I understand that weight is a key factor when choosing a sports wheel. It’s probably the first thing most people think about. Yet what many may tend to overlook is the importance of a wheel’s rigidity or stiffness.

A recent article in Option Magazine attempted to compare the function of “rigidity” or “stiffness” of a wheel versus its “lightweightedness” and how these 2 factors affected overall performance. Enkei and GT-R tuner MCR together conducted a test using a highly rigid wheel, the GTC 01 and a specially-made, lightened version of the same wheel.

The test was meant to prove that although most people understand the merit of seeking a lightweight performance wheel, most tend to think that as long as a wheel is rigid or strong enough not to crack or bend, it should be fine. What they point out in this article is that when producing a true, race worthy wheel, reputable manufacturers take into account the degree of rigidity depending on the specifications of the particular racecar. The weight factor is taken into consideration only after the rigidy factor.

If you’re interested in reading this article, Jin took the liberty to translate the full article into english. Here’s a summary of the tests and results:

Regular High Rigidity Enkei GTC-01 18×10 +22: 23.76 lbs.
Specially Lightened Version Enkei GTC-01 18×10 +22: 19.8 lbs.

The weight of the lightened version was reduced by 3.96 lbs. Both used Advan A048 (265/35-18 M-Compound). Testing was performed at Ebisu East Circuit using MCR’s Z33 driven by Kobayashi and under the same specs (ie., tire pressure, # of laps, etc.)

Regular High Rigidity GTC-01
Best Lap: 1 min. 4.646 seconds
Top Speed: 147.16 km/h @ 17.83 seconds

Specially Lightened GTC-01
Best Lap: 1 min. 5.045 seconds
Top Speed: 141.46 km/h @ 17.74 seconds

A very rough and quick recap: The surface temperature of the tires for the less rigid, specially lightened GTC-01 were higher overall with extensive wear on the outer portion while not enough contact/usage on the inner portion. The high rigidity regular version GTC-01 showed even usage throughout the inner and outer parts of the tire. Also, the low rigidity, lightweight version wheels gave/bent when taking aggressive high speed turns even affecting the height of the car which even led to scraping and alignment problems. Furthermore, the lighter version accelerated much quicker, but ultimately did not lead to faster times. In summary, Kobayashi expressed that a balanced wheel with both rigidity and lightweight characteristics is important, but he never imagined that the effects of rigidity played such a large role.

E-mail kent[at]ame-wheels.com or here at kent[at]og-made.com with header “Option Article Request” and I’ll kindly e-mail you a .PDF file of the translated article. This will also be posted on the AME website in the near future.

Awhile ago, Mark was kind enough to create a new version of our logo for us freehand (left-handed if I’m not mistaken) to help differentiate between the Sports and Luxury lines of AME. We’re finally getting a chance to put it to good use and I believe we’re considering including these new original wheel decals within the TM-02 sets along with our standard decals. Jay Bryan (JDM EGO) has also been kind enough in giving us advice and input as well as suggesting certain colorways. Here’s a sample of what it may look like (minus the colors). I really like this alternative logo version and Japan also seems interested in incorporating it into their program as well.

The homey Yoshioka sent me photos of his personal S13 Silvia in Japan. Well, under a bed of snow, that is. Reminds me of the “Zombie car” (Brian W., MA-Motorsports), pre-destruction days.

Bet you didn’t know Toshiking got down with the Nissans huh? Super clean style too. Aggressive 17/18 stagger Regamasters, clean paint color, aero, brick headlights, etc. Mild, yet effective.

Some may disagree, but Minivans/MPVs can be cool. Just not most of the minivans offered in the US. Because Japan has way cooler minivans, AME, to say the least, pretty much owns this market segment with their Shallen series. Let me add that it’s a huge segment. I would love to see cooler MPVs roaming around in the US. Seriously, doesn’t this Alphard on Schrifts (the old Japanese naming for the CX) look cleaner than the average SUV on blinged out dubs? Someone please grey market one here. Alphards are fresh. Check out interior pics of the Royal Lounge Hybrid edition Alphard that Toyota Modellista designed HERE. Nice.

A collaboration of Practicality and Style. On a sidenote, this is the first year within the past 7 years that AME has decided not to create a new Shallen design instead helping to round out the AME line with the new TM-02, a much needed sports wheel. (And although there has been some talk recently about it being the new RPF1 on steroids, you really can’t compare the two. The RPF1 is another timeless wheel, but the technology of the TM02 exceeds it by 4 or 5 generations. More on this later.) In anycase, the throwing around of ideas for the next Shallen design should begin soon in order for a release sometime in 2009.

Minivans done right stateside? Until more cool looking minivans are released, saying that a Super Ultra Niche might exist could be considered a far-fetched understatement. I may have just lost half of our audience..

Thanks to Prashant, I got ahold of Brenden, the owner of the black Z.

Elson recently sent me these..can someone help me get ahold of the owner?

Mr. Ben Craft from Kame-Trick was gracious enough to share pics with us here and here.

The date for the launch of the new Endless USA website is partly dependent on when Jin feels like coming in to the office. We’re not sure where he is. Thus, we’re not too sure when the site will launch. Until he decides to pop in, here are a few photos from Japan (that have nowhere else to go) on set-up day. We didn’t attend TAS this year so this is all we have to offer. See our big brake system floating above? As you can see, it’s in currently in limbo..like our website.

Onto other news, our Endless GT-R already equipped with safety equipment..

..behind some GTC-01’s.

And then there’s the new EVO X that’s slated to compete in the Super Taikyu 2008 season. Craftsquare which we conveniently offer is collaborating with Endless to produce mirrors for the new EVO X.

Behind both the GTC-01s and the RC-T4s are the new Endless Monoblock calipers.

For those still in Japan, HKS is hosting Premium Day at FSW, an event to commemorate their 35th anniversary at Fuji Speedway. It will include the Endless Z33 GT300 vs the HKS CT230R, a Nobu Taniguchi Drift Demo Run, Option Super Battle and more. If you’re in Japan, have fun..we’ll probably still be waiting for Jin to come in.

I truly miss Dom’s posts. It created a balance to Original Made. Total opposites in every respect which created a much needed balance. My posts will consist of stuff like this. Who is this? 1320? Like No Other? Revision?

All I know is that Hawaii is killing it. If someone can get ahold of the owner, e-mail me. These pics are super nice and I am hoping to acquire high-res versions.

Looks like my boy Yoshioka (aka “Toshiking”) ain’t driving an 86 for the new D1 season. Out with the old, in with the new hotness. Super duper luxury style, still a work in progress, but made its debut at Tokyo Auto Salon the other week. Hachi lovers don’t fret though, you know Yoshi is AE86 for life!

Months and months of planning will soon reach fruition in early 2008. Our first sample set for the S15 just arrived. Here’s a sneak peak.

What’s interesting is that Japanese branded wheels (and other Japanese products) were marketed primarily for the Japanese Domestic Market with overseas markets being considered secondary. As the economy weakened in Japan, U.S. became the focus as the first targeted market outside of the motherland. Since the markets and business cultures are quite different, Japanese companies went about this in various methods slowly, but surely showing their true colors.

Some companies waited to pull the rug out from underneath their U.S. liaison as soon as sufficient brand recognition was established (usually by their U.S. liaison) before cutting out the middleman (their U.S. liaison) and setting up shop themselves. Other companies compromised quality, but cashed in quickly adapting to the marketplace combining their brand mystique with U.S. adapted, affordable pricing (which usually meant branded as Japanese, but made elsewhere and of less quality). And even other companies had the right intention, but due to misfortune, didn’t meet the right people and simply faltered. And finally, a handful of companies realized that trust, relationships and long-term growth were the key and slowly went about their way. Then of course, there is the Volk Racing TE37 phenomenon which is in a class all its own. Uncompromised quality, exceptional design, great marketing, impeccable timing and a bit of luck created a certain magic..coupled with a price point that screams, “You play by our rules. Take it or leave it.”. The TE is a timeless wheel. The market is very saturated and confused right now so I don’t see another TE37 phenomenon occurring for a long time, if ever, in the United States or anywhere else. But enough about the TE37. After quite a bit of ranting and raving, Kyoho has decided to take our advice on design (and we’re grateful) as well as an unexpected yet interesting chance by debuting the TM-02 overseas prior to Japan. More information (on the TM-02) to come soon..

This is probably the first set of FS01s on an S14. Glad it’s Mark’s. I’m feelin’ this.

Although it wasn’t stellar, I can’t say 2007 was a bad year for myself..I should be grateful nothing really bad occurred. The last week of 2007 was actually nice. Pops usually spends one week out of the year during Christmas in the states. (He holds down the political fort in Taiwan all the while having dinner with the incumbent President, scuba diving in the Phillippines, learning the alto sax and resides as chairman for an electrical and mechanical engineering services company. Old school at its best.) And even though I ended up working through both NYE and New Year’s Day, I was able to work at my own stride which was relaxing in itself. During my sparetime, I had a chance to peep Helvetica via Mark’s recommendation and am glad I did. I also ordered Style Deficit Disorder due to a recomendation from the social consumer which is an interesting read (both the site and the book).

Since I haven’t been out to an NYE party for a few years and thanks to Ken, I decided to check out downtown Los Angeles’ The Standard rooftop party hosted by LosBPMS which was nice. The homey DJ Atomic Mike killed it with his set. Ken and wifey Hatsumi, Deki+Kiji (Spiked Ball) and myself had a pleasant time.

The rooftop view from The Standard downtown LA is actually quite pleasing to the eye. Some bad cell phone pix early on in the night..

Someone did the deed and jumped in at midnight..bare. Ended the year off with a few friends getting lost in the mix and having toshikoshi ramen at ShinSenGumi in Torrance. New Year’s Eve felt good. It renewed me.

Deki and Kiji are part of a band in Japan dubbed Spiked Ball. Even though I don’t really keep up with J-Pop, I was surprised that I liked it. If you’re into J-Pop, peep Track 3 on Mother Lake the definite favorite. Best of luck to them. On the flipside, I was also diggin’ The Upstarts CD (The Know How) that Ken had me peep. Didn’t know one of the MCs was originally from The Sound Providers which I’ve been digging as of late.
Anyways, things were learned in 2007 and I’m so far optimistic for 2008 as being a good year. I predict it will be the year of the journey for me, but one that I will welcome and may not want to end. I will probably be blogging less, but with more random content. This site will become more personal for me which will probably lose certain types of viewers. The more serious automotive-related blog posts will be spread throughout the product sites in the future such as AME. A few days or so late, but..stay positive and best wishes to everyone this year.