If any one is curious, here are the weight differences between the chrome 5-wides and the Vintage Motorcars silver 5-wides I picked up. I would agree with Alex and the 10lbs. The tires on the new rims are slightly heavier then the Pirrellis on the chrome rims. Either way, thats a LOT of rotational weight savings! Another thing to note is the scale is a basic indoor "and I fat or not" bathroom scale, so it's probably not the most accurate...
Lets remove the argument of the tire weight deferential and give it a conservative difference of 8lb, wow that still huge and very noticeable in driving performance.
We are very happy with the results.....
Thanks for posting it, its good to have unbiased confirmation of the wheel.
Consider making a 4 bolt stock looking wheel with the 10 cutouts. That would be very nice for those don't run wide fives.
That would be a tough call, not sure there is enough market for those wheels. Most people that would want a wide 5 look alike would just convert to wide 5. Our wheel cost is pretty low and doing a full conversion is feasible.
Alex. I would respectfully disagree. We 4 bolt guys would love to have an aluminum wheel option that looks vintage. Some folks don't like wide 5s and some don't want the added expense switching to wide 5. I think people would buy them even if you used 8 hole pattern but 10 hole pattern would be a bonus. Obviously they would need to be fitted with hub caps. I have a 914 4 bolt sutup so I can't go the wide 5s. I would buy them immediately. I bought Carey's wheels and powdercoated them black. But they are HEAVY. Would love to have that wheel in aluminum. Anyone else???? Think 4 bolt replica of 356C wheel.
You might be right, but you might be wrong. I guess our fear is there is so much to invest to get wheels in production. Unless someone wants to fund the project?
I'm posting this half to see how many previous posts can be nested in one reply.
But also to vote for these wheels in a four-bolt pattern. Probably more than half the Vintage Speedsters out there shipped with the four-bolt wheels, so that's a sizable market right there. The wheels VS currently mounts are 8-hole Chinese repops of the old Mangels. And those need their own special Chinese hub caps because..., well I've never heard a good explanation why.
So, a nice quality reasonably-priced 10-hole wheel in the four-bolt pattern would be huge, and in aluminum would be more huge. Beck does offer something in steel (apparently they saw a market and a need), but again, aluminum would be mo' better.
And the market isn't just for Speedsters, of course. There are a few zillion VW drivers out there with that pattern, too, looking to out-bling the competition at the next Bugorama.