World Rally Blue with Gold Wheels!

"marshknute" (marshknute) 08/23/2015 at 16:29 • Filed to: xxr, 530, gold, wheels, rims, 2015, subaru, wrx, WRB, World Rally Blue, NLMotoring, hub, centric, rings, hub centric rings

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When I bought my World Rally Blue WRX, I knew it was only a matter of time before I got a set of obligatory gold wheels. And here they are!

They are XXR 530 18x8.75 wheels. The tires are Michelin Pilot Super Sports (245/40/R18)

I chose these wheels b/c they are similar style-wise to the ones on the Launch Edition STI (except these are 7-pair spokes, not 5-pair spokes). They are also larger than the stock 17” wheels, so there’s plenty of room for larger brake discs/calipers. I track the car, and it’s a PITA to have to remove the calipers just to check/change the brake pads.

It’s worth noting that they are a much less saturated gold color than what appears in XXR’s !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

Installing them was a nightmare b/c neither XXR nor Subispeed (who I ordered the wheels from) bothered to mention all the additional crap you need to buy. I guess it would be common knowledge to anyone who has bought aftermarket wheels before, but it was my first experience, and I’m a bit pissed at both companies.

But for those who are interested, here are the two things you need to do before you install a set of XXR 530 wheels:

First , you have to buy a set of hub centric rings. HCR’s allow the wheels to sit centered on the center bore of the rim. Basically, each manufacturer has a different diameter center bore, and aftermarket wheel companies deliberately make their wheels with an extra large hub hole so it can fit as many cars as possible. Unfortunately, this means you need to buy a little ring that pinches that hole down to the right diameter for your car so the wheels fit snuggly around the car’s center bore.

For these wheels, you need a set of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! hub centric rings. I recommend getting aluminum rings if you track the car, b/c plastic ones will crack under the extreme heat.

Second , you need to buy narrow diameter aftermarket lug nuts. The holes in these wheels are super small, and the stock lugs won’t fit. The problem is that you need a 3/4” socket to get the stock lugs on/off, and the diameter of the socket is larger than the diameter of the holes in the aftermarket wheels. So even if the lugs fit, there’s no room for your torque wrench. Apparently this is a common problem with aftermarket wheels. It would have been nice if someone...cough...XXR...cough...Subispeed...had mentioned that ahead of time.

The 2015 WRX requires !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . I bought a set from Next Level Motoring for several reasons. First, they are super narrow, perfect for the narrow holes in my XXR wheels. Second, the special 7-point star design acts as a wheel lock, and can’t be taken on/off without a special key adaptor (included with the set of lug nuts). Lastly, the key adaptor slots into a 3/4” socket...the exact same socket size required to get the stock lugs on/off.

Ok, now that you’ve bought rings and lugs, you’re ready to install your goddam wheels!

And now I can finally enjoy my WRX in the rally colors it was always meant to have!

Sneaky Pete > marshknute 08/23/2015 at 16:36

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Love the blue/gold combo!

My Viper is blue and I’d like to do something similar, as everyone does either polished wheels or black wheels, but the shade of blue plus the white stripes makes it really difficult to get a color that doesn’t look bad. I’m thinking more of a dark bronze. We’ll see.

Edit- some wheels are lug centric, so you don’t need the plastic center ring. Additionally, the lug nut seats on wheels can be different-some are conical and some are spherical/acorn, some (typically older cars) are mag type. I believe most OEM wheels have spherical seats and most aftermarket wheels have conical seats, so this is something else to consider when changing wheels.

LongbowMkII > marshknute 08/23/2015 at 16:36

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WR Blue + gold always wins.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > marshknute 08/23/2015 at 16:36

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Your house is too small

TTercel > marshknute 08/23/2015 at 16:53

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XXR wheels break. Be careful. You don’t want to wreck your nice new car due to buying knock off wheels.

Entropic Force > marshknute 08/23/2015 at 16:57

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World rally blue with gold wheels, you say?

AM3R shamefully returns > marshknute 08/23/2015 at 17:07

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Looks incredible! Love the car. Man.. If it had a wing it'd be perfect.

AM3R shamefully returns > Sneaky Pete 08/23/2015 at 17:10

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Have you thought about bronze? I’ll try to find a pic, a friend has a carbon black M5 and he went with a more subtle dark bronze over gold and it looks great. Classy but still aggressive.

Sneaky Pete > AM3R shamefully returns 08/23/2015 at 17:14

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Dark bronze mentioned right in the middle of my post. Lol

I’ll have to have someone mess around in photoshop once I get closer to buying a set of wheels. Need to save the $3-5k first.

daender > marshknute 08/23/2015 at 17:21

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Yeah, I know that feeling about aftermarket wheels not fitting factory lug nuts. I had to buy a breaker bar and a thin-wall socket to make mine work. Besides, the paint was already f’d up around the lug nut holes (2nd-hand wheels for cheap, woot) so I didn’t care and scratching them even further. On the flip side, any wannabe wheel thief won’t be able to easily steal these unless they just happen to carry a thin-wall socket in my size.

daender > Sneaky Pete 08/23/2015 at 17:24

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Call me curious but if you have a Xbox or PS system, maybe play Forza/Gran Turismo, buy a blue gen 2 Viper, and just screw around endlessly with their varieties of aftermarket wheels?

TheOnelectronic > Entropic Force 08/23/2015 at 17:38

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...

AM3R shamefully returns > Sneaky Pete 08/23/2015 at 17:47

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Oops haha my bad. Yeah saving for wheels suck. I’m not sure if you could get them to fit, but a set of Apex ARC-8’s (or any apex wheel honestly) is a great bargain buy. For less than $2k you can get a set of 18x10 lightweight, strong wheels that are very well proven on the track.

On the other hand.. saving up for a set of HRE’s or BC forged wheels definitely looks like it’s worth it..

Sneaky Pete > AM3R shamefully returns 08/23/2015 at 18:23

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They don’t make anything wide enough. Stock rears are 13” wide, can get away with 12” wide with stock width tires. Also lug pattern is 6x114.3-not a lot of 6 lug wheels out there. Forgestar has made some F14s that fit, for about 1800 bucks. Might go that route. For forged 3 piece wheels, I’ve been looking at Forgeline and CCW.

AM3R shamefully returns > Sneaky Pete 08/23/2015 at 18:50

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I’m a fan of CCW, I very briefly had a set of 18x10’s on my E90 but the offset was a little too aggressive for my liking. Looked good though! F14’s also aren’t a bad choice. And holy hell.. I knew vipers needed massive rubber but I had no clue it was 13” out back.

Sneaky Pete > AM3R shamefully returns 08/23/2015 at 19:03

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I was thinking a set of 18” classics with bronze centers and polished lip would look nice. It appears Weld has bought out CCW as their website has changed in the last week or so-it has a fraction of the info that it did before. Also seems like the prices have gone up slightly.

Fronts are 10” wide, rears are 13”. Rear rubber is 345mm wide.

I love Forgeline’s VR3P, but we’re talking $1300 EACH wheel.

Entropic Force > TheOnelectronic 08/23/2015 at 19:20

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Our faces when

TheOnelectronic > Entropic Force 08/23/2015 at 19:23

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You do know you can just directly link a gif, right?

Also, are you down for some GTA tonight or not?

Tim (Fractal Footwork) > marshknute 08/23/2015 at 20:29

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I love my Pilot Super Sports. Bridgestone whatevers came on my Genesis Coupe, switched and noticed how much more progressive the Michelins are.