Prodrive GT1 wheels... yay or nay?

[Bohemian_Funk]

So I was perusing about World One's online catalog (hell why not? I live like, 5-10 minutes drive away from 'em), and I noticed that they seem to have Prodrive GT1 (This link will download the image (http://www.worldoneperformance.com/image.php?object_type=detailed&image_id=896)) wheels for $296 each, which honestly isn't that bad of a price. So I was wondering what you guys think of the idea of a set of these (18x7.5, obviously offset for Subaru's) painted black, maybe with some blue trim, on a black BK? I think it'd look pretty damned sick (especially if I were to happen upon one of those MY98 BG5 bumpers like Subba's to go along with my nice new JDM one piece projector headlights), and they weigh 19 lbs a piece :shock:. Pretty f@#$in' light for a set of wheels that look more to me like they're for show. And of course being a Prodrive design, they're built right proper :smt023

Oh yeah and before anyone says something about how 18" wheels are a BIT big for motorsport, my Legacy quite likely will never see much track use, and if it did it sure as hell wouldn't be with these wheels :lol:

[peugoby]

Nice wheels but pretty pricey. After tires and installation you're looking at a minimum of $1600 on the car. That's big money in my opinion just for wheels. I'd look at a used set of Prodrive P1's in 18" before springing for those. They are very very nice wheels though.

[Huffer]

I'd sooner spend more money on tires than on super-expensive wheels aren't much if you can't grip!

[Bohemian_Funk]

Well as much as I honestly actually hate to say it, the entire point to this particular set of wheels is not motorsport :lol:

In fact:


Oh yeah and before anyone says something about how 18" wheels are a BIT big for motorsport, my Legacy quite likely will never see much track use, and if it did it sure as hell wouldn't be with these wheels :lol:

Honestly, it doesn't particularly seem like a great plan to me in the long run to tune a car to be what it was not meant to be in the first place. I'll have my hyper-fast Impreza some day, but in all reality my Legacy will likely be tuned more towards the idea of a GT Touring Wagon. Moderately fast (think highway kind of fast), yet comfortable; A bit of a sleeper, yet with a presence unlike that of your average family runabout/grocery getter. I mean really, yeah obviously with the low center of gravity and symmetrical drivetrain afforded by the Subaru design is a rather obvious choice for a full size sedan/wagon that absolutely DESTROYS the track. However, that very design quality also makes it a rather obvious choice for a great GT Tourer. And I mean honestly, what did you expect a set of high quality wheels from such a prodigious company such as friggin' PRODRIVE (read: they make most of the more expensive rally parts for Subaru, and they race prep Aston Martins) to cost anyway? I'm sorry, but for what I want my Legacy to do, wheels from "off-brand" companies such as Rota (Let's not kid ourselves guys, I'm sure they're great as home tuner wheels for auto-x and whatnot, but they are still made in the Philippines) and most America-based wheel companies just plain aren't in the cards.

At least they're not some of those Ray's/Volk/etc. wheels where the set of wheels ALONE can cost you upwards of $2k :shock:

[Huffer]

Grip is not just about motorsports.

[peugoby]

Sorry man not trying to give you a hard time I just couldn't see spending about $1700 on a set of wheels and tires for a car that is worth around $3000 total and relatively pretty stock (at least at the moment right?)

Again there are some deals to be had on used wheel & tire setups that aren't Rota's or American Racing on RS.com & Nasioc. Just something to consider.

[chiqueto]

Nice Wheels Brow.. !! $ 296 for one wheel ??

I love big wheels...My dream it´s a 19 Wheels in my subaru bd5 in the future !

[Bohemian_Funk]

Whoah now fellas, methinks the internet has made us all a bit touchy (except chiqueto, he's just diggin' the big wheels I guess). Let's just all calm down, breathing in and out deeply, and upon each outward breath repeat the following mantra: "Suuuuuuuubaarrrruuuuuuu..." :lol:

Seriously, this is what emoticons are for. They help to convey emotion, hence the name. All joking aside, I really honestly wasn't taken aback by anything you guys said or anything like that, I just wanted to clarify my intentions :smt023

Huffer: You're completely right, though one could say that 9 times out of 10, it's sort of a "squares and rectangles situation;" you can think about grip without thinking about motorsport, but you can't think about motorsport without thinking about grip. Or if you're like me and can't actually think about anything car-related without thinking about motorsport/racing, then... well... yeah :twisted:

Peugoby: Once again, completely correct. Though currently my engine alone is worth somewhere between 3500 and 3900 dollars, as I just had a replacement rebuilt from the ground up by my local dealership (thus why it's so expensive... could've had it done for easily half that, but my mother absolutely had to have it done at the dealership for some reason... probably the warranty :lol:) when my old one exploded via poor oiling conditions, but other than that and some stereo components, completely stock 14 year old pile of Subaru. I am in absolutely no position to purchase these so-called "rayims" as it were, I'm just hoping for an opinion on them. By the time I purchase those wheels, there'll be at least a new suspension, braking, and exhaust system on my car, of which the exhaust will likely be a custom fabricated job what with my welding friend and whatnot. Good lookin' out on the n00b alert, though :wink:

Chiqueto: Yup, $296. Don't know if you think that's high or low, but that's the price :grin:. I thought about 19's as I've seen pictures of how they look on our cars in a thread that's around here somewhere, but honestly that's the sort of size I would reserve for like, Skylines (among other Nissan sports cars what with their absolutely gigantic wheel wells and such) and light trucks and whatnot. Certainly doesn't necessarily look all that bad, but I just draw the line at sizes that might actually end up lifting my car above stock height with an aftermarket suspension. In fact, if I get a set of these and find out that they do just that, chances are good I'll end up selling 'em for a set of 17's. Probably a used set of Ray's (I'd even go used for Ray's or a good set of custom Enkei's from an '04 STi or something) or something that I'll use until I say "F@#$ IT" and finally drop the change for an STi 6 speed and the hubs that come along with the swap process. Though who knows, I might all ready be too far to turn back on either my Corolla or 280ZX build by then to drop that kind of change on my faithful Subaru. That, and I'm getting my stock tranny serviced soon, so I might just bite the bullet and get myself a set of PPG gears this summer to negate really even needing the 6-speed... there are plenty easier/cheaper ways to strengthen a transmission than swapping in one of those monsters... hell after those PPG gears I could get a welded diff and a light ass flywheel and driveshaft and probably a multi-plate clutch all for probably about the same if not cheaper than an STi 6-speed swap, and then therefore be faster :twisted:

By the by guys, as far as 5-speed tranny strength is concerned, I hear from a pretty damned reliable source (don't know him personally, but rather I read his blog, if that gives you an idea who it might be :wink:) that it's actually not case flex that generally destroys the 5-speed as has been currently thought from what I can tell, but rather something else. I cannot remember what it is off the top of my head, but I'll definitely find out again soon, and anyone that's interested to know can PM me.

Holy crap that was a huge post :shock:
Scott

[slaytalera]

I love those wheels!! Dont listen to the haters, do what you want, its your money, and if you like these wheels go for it. Just dont go cheap on tires.

[xXGTBspecXx]

I love those wheels!! Dont listen to the haters, do what you want, its your money, and if you like these wheels go for it. Just dont go cheap on tires.
+999999999999999999999999999999999999999999

[Plays_with_Toys]

I could just about buy a full set of wheels and tires for $296. I bought my WRX wheels and tires for $350 same with my RS wheels with tires.

I'll agree with what everyone else said. One of the easiest to steal, bend, curb, destroy things on your car is about to cost half the value of the car, and will only add a few hundred dollars of value to the car total. Having a $3000 motor in your car doesn't mean your car is now worth $6,000. It just means you really should get your money's worth out of the motor cause you won't get that money back. Not even close.

18" wheels means tires won't be cheap... I don't even think the $500 peugoby quoted on here (indirectly, 1700-1200=500 will be close to covering tire costs. I'm having trouble finding some decent 16" tires for under $500 mounted). I didn't see where you live, but I hope you have really nice roads. The less tire between the road and the wheel can lead to bent wheels. Furthermore, your car is stock, which means it's going to look lifted on those wheels. To make them look right you'll want to lower. But to lower with those size wheels almost certainly means rolling the fenders.

But hey. You're money and your "suuuubaaaaruuuuu"

[decke48]

heres prices for you. $1184 for just the rims then prices $140-270 a tire so 560-1080 for tires $70 for mount/balance so $1814-2334 for rim/tire. doesnt encluded cost of shipping. its your car. do what every you please. as long as you happy with the outcome

[Bohemian_Funk]

Holy illiteracy Batman! It looks like somebody was too tired to read my entire posts! S'all good though, it's a forum. It happens.


By the time I purchase those wheels, there'll be at least a new suspension, braking, and exhaust system on my car, of which the exhaust will likely be a custom fabricated job what with my welding friend and whatnot. Good lookin' out on the n00b alert, though :wink:

In the mean time, some important news that may or may not be significant to this thread, but it is indeed extremely significant (and will probably be put into it's own thread at some point): My Subaru is on its way out :smt009.

We took it in to the local dealership because my mother wasn't exactly happy that they didn't repair the god awful bearing noise coming from the transmission whenever you accelerate or decelerate (and because my mother seems to think the dealership would give us a good deal... which actually you'd think they would considering we know the dealer's father pretty well, but that's besides the point) only to find out that not only would "fixing" this particular problem likely be a tranny rebuild or replacement, but that rebuild or replacement would likely be another 3800 dollars or so (which sounds like almost twice what it should cost, but I'm not the one who chooses the repair shop in this case, so whatever I guess). So therefore we're going to cut our losses with this particular Legacy wagon (as much as it pains us to do so, being that it was my late father's daily driver) after we've resolved my father's estate (which for those who don't know, "resolving somebody's estate" essentially means paying off their debts), and we will be in the market for something sporty with 4-5 seats, a manual transmission, costs around 5 grand, and has fairly good fuel economy. Honestly, it might be a mid 90's BMW 3-series; probably a coupé.

IMPORTANT: this will NOT be my last Subaru, much less my last Legacy. Therefore, I will not be leaving this board any time soon. I will talk to my mother about the possibility of parting out my car to sell parts to anybody on here that wants them, though I have a hard time believing anybody here wants an extremely faded/worn salmon-colored interior, so we'd probably just be selling parts like the rebuilt EJ22 (has probably 12,000 miles on it, and either leaks or burns oil. If it's burning the oil, it's doing so slowly enough to not show up in the exhaust, but fast enough that in an average oil change lifecycle it loses over 3 quarts of oil :shock:, so it would probably come at the discounted price of about 2500-3000 dollars if you guys really want it... remember, we payed 3800 dollars for this sucker, so we can't just sell it for like, 2 grand. Sorry :-?). Honestly I don't think most of the parts on this car are worth you guys buying them from me (and I won't sell you my JDM projector headlights... they're sticking with me :twisted:), so we'll probably end up freshening it up a bit, and trading it in at a dealership or something.

[Plays_with_Toys]

You'd probably recoup your money more quickly selling the whole vehicle. Parting out cars is a long slow process. Put the car up on craigslist for maybe a $1000 under what others like it are selling for.

[Bohemian_Funk]

Yeah, that's kind of what I figured. I just thought somebody might be in need of a pretty much fresh EJ22, though I'm guessing they can likely be had for much less than my price. Like I said, we'll probably end up going for dealership trade-in, since I'm probably going to end up getting like, a 90's Toyota Tacoma or some similar light truck arrangement (I'm likely moving fairly soon to go to school at UTI, so having something that can haul would be a mighty helpful investment, at least for now). That, and my mother seems to distrust every single human being in the world except car dealerships when it comes to cars for some reason. I'm still trying to figure that one out, but oh well, she's payin' :lol:. Oh the woes of not currently having an actual income :roll: