When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
They haven't gone on the website yet but I've partnered with a US brake manufacturer to offer our own line. Current arrangement includes slotted and dimple slotted rotors with black zinc coating for the S and JCW. No plans to offer drilled or plain rotors at present.
So yesterday was my birthday and my wife has this nice big red package with a bow on it waiting for me when I get home. Needless to say I get all excited and shred the paper. The family dog helped a bit to but I digress... anyway, what do I find inside? A tie, boxer shorts or maybe a new watch you say? Oh no my friend. She's shooting for wife of the year.
Tell me I do not have the most awesome wife ever or what?
These are awesome. Any ETA when they will be available?
Originally Posted by minivinnie92
+1 I need eta!
Should be up on the site next Wednesday. Been working towards this for a bit as I wanted to be able to offer an alloy that can take abuse, tolerate aggressive pads well, be warrantied against warping and cracking while also being less prone to heavy oxidation after getting wet. I think the pricing will spread some smiles around as well
If I get any further behind I'm gonna need binoculars just to see where I was supposed to be by now. Finally said the heck with it and took a half a day off on Saturday just for myself and got the catless DP installed. This JCW had pops and burble before in regular mode, and a bit more aggressive ones in sport mode. The exhaust definitely sounds better now but it has a bit of a tinny note to it. Not quite ricey but a little too close for my comfort. Looks like the 3' CM Performance mandrel bent system I was planning will be going in ricky tick.
Took the Coupe out of 4X4 mode with Swift Sport springs and have been driving it for a bit. I've been in a Mini with the H&K springs but wanted to try the linear spring rate of the Swifts. I absolutely love the way these feel. It's taught but not harsh as all. Cut the bump stops and also removed the front strut locking pins to get an extra 1/2 degree of camber.
One thing I haven't been crazy about was the red vinyl on the interior. So I recovered the drivers door handle in black ultraleather. Still have to do the passengers side and I think I'll also recover the dash where the glove box and key fob goes.
Tig, as a fellow N14 R58 owner I will be following this discussion very closely after the work I saw you put in to the N18 motor. For your springs, did you pair them with the factory sport shocks or did those go by way of the aftermarket as well?
Also, what is your website so we can order those rotors?
Yes I put the springs on the factory sport shocks. Haven't made up my mind yet on aftermarket. The Koni Sports look to fit the bill but I need to lurk in the suspension thread a bit more. On Tigger I kept the Hotchkis RSB on the softest setting but these Swift springs seem happier on the middle setting.
The rotors aren't on the website yet because the attorneys are still going back and forth. The party of the first party agrees to blah blah blah. I'd much prefer a handshake and be done with it. The site is prototype-r dot com. Not much available at the moment besides Manic tunes but that should change soon.
Last edited by Tigger2011; 06-09-2016 at 09:27 AM.
Ordinarily I'm a "know what I want and get it done" kind of guy. But I'm feelin a bit stumped at the moment. When I installed the Swift springs I noted that the Dunlop RFTs on the rear were getting a bit thin. So I started thinking along the lines of what to replace all four with.
Then I got Tigger back from the shop last week with the new engine (wohoo!), crawled around him with a fine toothed comb and drove him for a few days to make sure no error codes or bugs popped up. It had been a while since I felt what it was like to be glued to the road with 235/40's. So that started me looking down another path for a set of skins for Vlad. I've narrowed it down to a few combinations but can't seem to make up my mind.
The first option is Motegi MR125 17"x7.5" E42 with 235/40ZR17 Toyo Proxes T1 Sports. The MR125s weigh 16.4 lbs and the tires come in at 23 lbs each. Diameter comes in at 24.2" as compared to 24.3 for the factory units. Not sure I'm real crazy about the spokes on the MR125s protruding out past the lip though. Clearance will be good and combined weight at each corner comes in at 39.4 lbs.
Second option is OZ Formula HLT 17"x7.5" E42 with 235/40ZR17 Bridgestone RE-11s. The HLTs are a bit heftier at 19 lbs and the tires come in at 25 lbs each. Diameter comes in a bit higher as well at 24.4" but I could always switch back to the Toyo's and also save a couple of pounds while I'm at it. While I love the look of the these OZ rims I just wish they were a bit lighter. Clearance will be good here as well but we're getting kind of porky at a fighting weight of 44 lbs.
And the final option is Motegi SP10 18"x8" E40 with 245/35ZR18 Michelin Pilot Super Sports. The SP10 also weighs 19 lbs and the Michelins come in at 23 lbs each. Diameter however comes up to 24.8" unless I go with the same size Toyo which weighs the same but brings the diameter down to 24.6" Clearance here will be a bit of an issue and requires some minor rework but no spacers. Total weight for each corner comes in at a reasonable 42 lbs.
So there's my quandary.
1. All out performance.
2. Great looks with a bit less performance.
3. Same as above but leave myself some room for a monster front and rear brake kit down the road.
Yeah I was already leaning towards AgBullet25's suggestion (thanks Ag) with Toyo's cause for me they're a known quantity in performance. But the RE-11's are supposed to be right up there with the PSS in terms of performance. Sucks that Michelin doesn't make it the size I want or I would have already picked that combo. Also sucks that TireRack hasn't tested any Toyo's. Are they gonna be as sticky as the Michelin or Bridgestones size for size? I doubt it but it would be nice to have it quantified for comparison. But then again with the Toyo's I get an extra 30mm of tread width over stock to offset that and they come with a 20k mile warranty to boot.
So options one and three are out. That just leaves the question of whether the extra 2lbs is worth it on the stones.
UPDATE: OZ's on order
Last edited by Tigger2011; 10-02-2015 at 09:20 AM.
Yeah most all of the reviews were very good. It seems like a lot of the user reviews that had also run Michelins, BF Goodrich, Yokahama and others in the Max & Extreme performance category preferred the RE-11's. Ah hell I may just have to call back and order them just to see if they're really that good.
Yes I did as they make great products and the price range is similar to the OZ's. It came down to an issue of offsets and tire size. Their 17x7.5 rim would work with the 235's, but the current set up on Tigger uses a +45 offset as well and you don't have a lot of clearance between the tire and the strut. It's fine with stock or Koni struts and lowering springs, but once you start dropping with a coil over its possible to run into clearance issues and need a spacer. I would prefer to avoid having to use a spacer if at all possible.
As you can see with 245's and a 45mm offset, the tire whiskers will touch the strut during hard cornering. Below are photos of the outside clearance on Tigger and while almost flush I've still got a little room to play with so a 42mm offset was what I was looking for from the beginning.
If going to an 18" wheel I wanted an 8" width to mount 245/35's on which requires a +40 offset. Unfortunately, all the 18" NM's are 7.5" wide with a 45 offset.
Good thing I don't need these right this moment. Tire Rack was out of stock on the RE-11's and won't have any more till the end of the month. They come in to the South Bend facility first so everything will be shipping from there instead of Georgia. RE-11's, OZ Formula HLT's + TPMS sensors w/black stems and caps, lug bolts and centering rings. All preassembled, balanced and ready to go.
Just noticed the weeds in the front flowerbed. Now I'm embarrassed. The wife has since pulled those.
Did you notice the back end becoming very unsettled when hitting a bump in the road at decent speed? Has that been calmed down since you put the Swift springs in?
Strangely enough yes it is better. Every morning on my way in to work there is a sweeping left hand on ramp that inclines up before a decline. Near the apex there is a metal joining strip where the slabs meet and the rear of both my Minis with sport suspension would "hop" like a deranged bunny at anything much over 50 mph. It's about the ideal circumstance to highlight this tendency. With the Swift springs it is much less pronounced and taking it at 70 is not an issue. I had assumed with the higher spring rate it would be worse but I think the combination of the spring rate plus linear response allows the wheels to rebound much quicker and maintain contact with the road.
08-12-2015, 12:40 PM
