I just got my Volk wheels today from ARD T2. And I just finished the measurements:

Manufacturer: Volk Racing
Model: SE37K
Color: Black
Std Accessories: 4 black valve stems, 20 chrome lug nuts, 4 aluminum hub rings
Opt Accessories: "basic" black centercaps

Size: 17x8.5" 17x9.5"
Offset: +40mm +40mm

Weight: 15.4 lbs 16.6 lbs
Width: 9 5/8" 10 1/8"
Diameter: 18 5/8" 18 5/8"
Backspace: 6 7/16" 6 15/16"

Weight includes "basic" center cap, hub ring, and valve stem. I also weighed them without these items and the difference did not measure on my scale, except that the 17x8.5" wheel seemed to be right on the edge of 15.2 and 15.4 lbs. The scale is a high quality digital bathroom scale that reads in 0.2 lbs increments. Weight did not include lug nuts. Width and diameter were measured from the very edges of the rim. Backspacing was measured from the rear rim edge to the wheel pad that mates with the hub.

They look really nice. The texture is is sort of crinkle-like except for the outer lip that is machined smooth. There is a white "VOLK RACING SE37" sticker on the lip near the valve stem hole. The basic $20 center caps (as opposed to the fancy $26 ones) have the same texture as the wheel finish. They get some 245/40-17 and 265/40-17 S-03s tomorrow. I'll post pics when I get them installed.

-Max

 

nice

I hope you can post a pic soon!

what color is your car? I have been looking at getting the same wheels, but in the bronze color.

anyway you could tell me the price on the wheels? you can email me at mako@nationwide.net

Thanks,
James

 

Pictures man... we want pictures!

I just took these off ARD T2's hands :

 

Cool. Now here is a pic of mine:


See the rest at my web site.

 

I love my job. Thanks guys for endorsing me, this helps people to trust that we are a legitimate distributor. Everything we are supplying is pretty much top quality ****.

I don't know what to say, the pictures have made me speechless, lol.

Thanks, Rishie

 

Hey Richie... how about a set of SSR's for the Lightning?

 

Hehe, that's funny. Can't be done with SSR, but if you want a forged wheel for the lightning I suggest pricing out HRE's or Kinesis. I feel that Kinesis would look incredible on that.

But seriously. we should weigh the stocks first, then decide. I bet you could drop a lot of unsprung weight by upgrading.

If you're interested, for the hell of it, or whatever, call me and I'll see what pricing is like. You already have 18's right.

I must say that there is one wheel that I would put on there. It is the OZ Vela Modular Sport truck wheel. I actually have a set in stock at me local distributor. Sweet wheel and multi-piece. It is offered in a 22 and 23" size. You should go with the 22 and run a 295/30/22. Amazing looking tire by Pirelli Scorpion Zero.

We're talking a thousand dollars a wheel for the 22" and tires are a but load too. Probably spend around $6000.00. Then we would need to lower it with some good ****. I'm sure your friends know what's up with the hot suspension setup.

Ask any of your lightning buddies, I'm looking for someone serious about upgrading basic performance and aesthetic stuff, so that I can include them in my portfolio. I will hook up the stuff right at cost + tax, just so we can produce a demo vehicle for the portfolio.

Thanks, Rishie

 

This was a good buying experience for me. I was a little hesitant at first just to send a money order out, but Rishie was available by phone or email for my questions and handled everything very professionally. For instance, he made sure that I got the center caps and other accessories that I wanted. I would not hesitate to recommend him now -- he has proven that he is legit.

Thanks Rishie!

Dreamin, quit screwing around and get those SSRs installed! ;-)

-Max

 

those are the exact same rims i want.....how much did you pay for them without tires? you can PM me.

 

Max Cooper, Your making me anxious, I have the exact same set coming from Rishi, I think we got the last two black sets that Volk is bringing in! Now all you need is to finish them off with some Black 25 gram each, Kyokugen forged Chrome Vadnium lugs, I ordered mine from Revolution Motorsports, they have a group buy going on the group buy center. These lugs weigh less than half of what normal lugs weigh and are twice as strong and are also open ended. They are also heptagonal and come with a special tool, they are so light the package I hold in my hand feels lighter than 15 conventional lugs in the other and thats with the special tool in the package! Very cool!! get some, they will look great with the black! Oh by the way $55.00 shipped.

 

Looks fantastic in black, especially with the centercaps. Will these be your street wheels only?

 

Hey, I have seen your wheels! I let you have the better boxes (the ones my wheels came in were dirtier ;-). I love the black wheel look, perhaps they can still do it as a custom color.

Those lugs sound cool, I'll check them out. The chrome lugs are not as noticable as I was expecting, though, so I don't feel a strong need to get them just for the color. Light weight is always nice, though.

-Max

 

Manny,

Thanks for the compliment. Yes, they are street only, but they would make great track wheels, too. Very open design for brake cooling. Several people told me that the same tire width F/R is better for track to avoid understeer, though, so I might get all 9s or something for the track.

-Max

 

Yes I've heard that too from many FD track nuts. This is what's frustrating with the SSRs. You either get 8.5 x 17 all around or run asymmetric sizes (8.5 fr and 9.5 rr) and dial out the understeer (by leaving the rear sway bar at its stiffest setting, and going back to the stock front sway bar to soften the front end). It's also nice to be able to rotate tires and increase tire life (Hoosiers ain't cheap!).

So 9 x 17s will fit up front? I'm thinking of 245/40-17 or 245/45-17s Hoosier R3S03s all around. Did you have to pay extra for the black color? I thought the Volks came in white or bronze as standard colors, and anything else was an extra charge?

 

Manny,

One of the forum members (Taz) has 17x9" +40mm all around on his car and his report is that they fit pretty well. That seems reasonable when looking at my 8.5x17" w/245/40-17 up front. You probably wouldn't be able to "slam" the car, but reasonable setup and precautions would probably keep you from having trouble. Don't lower too much, use reasonably stiff springs, remove the fasteners at the top of the wheel arch, run a bit of negative camber, etc.

245/40-17 are almost exactly stock diameter, so I recommend those over the 45-series size. Rubbing in the front is often a result of diameter rather than width.

Bronze and black were the standard colors for SE37Ks when I ordered. I am not sure if black is still a standard color or not. TE37s come in white or one other color (I forget which -- silver, bronze, gunmetal?). They are very similar wheels in terms of sizing and weight.

-Max

 

I have the exact same set I love them,but I am thinking about selling them for a set of bronze 18 TE37's If I had the money I would just own both.

 

I've heard both options from track guys... some say run the same size front and rear but many others say run an inch bigger in the rear... you can apply power sooner exiting a corner. They dial out understeer with spring rates (coil-overs). Most run 9" in front and 10" rear. One runs 9.5" front / 10.5" rear. I'd think 8.5" front and 9.5" rear would work well.

 

That's true! Well, I'm going for the SSR Comps next season. 8.5 x 17 with 245/45-17s and 9.5 x 17 with 275/40-17s. Tires will be Hoosier R3S03. Thanks.

 

Those tire sizes seem pretty tall, is there a reason for that choice?

 

I love those wheels, lightweight and mesh best of both worlds. MeLoco, if you really are planning on selling yours and they are 17x8 or 8.5 and 17x9.5 I coudl be interested soon, assuming theyre in top condition. I'd love to have the 2k for a new set, but I dunno how in the budget that is. We'll see in a bit.

Spyder420
01 MR2 Spyder for now
FD possibly on the way really soon

 

those are cool, nice website too. do you have any pictures from farther back, so that i can see what they really look like on the car?

 

Hi Max,

Nice wheels...but wondering why you chose CCW for the 18x10s. Did the other brands not have proper fitment? I'm tempted to go 18x10 w/ 285/30-18 Esta V700's next year but not sure whether I should get the wheels from John (CCW) or try other brands (Volk, RH, Desmond, etc).

TIA...

PS. Congrats on the RX6 also. Did you hafta fab the heat shield for the intake?

 

I chose CCWs for the 18x10s because I could not find any one-piece forged wheels in that size with the correct offset. I am not even totally sure what the correct offset is! For a while I thought it was 63mm, but that is way off. After measuring my CCWs, the critical dimension seems to be 7.5" of backspacing, which equates to about 46-50mm of offset for a 10" wheel. The CCWs probably weigh slightly more than one-piece wheels would weigh in that size, but they are sericable (a bent rim-half would be $150 or so rather than $450 for a new wheel) and the parts are readily available, too. 18"s are nice because you can run the exact same wheel at all four corners (rotate!). You need a little less backspacing in the rear with 17"s to clear the trailing arm.

Les D. of V8 RX-7 fame actually made that heat shield. It will be the basis of a more complete cool air intake when I get some time to work on it. Underhood temps went up with the turbo install and it would be nice to have some cool intake air. The hose is 90mm Santoprene from http://www.mcmaster.com/. They should change their name to McMaster-RaceCar!

-Max

 

Thanks weaklink!

I still have to take some "whole car" shots. I'll post them when I do. I'll try to take some tomorrow. I really like the black wheels look, and I've gotten several positive comments from people I don't even know since I put the wheels on, so I guess it's not just me.

-Max

 

Yes they would be if these were regular street tires. The Hoosier R3S03s are road racing tires, so the overall diameters are much shorter. Hoosier R3S03 in 245/45- and 275/50-17s are 25.3 inches in overall diameter, which is only slightly taller than the stock 25 inches. I'm picking the slightly taller sidewall tires for maximum G-loading capacity. Surprisingly Hoosier has had some freak tire failures with short sidewalled tires. An example is the 285/30-18 tire size. Hoosier says some cars (Porsche 993s/996es in this case) need taller sidewalled tires to increase load bearing capacity (thereby minimizing tire failures). Makes sense to me. The taller the tire sidewall, the more air to support the carcass structure, the higher G-load the tire can handle, and the less likely your tires will fail at speed.