Light wheels or sticky tires
 

Given the choice would you take:

authentic te37's with an average performance tire

Or

Knock off varrstoen with a sticky tire like an re11


Obviously cost is the reasoning. Can't have everything all the time.

i really LOL when people run crappy tires with lightweight wheels.

go with choice #2 or check out the TSW Nurb with those tires. that would be a much better choice. lightweight, cheap, and good tires.

SSR/Advans are cheaper than volks and still light at the same time. use the extra money saved to get some Toyo R1R!

If you want show get the wheel.
If you want go get the tire.

It is up to you to determine what your priority is.

Let me clarify.

From a performance standpoint which would you do?

Do you think the extra weight of the heavier wheel will counter the gain made from a better tire?

I know a couple people here started with varrstoens and went to te37's. Has anyone noticed a big change?


I'm a dabbler. I do about 6 autocrosses a season, one track day, one or two drags, and drive daily on mountain roads.

Tires of course

Non staggered right? ;)

Tires win. It takes more than shaving a couple of pounds to make up for the performance difference in the tires. Given that you auto-x tires are the #1 mod you should invest in and yield the biggest result.

Just to be devils advocate.....I would choose the rims. You are going to be changing tires anyhow...you can get decent affordable tires still. Just be aware of your limits on said tires though.

If you are looking to get any JDM rims...the yen is still strong and the conversion rate is not looking to get any better soon. Every year the vendors are mentioning that the prices are going up.

Like I said though.....just being devils advocate.....just because you change tires a lot more frequent versus a rim.

Of course, our car is not mid or rear engine

one of the tuner magazines did a test recently with heavier OEM wheels, really heavy aftermarket wheels and lightweight forged wheels... using the same times the difference between lap times was negligible iirc. is it good to lose unsprung weight? yea but i'd go for tires first if budget is a concern

It's like paying $700 for a carbon fiber hood to save 10lbs in weight. Great if you can afford it, but absolutely pointless

Enkei RPF1 + Bridgestone Potenza RE11 = Light wheels + sticky tires :tup:

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That is, if you're into budget friendly performance. If you care about looks then I don't know.

Tires first. HOWEVER, if you are thinking long term, then wheels. tires wear out and you can replace this shitty ones with some re11s and then you'll have both good tires AND good wheels. Winning.

+1 :iagree:

+2 I'd definitely go with the wheels 'cause you can always get the tires somewhere down the line when you can afford them. Of course, i'm bias 'cause i have both te37 and re11's :tup:

I don't know the exact pricess but you are looking at a big difference in price for these two setups.

varrstoen $1100
RE-11s 1500
Total = $2600

Te37s $3500
Hankook V12s $900
Total = $4400

If you are looking at performance on a budget go with the cheaper combo. You can always use the money you saved for a set of 2 piece rotors to save on unsprung weight. Or get a second set of RE-11s because it sounds like you are going to go through them in less than a year.