes and the resources to hopefully satisfy them, more times than not you DO get what you pay for. You get what you like and I'll do the same. Does it really matter who copied who? You could probably say that 50% of all the wheel manufacturers used the ideas of the other 50% and at least 50% of them look like ****.

 

Nicely said redfoot. Its all about personal preferences. If it wasn't SEMA wouldn't even exist, and we'd all be driving black Model T's

 

Don't you just love how people just can't be happy for you when you get something nice? You internet "tough guys" are bringing the quality of the site down.

That said, Redfoot, those are dead-sexy wheels; there's a guy with a 300ZX widebody near me who's running those.

 

I love the wheels as well. I talked to the HRE people, I beleive they are in Vista, CA. (northern san diego)

wheels are expensive but I would not mind paying there price if they were not so damned heavy.

They are HEAVIER than the stock 18" touring rims.

It must be ALL ABOUT THE LOOK THEN because you lose the performance but hey, if you don't mind I don't either!

I do like them.

 

Who said they were heavy? I'd be interested to know how much the touring wheels weigh...

 

Those are damn sexy rims. Enjoy them. I wonder what they look like when they are spinning at about 150 mph?

 

my understanding is that the touring wheels wiegh 25-26 lbs

 

An informal weigh in tells me they are around 22lbs. Perhaps HREWheelMaker can give us an exact weight.....

 

I am sorry, I do not remember his name but I spoke with a representative at HRE in Vista, CA, where they make them and he said they wiegh approx 25-26 lbs each.

Touring are 24 from my understanding and Rays are around 18 lbs.

 

Just a note on the quality and durability of HRE wheels for those of you following this thread. I have been running a set of HRE 547's like the ones pictured at the start of this thread on my NSX for over three years. I track my car about six times a year and my HRE's look incredible today just like when they were new. They are full polished lip and centers and I just use Maguire's metal polish and a soft rag every couple of months to keep that mirror like finish. If you end up pulling the trigger on a set do yourself a favor and spend the extra $ for the metal etched center caps. They look great and can handle the heat if you ever track your car. By the way, the folks who design the wheels at HRE know their stuff. My wheels were custom made to accomodate the Porsche twin turbo Brembo calipers that I run. They require massive backspacing and my wheels fit them just fine. Like most things in this lifetime, you get what you pay for.

 

still NO pics on the car???

 

TampaBayNSX-R:

I got HRE 445's with brush finish and polihed lips and no clear coat on the lips. Do you think the Maguire's metal polish will make then look better? I love my wheels too.

Jeff

 

With brushed centers I would probably just use good old soap and water and be sure to dry them well when done. The Maguire's will definitely keep your polished lips looking like mirrors.

 

Sorry no pic's yet. Only been driving the car again for 'bout the last week or so (snow is gone & salt finally got washed away buy enough rain) I haven't even ordered the tires yet. With droid's + others fethering problems & only 600 miles on the car I decided to wait a bit longer to verify I did not have the same problems before possibly burning up $500 worth of front tires, not to mention being nervous as hell about having some ******** F' with my car and wheels.

 

Okay, here's the real deal on weight:

I weighed the 445R wheels a while back- the weights can vary from application to application due to the backpad height, overall width, and rim inner/outer combinations. Here's what I came up with:

18x8.5 High Disk (big brake capable) =21.4 lbs.
18x9.0 High Disk (big brake capable) =22.6 lbs.

18x10 Medium Disk (rear wheel) =23.2 lbs.

BTW, there's more to a wheel than just weight- if you can reduce the wheel's rolling inertia (an object in motion tends to stay in motion), you improve acceleration and reduce stopping distances.

Since most of the weight of an HRE wheel is concentrated close to the center of the wheel, this 'inertia' is kept to a minimum. If you pick up an outer rim piece by itself, you will inderstand how light they really are...

So, at the end of the day, the 445R is slightly heavier tha the OE Rays wheel... but you can't replace the outer ring on a Rays if your wife curbs it! If you crash our wheel, we can fix it.

Hope this has been helpful.

 

Bob, thanks for the "facts" and disbuting the heavy wheel wt rumors thrown at HRE wheels. Yes, they are not the lightest but not the heaviest too and when you factor in quality, ...well I guess I am preaching to the choir right?

BTW, I plan on dropping by and showing you my Z with 445's but I wanted to wait until I get my sub woofer enclosure back so I can show off my stereo to you guys. The guy that did it ask me to loan him my enclosure he built for me to make a mold so he can produce them for other people on this forum. I have a temp sub-woofer for now due to that.

thanks, Jeff

 

the "heavy" comments are pretty funny, I saved about 8 pounds when I went with my new wheels, and that is a 19" and 245-F and 275-R tires.. doesn't look "heavier" to me--LOL