planetsoarer2sm.gif (4874 bytes)

New Wheels - from Japan!!!

January 2005

by Peter Scott

First up let me admit I got a thing for genuine Toyota wheels - I just love them. Just like Rob Hayden has a thing for Work rims - it's all he buys.

So why Toyota rims?
- correct offset (+45 to +50mm)
- correct size hub hole of 60mm - fit hub spigot perfectly
- nice and strong - top quality - don't easily dent or crack
- use Toyota wheels nuts with the shank - not cone type nuts
- look bloody good and stand out from the Aftermarket crowd.

I used to have the genuine Toyota 10 spoke rims:
Mallala pp (28)(08)(04) 052.jpg (66616 bytes)

Ok this ain't my car! Like Frank (this is his car) I used the 10 spokes for racing. Frank was racing Porsches on the circuit when a racing incident cut short his session - doh!. Cool hand Frank snapped a bunch of photos waiting for the recovery vehicle! - tough as bloody nails.

Anyway my other favourite set of Toyota rims were from the Lexus GS400 (USA) or late 2002 Lexus GS300 - 17*8 rims with +50 offset:

silverrims.jpg (87408 bytes)

These rims are great!! I was all set, had my 16's, my 17's and my 18's - but then I upgraded the front brakes for some 4 pots:

11320IMG_0313-med.jpg (43272 bytes)

This Dennis' LS400 upgrade from Club Lexus - same as mine. The big calipers hit the spokes on both stock Toyota rims so I had to sell them. More on this brake upgrade later.

So now I had to get myself some rims to clear the big brakes. Since I had fitted 1998 Celsior brakes (Lexus LS400), some Celsior rims would fit the bill nicely. So I went shopping on Yahoo Japan thanks to Jeff Harper. 

I wanted the genuine 16 inch Celsior rims from a Japan model Toyota Celsior - like the ones in this pic:

5spoke rims on lexus.jpg (135614 bytes)

Being a Toyota Diehard - I preferred the Japanese rims with the Toyota symbols in the middle rather than the Lexus LS400 "L" emblem:

Photo by Julian Edgar - Autospeed.com

So I did a search for 16 inch rims and "Celsior" :

I click on Jeff's keyword search: http://www.f1kits.com/Keyword%20Search.htm and down the bottom I clicked on "16 inch and Toyota". But I wanted to narrow it down to Celsior rims so I copied the Japanese word for Celsior from Jeff's list "????" - I don't have Japanese font installed so it comes up as ????? or just boxes - doesn't matter it still works! I pasted the word for Celsior into the top left hand box and hit the grey search button. Then in the address bar I add "&mode=1" to the end of the address to display all the pretty pictures instead of a list. Here is the link:

Celsior 16 inch rims

Lots of the rims are scratched and prices vary a lot. I wanted a perfect perfect set. So I waited and these ones came up: 16*7 inch +45mm offset and clear the big Celsior brakes of course!

sean0903-img600x445-10904530668.jpg (49806 bytes)

These were exactly what I had in mind - One bid at 39 000 yen ($493 Aud) and the full set of 4 rims were mine - no-one else bidded but the start price was high.

2004-12-08 021.JPG (228923 bytes)

Celsiorwheels.jpg (134003 bytes)

asxtyres.jpg (84844 bytes)

I like the prestige unique look of the car with these rims. And 16 inch rims mean tyres are cheap and comfy to ride in. More on that later.

2004-12-08 039.JPG (561088 bytes)

I like to take my Soarer everywhere and it will regularly see big day trips on dirt roads. I prefer 16 inch tyres in this sort of situation. I can afford a bigger tyre sidewall with 16 inch rims.

Next on the menu I wanted some Supra 17 inch rims.

suprarims.jpg (48642 bytes)

I really like the 1998 onwards rims with the 5 dots in the hubcap - looks much nicer. 17*9.5 on the back and 17*8 inch on the front with +50mm offset. Jeff has a link for "17 inch and Toyota" - but I preferred a more direct search for "17 inch and Supra". I reckon that searching for some Supra rim ads don't mention Toyota and won't come up in the Toyota only search.

mysuprarims3.jpg (40615 bytes)

I came across these in the Supra search - they didn't show up in the Toyota search. I bid 10 000 yen ($125 Aud) and no-one else bidded. I got them with tyres for this price - I couldn't believe my luck!!!

2004-12-24 011.jpg (100499 bytes)

I reckon they look great. These are my sport wheels - Great for wet track days - gymkhanas and sports driving. The Bridgestone Potenza tyres that came with them are noisy, they tramline - but they grip!!!

2004-12-24 006.JPG (537527 bytes)

No problems clearing big brakes with Supra rims. As a rough guide I needed 70 mm from the disk to the inside of the spokes to clear the brakes.

2005-01-08 011.JPG (83672 bytes)

Toyota rims have the rim size,17, by width 9.5 inches and then 50 for the offset.

2005-01-08 021.JPG (98872 bytes)

Genuine Toyota wheel nut with shank on the right - common cone nut on the left.

2005-01-08 007.JPG (137222 bytes)

When I'm racing on go the 18 inch slicks. I have Forged BBS race rims - light and strong.

2005-01-08 010.JPG (102297 bytes)

Forged wheels tend to be stronger, lighter and more expensive.

2005-01-08 008.JPG (79086 bytes)

These rims are 9 inches wide by 18 and a 45mm offset.

2005-01-08 019.JPG (133217 bytes)

However the centre hub hole is too big and a spigot ring had to be installed for correct figment.

2005-01-08 013.JPG (96436 bytes)

The Supra rims come with the perfect centre hole and flat wheel nut holes for Toyota wheel nuts.

Cobrawheel.jpg (39549 bytes)

Ha! I would have loved some Halibrand type wheels - but I doubt they would have cleared the calipers and they are crookin' expensive.

Time to go racing!!:

soarerfront2.jpg (93779 bytes)

soarerbackside.jpg (160320 bytes)

Oh one more thing - getting wheels shipped out from Japan costs a lot of money. I bought a van:

103a.jpg (71565 bytes)

from Japan for 200 000 odd yen, and had the wheels shipped over in that. Saved heaps of money. Sure I still got the van and associated costs - but that's ok - I wanted it as well. I sourced the van from www.kobecars.com - they bid on Yahoo Japan for me, took delivery and packed the rims for a small 5000 yen fee per set. I believe Jeff Harper can help with this sort of mucking about as well. Getting a car from Japan means leaving tyres on the rims is easy. Sure buying a van to get a couple of sets of wheels isn't everyone's cup of tea - but it ain't so bad.

 

Home to PLANET SOARER

planetsoarer2sm.gif (4874 bytes)