So, I am looking for a change of wheels. The reason is mostly cosmetic, one of the reasons being the color, I want bronze. At the same time I don’t want to compromise handling. That means the wheels shouldn’t weigh more than the OEM wheels. OEM 17" is 17lbs a piece which is actually quite good for an OEM wheel. Many after market options are just so expensive here, that’s the problem. For example, there are options from Konig Wheels, Hypergram is one of them. Slightly over 200 dollars in the US if you search. Here they come in at over 300 euro’s a piece. And I’m not gonna spend 1200+ euro’s for a nice color and different design. In the end I could get the OEM wheels and have them repainted but I like to have something different. Does anyone know of a brand and/or type that fits my needs ánd is affordable?
Might give you some ideas. I have OZ on my ND so can’t vouch for any of the other brands listed. The link should take you to bronze wheels sorted by price ascending.
Edit: that’s annoying, the link isn’t perfect. You can easily tick Bronze and then sort by price ascending, though.
Depends on how we’re defining affordability. You mention you’re not prepared to spend €1200 for a set - are you including tyres in this or not? I think you might struggle to find wheels, that are well made and no heavier than OEM for less money.
Cost, Lightness, Quality of manufacture. Pick any two
Also, where are you based? You mention Euros and US $ in your post and are quoting weight in lbs, which makes me think American. Another option is obviously to scan the second-hand market - eBay, Facebook etc.
Certainly nice designs and affordable. Unfortunately all 17" wheels are at least 1kg heavier. Just to be clear, I’m not looking for max performance but most people that experience different weight wheels on their car find the lighter wheel to drive much better.
Mainland Europe, apologies Have to use so many different units If I would live in America I would have gotten some nice Konig wheels. The 1200 would concern wheels only. The 220 dollars per wheel I found would be an option if it was the same in Europe in euro’s. But it certainly isn’t…
I’ll give ProLine a shout for their wheel weights, they look nice.
I don’t need the very best but I do need some baseline of quality. Your reply is very true. However, if I see price differences with the US, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to see if there would be anything available here in Europe approaching price/quality ratio of US prices.
If I can’t find it, I will probably get OEM wheels and have them resprayed.
This is usually the case but I remember back in my bmw days, the only way to avoid constant cracked wheels was to fit replicas, the genuine bmw ones would crack regularly from the inner rim out. I did it myself and had m3 replica 19s on low profile tyres for a few years and plenty of miles and never had any issues at all.
Light wheels are certainly a big positive but some tyres are deceptively heavier than others which can also make a difference, also rolling resistance, grip, noise etc varys between all which xna be a nett positive or negative depending on choice.
I recently changed my stock wheels and tyres (17x7 on 205/45 falken ziex) for 17x8 on 215/45 Goodyear eagle f1 and the overall weight gain per corner came in at less than 200 grams for a wider wheel and bigger tyre. I have done a lot of other alterations at the same time but I would not say there are any negative associations with fitting these as opposed to the ones I took off that I can tell driving it. All I noticed was the improved noise and grip and ride despite lowering the car significantly.
I edited the stock tyre size as I posted incorrectly - thanks wardy👍
I can imagine 200 grams a corners wouldn’t make a big difference in feel if any. If there would be any I can also imagine it would be so little that it could be easily compensated with better matching tyres etc The wheels I’ve seen previously and found affordable were 1kg heavier a corner at least, unfortunately. And I don’t really feel like downgrading the driving experience just for looks
I read about tyre weight alright. Certainly something to look into when I get different wheels and need other tyres.
Also worth noting that most aftermarket wheels will be at least a half inch wider by default and allow for a slightly wider tyre to be fitted. In this case despite the obvious visual improvement the additional stability, comfort, grip and handling advantage could be a worthy trade off for the little bit more weight, especially for a road car. Obviously you can have all of the above, better looks, lighter weight etc but you already specified that you’d like to not spend too much money which makes attaining all of the positive attributes and no negatives more difficult . For reference, I got wheels, lug nuts, spigot rings and tyres and it all came in under the cost on enkei wheels only. Enkei rpf1 wheels would of been awesome and pretty much the ultimate setup for me, but the difference in price covered the cost of Coilovers and change. So for me personally, the choice made sense.
I’ll edit the post 
The wheels I’ve seen previously and found affordable were 1kg heavier a corner at least, unfortunately. And I don’t really feel like downgrading the driving experience just for looks