*Test Fitted* Track wheels came in....Apex 18x10 +43mm, only 22.1 lbs

[1mic]

Terry Fair? dude?! I met you once at an SCCA event but really?
"Buy at your own risk? email Vorshlag?"
Thats awesome! talk smack about another vendor that has a proven record supporting grass roots motorsport and then say call you instead. :dnftt:

Uh wait.. Terry, from your own thread you ran spacers:
"
-We've found that there's really not one backspacing that fits properly front and rear (the GRAND AM teams use 18x10's with slightly different offsets front and rear)
-The 18x10.5" ET38 fits on the front with camber, but not the rear
-The 18x10 ET38 Enkei RPF-1 fit the rear "fairly well" but needed 7mm of spacer to clear the brakes
"

So you were learning that you can run a wider wheel in a square setup on a stang by using spacers on the front and same wheels tires all corners. Square setup means same offset same wheel same tire so you can rotate front to rear to save money on HPDE/track time without having to mount remount tires.


Sucks if you are stuck with $30,000 in wheels trying to support mustang crowd:
http://www.sccaforums.com/forums/aft/47484/afpg/4
Respect to you for trying.
But since you got rid of that pallet you aren't in a bind trying to sell them.
Since then you switched to selling Forgestar 18" CF5:
http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=141_322_330
http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_322_330&products_id=749

Now in the mean time Apex works directly with a manufacturer to get wheels built for track use crowds in BMW and now S550.

Real "Track use" means substantial risk in wheel failure to yourself and other drivers at speeds above 100. This does not mean picking the lightest weight wheel you can find and risking your life and others with it. I heard COTA banned ROTAs after it cost them $12,000 to have Wheeler resurface a corner. lol..

For SCCA parking lot cone dodging, the lightest flimsiest<-is that a word? wheel is probably fine. You are not likely to spin half on/ half off the racing surface at 100. To be fair, Watch out for lightest weight being used as a leading marketing/selling point.

Apex wheels are the real deal at $330 comparable to $350 Enkei's and CF5s.
edit: Apex wheels are the real deal at $264 <=!
http://www.apexraceparts.com/apex-products/S550-Mustang/18x10-ET43-APEX-EC-7-Mustang-Wheel.html

Maybe lay some 4x4 timbers across the road and run some various wheels across them and see what speeds they all survive up to. Got a ranch truck to loan out for the test.

Vorshlag running COTA this February? Get you some Apex EC7s available today and come on out!

mod in 3,2,1...

Good intel, im not Terry Fair, dumbass.

Also, I posted this as a reference. If you scrolled through that thread you will see what works and what doesnt, the main purpose was to show the weights (notice they didnt even mention Apex!) lol. I will gladly spend $30 bucks more per wheel to save weight. That apex wheel is heavy as shit, good luck with heavy ass wheels vs proven enkeis.

This part is golden:

For SCCA parking lot cone dodging, the lightest flimsiest<-is that a word? wheel is probably fine. You are not likely to spin half on/ half off the racing surface at 100. To be fair, Watch out for lightest weight being used as a leading marketing/selling point.

Watch out for cheap wheels too, Enkei is proven and makes wheels for all sorts of brands. Apex? Never heard of it till I saw it in these forums.



Edit:
I just got home and looked up what my Forgestar CF10 weighed when I put it on the scale (10.5" wide, 20" rim), its 24lbs. The op's Apex wheels are 10" wide, 18" rim @ 22lbs.

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[DoingOK]

Enough gentlemen.....let's not turn this into a Honda forum. :doh:

Anyways....Brent Dalton, post up pics when you get them mounted. I'm waiting for tpms's as well and my car is currently at a shop getting a clear bra installed.

And for the record, I wrote a nice email to Apex about the price drop they just had. They are giving me a refund for the new price. That's great customer service and almost makes me want to get a second set as a spare.

 

[Brent Dalton]

lol.

Richard, will do. They just started tracking. Should be here on Saturday. Fedex normally delivers in the morning so maybe I can get it squared away this weekend.

You have good taste! Nice pictures... nothing I love more than CCW C10's and blue cars :

 

[DoingOK]

That looks sharp on the BMW. I love nice wheels.......can't help it.

My CTS-V had some custom Forgeline wheels made with a centerlock option. Those wheels were hell to take off (torqued to 300 ft/lbs).

 

[sigintel]

World Challenge GTS class wheel:
Built/Engineered by BBS for Ford
18x10ET43.2mm 5x114.3mm(4.5")
20.7 lbs
https://fordperformanceracingparts.com/parts/part_details.asp?PartKeyField=11825

BBS with all its $$$ engineering resources determined that 20.7lbs of material is needed for a racing application. Apex got with in 1.4lbs of that. What looks different from the BBS Ford vs the Apex EC7? Barrel coning and hub section.
http://www.apexraceparts.com/apex-products/EC-7-Wheels/18x10-ET43-APEX-EC-7-Mustang-Wheel.html
http://www.steeda.com/apex-et43-ec-7-mustang-race-silver-wheel-18x10-05-14-apex-ec7189et43rs-45/

Almost looks like someone gave Apex the engineering data and said make this for the little guy...

 

[DoingOK]

It's funny that you post the BBS variant. I shopped around for those exact wheels and if I remember correctly, the best price I found was ~$624/each. I mentioned those BBS wheels to a fellow weekend racer friend and he said to check out Apex. I'm pretty well versed in the aftermarket wheel market but had never heard of Apex before. After some quick messages/texts to some of my BMW track friends, the reviews were very positive and I decided to check them out. Like I said previously, the finish/price/weight and proven track record makes these wheels a perfect fit for my intended purpose. The BBS variant looks almost exactly like the Apex....so close that I wonder if they are made by the same manufacturer. The fact that they are now very competitively priced only makes it that much easier to pull the trigger.

 

[sigintel]

They are available $594 if you google the part number.

 

[DoingOK]

Wanted to check clearances/fitment for the track wheels. The Brembos have more clearance between the back of the spoke and the face of the caliper than the PP wheels have. The gap between the inside barrel and top of the caliper is a little closer than stock but still has at least 1/4" of clearance.



Front strut clearance. Should clear fine with the 265x45x18 S04 Pole Position tires I have. May need small spacer for larger fitment.



Rear clearance is not an issue:



Plenty of Brembo clearance:

 

[Cloak]

Front strut clearance. Should clear fine with the 265x45x18 S04 Pole Position tires I have. May need small spacer for larger fitment.

That strut clearance is real close! I would definitely throw a 5-10mm spacer upfront.

Wheels look great!

 

[Brent Dalton]

Nice! I was able to get my tires mounted yesterday afternoon. My spacers didn't come in though. After seeing your front strut clearance photo, it will be interesting to see if the 295's work with a 5mm spacer that apex says will clear.

 

[DoingOK]

That strut clearance is real close! I would definitely throw a 5-10mm spacer upfront.

Wheels look great!

I agree, but I'll have to check the 265 fitment with the new strut going on that is also a little smaller.

 

[APEX Race Parts]

Hey Guys-
I'm very glad several of you are enjoying your wheels so far. :cheers: As a vendor, there are some "gentleman's rules" to follow when posting in a technical thread. I'll be more than happy to chime in on wheel details, but can't discuss current deals or 'business'. Please email us if you have those questions

First, let's get the politics out of the way. I own Enkei wheels on one of my personal cars. Enkei makes great wheels, they are a great value, and look sweet
Although we technically became competitors over the years, Vorshlag does an outstanding job with their technical write-ups and supporting the grassroots racer. Kudos to them, at the end of the day we spiritually have the same goal: making customers go faster the right way.

With that out of the way, let me clarify some technical details about wheels.

Strength: After 8 years of being a solely track-focused wheel company, we have and continue to learn a lot. Our EC-7 Mustang wheels weigh what they do to achieve a balance. Target weight with the performance and reliability track customers need. Strength in wheels is widely misunderstood. Flow formed barrels are actually about the same strength as a fully forged wheel. How? They're formed by aligning the grain of metal under pressure and then heat treated, typically with very similar amounts of metal in the barrel of a forged wheel. So close in fact, that by using a mesh face, sound design, and flow forming like we do, you have more weight but equal overall-strength to a fully forged wheel at a much lower cost. Strength also has a positive effect on lap times. Interesting note: there are forged wheels that are weaker, and cast wheels that are stronger than flow formed wheels. Balance is the key.

Weight: Lighter would certainly be better on paper, its eye catching, but there has to be some concession to the end users needs. Reality is, the outcome would be more bent wheels. Keeping in mind the clarity I hoped I added above about about construction method, with proper design and sound engineering, less material has a real world outcome- less weight, but also less strength. How we evaluate this is by evaluating our designs by testing finished prototypes. There are times when we made the choice to add weight (metal) should it be the right choice in the end for the racer. Something that FEA analysis couldn't "predict" as a failure in the computer, we exploited and then optimized in the finished product.
People know our staff by name in the BMW world; we're proud of that and feel we're accountable for producing products that perform at a high level. Our wheels are used on many record holding BMWs around the world besting many running on fully-forged wheels. Weight is only part of the equation for speed.

Engineering: There is no magic in engineering. We use the same computer-aided structural analysis, destructive testing, metallurgy and heat treating, along with flow forming that many other quality oriented manufactures do. In fact, we were one of the pioneers of affordable Flow Forming to the grassroots market 8 years ago and now its more common place than ever. We like to add features like improved lug nut clearance so racers can use impact guns and OEM hardware too. We think and engineer from a race perspective.

Non Technical Take Away: Whatever you call them (flow forged, spin forged, etc.) Flow formed wheels and their barrels are all fairly strong, when made for strength before maximum weight loss. Companies who have each and every wheel VIA certified individually are typically doing it right (It's a basic safety test, but if a specific wheel doesn't have a test number, its not really tested *no matter what is stamped on the wheel itself*). Though even among these, ANY wheel can bend. Look for certification, look for track record, and draw conclusions based on real world findings. APEX likes to design wheels with significantly stronger designs (for example we don't make 5 or 6 spoke, or parallel spoke wheels), better brake clearance than most, and better lug nut clearance to make wheel changes easy. We also shoot for kick-a** customer service from guys who regularly track their personal cars, and company credos that honors the customer above all else. Thats what we do, and we hope to win business in that way.

-Steve @ APEX

 

[DoingOK]

Great post and it has been a pleasure doing business with you guys. Now the awful wait until track season opens up again. :(

 

[APEX Race Parts]

I agree, but I'll have to check the 265 fitment with the new strut going on that is also a little smaller. Great post and it has been a pleasure doing business with you guys. Now the awful wait until track season opens up again.

Hey 'Doing'. Sick car collection! Here are some fitment pictures for you. Yeah, I'm recently moved to California, will certainly be exploiting year-round track days!!!

Nice! I was able to get my tires mounted yesterday afternoon. My spacers didn't come in though. After seeing your front strut clearance photo, it will be interesting to see if the 295's work with a 5mm spacer that apex says will clear.

For all who are curious. Wide street tires have been tested to fit, as well as some R compounds I'll illustrate below. With R compounds its very close, but the strut is angled so its not so bad in the end. We recommend customers check before they just bolt on and go when using wide sizes as each brand of tire is shaped differently, even in the "same size" from one to the next brand or tire class.
If you have less than 3mm of strut clearance, then we like to recommend spacers just to account for expansion and suspension component flex. For those that are unfamiliar, R compounds are some of the widest tires available. Common performance street tires will almost always be narrower and have more clearance. There will only be a few very rare instances that that a street tire is close to an R compound in width. Some tires should be used along with a small spacer on the front wheels to reach that "not less than 3mm" recommended clearance. We like to be conservative saying what fits so customers who are not familiar with the way aggressive tire fitments work don't run into a jam.

Picture time: Thanks Josh at Trinity Autosport in Anaheim, one of our dealers who was first to use EC-7s on their S550, they run our BMW wheels and also do American Iron series cars...


Mustang S550 GT V8 Performance Pack
-18x10 et42 EC-7 Mustang
-Factory suspension
-275/35-R18 ' Nitto NT01 ' R compound :headbonk:
-No spacers used

Mustang S550 GT V8 Performance Pack
-18x10 et42 EC-7 Mustang
-Factory suspension
-305/35-R18 ' Toyo R888 ' R compound
-No spacers used

- Steve @ APEX

 

[Pablo GT350]

Sorry if this was already asked: Are you going to do 19's?

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