l am in the market for some new wheels. I like the BBS RK 17's, as well as, Exel Race and the Exel TZ 10's. My problem is I can't find any specifications on the Exel tires. No weights, no offset, where they are made, how they are made, etc. Obviously, they have an attactive price point. I would appreciate any help you can give me.

 

Nice wheels choices, Driskill, but I don't think Exel makes tires. Check out www.tirerack.com. If you search by size and speed rating, you can find a lot of good tires with nice write ups.

If you're looking at the Exel wheels, you can make it a wheel and tire package, mounted & balanced at www.wheelmax.com. (sorry, Alex)

Good luck & welcome to NAM!

-Steve

 

Before you decide to take the WheelMax route PM me if you want to hear the story. And it happened last week.

I decided to go with the SPortMax 920 from http://customwheelsmarket.com/pri-spo920875-whi.html

It has a silver front lip on the edge which is not discernable in the pic.

 

Well, let's have it! They're not a vendor here, we can talk frankly. I'm on the fence about the tz-10s and I can only find them on wheelmax. They look reputable enough. I would order from tirerack but they don't carry exel wheels.

 

I'm sorry I meant Exel wheels. Wheelmax doesn't give weight specifications. I also want to go with either silver or black - probably silver. Even Exel's website doesn't have specs. Any ideas?

 

What I sent in the PM:

Well Last week I decided that i was going to get the 18'' Excel TZ-10's. I thought that the convinience of ordering the tire and having them mount it was comparable to finding a cheaper price tire somewhere else and having it mounted locally...so i went for the Toyo Proxes 4. When I was initially doing my research I spoke with Nick (ex 1028) so when I made my order I just put his name down as a courtesy. SO right after I made the order I called him to get an approximate ship date for the order (ordered on Friday). So Monday rolls around and I see that my order is on hold. I call up nick and he is not around to answer my question so I talk to another guy and he tells me that the Proxes4 are on back order for 3 weeks! Even though the web site clearly said in stock (and still does by the way). So after a reluctant decision and more extensive research I went with another tire (some Kumhos). I call up Nick and before I can even tell him about the new tire choice he tells me that the order is on hold because the TZ-10's are on back order for 3 months! And yes the ones that are suppose to be in stock on the web site....the same ones that STILL states they are in stock. He explains to me that the last set were damaged and they would not sell them. SO now i am asking myself "why did he not mention the Proxes and why did the last guy not mention the Rims?!". I just don't deal with companies that don't know what is going on with one order let alone with their own inventory so I told Nick to cancel my order. After 4 "cancel my orders" the conversation LITERALLY went like this: Nick says "Hold on one second.....hmmmm...what? Well I'll be. Well Mr. Perry looks like I missed a set that must have been JUST put in my computer inventory. We have a set for you right now that we can get to you in a couple of days!". I kid you not. I really could not believe what i was hearing....this guy took me as a total sucker and did not think twice about trying to pull some kind of okeedoke on me. After 5 more "cancel more orders" he finally did and I do not regret one second of doing it. Of course this is my own experience and may not reflect their total Customer Service history but I thought this experience was exceptional in my years of online purchasing.

 

I don't know the weights on the Exels, but I bought a package from wheelmax and didn't have any problems with them. I went with the Exel TZ-7s in gun metal. I would buy from them again, and probably will for my S4.

 

Check out Ryephile's post on page 21 of the "show me your wheels" post.

 

When did AOL start selling wheels and tires??

 

I opted for the Sportmax 920's as well.. in Chromium Black.... after long and careful consideration of the TZ-10. Even though I liked the TZ 10 slightly more, I chose the Sport Max purchased through a local motorsports specialty shop in a package deal. Mounted with Pirelli PZero - Nero 215/35 18, balanced, compatibility confirmed with 5mm spacers over our Brembo brakes, and installed. There was a stud conversion to consider as well, due to the presently installed custom lenghtend studs and nuts on our car because of the brakes.

My experience with the customer service dept at Wheel Max was average to good. Not great. They (Tony ex 1023) did not want to even hear that I had Brembos, and would not sell me the wheels because of it (unless I called back and made no mention of the Brembo's....so as to get around their "Compatability Guarantee". I would think that a waiver box (eliminating the guarantee) to be checked on the sale order would've been enough. Guess not.

BTW - The Sportmax 920 is made in a 38 mm offset, so the fit will be different than the Exels....which I believe are 40-42mm.

 

I'm interested to know what you think of the quality of those when you get them. With a purchase like wheels I feel like I shouldn't skimp and should probably spend somewhere around the median wheel price of about $150-$200 each. Of course I would love to get some Volks or something for like $500 per wheel, but that's just crazy. For most of us $250 per wheel is probably the cap, but that still opens up for a lot of wheels. Perhaps the brand name recognition helps with Konig, Gram Lights, Kosei, O.Z., 5Ziegen, Racing Hart, Etc. Etc., but I feel a little more comfortable with going with a bigger name, IMO.

Also, the fact that Ryephile has had 2 pairs of the TZ-10s makes me feel a bit better. (Thanks!)

-[[[S]]]

 

Well, the quality of finish looks good for the price. I'm happy with it, overall. I would suspect that the TZ-10 is as good.

here's a pic of the test fit day and a pic with the wheel tilted up on a stand in front of the car "to get the idea of how it will look mounted"