Help Me Decide! £700 Budget On Rims! What to do?

[fizz]

Right.. after finally coming to my senses.. ive relaised that for the price of used rims, which 80% need rubber replacing i may as well buy new rims as it aint much different in cost!

So then... I had a £600 budget but im putting that up to £700 as i popped into a local alloy specialist who have shown me a couple of options.. all seem to be 7x17" with 215/40/17 at the front with 225/40/17 at the rear.

& i have to say that i have fallen in love with :drool: he told me he could do these with rubber for £700! hence why my budget is now at that figure!

The polished lip (Razor shutit ) should reflect the blue of my car nicely.. :drool:

Lenso RS5


Some other options are as follows...

BSA 264 - £600


BSA 292 - £600


and one of the last options...

Alessio Turbo - £660



Soo many options!!!! What to do!... anyone got any other suggestions? i want something that will sit well on a standard MR2 as i dont plan on getting a body kit... dont see the need... as she looks great as she is..

[MegatronUK]

First one's best by far. Classic solid 5-spoke design; can't beat it, IMO.

[dave wall]

yeah, lenso RS5's are a really nice wheel. They mak ethem in gunmetal finish too, with the polished rim I was very close to buying those before I got my RS-GT's

[fizz]

yeah, lenso RS5's are a really nice wheel. They mak ethem in gunmetal finish too, with the polished rim I was very close to buying those before I got my RS-GT's

I was considering yorus as well but could not find them in the store.. Not seen many of the Lenso's about before.. and as you say.. holds tru to the MR2 design..

[The Morris]

What are you guys on you're all too old school, go for the second picture, much classier, plus they will make the car shine and stand out more.

[Kieron]

I like the Lenso RS5's.

Have you tried Wheelbase at Oldham? Ask for Andy if I remember rightly - he's a 2 enthusiast, owns a very nice late MK2....

Or you could do a deal on these....

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1756

[fizz]

I like the Lenso RS5's.

Have you tried Wheelbase at Oldham? Ask for Andy if I remember rightly - he's a 2 enthusiast, owns a very nice late MK2....

Or you could do a deal on these....

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1756

I keep hearing about this andy dude!... whats his number?

And i aint a big fan of the Rev 5 rims but thanks for the heads up bud...

I ahev seen these on the net though!.. i know they will be outta my price range but!..

[Kieron]

Well Andy at Wheelbase did me a great deal on mine including tyres. Fitted while you wait and they will parcelforce your old rims back to your house cheaply too so you don't have to lug them home...

Plus, with him owning a 2 himself he's "MEGA CAREFULL" with your car.

I sold my original rims whilst purchasing the new ones so Andy parcelforced my old rims to the new owner - the new owner paid the delivery too - fantastic!

They are based in Oldham http://www.wheel-base.co.uk/site/home.html

Dead easy to get to.

[fizz]

Well Andy at Wheelbase did me a great deal on mine including tyres. Fitted while you wait and they will parcelforce your old rims back to your house cheaply too so you don't have to lug them home...

Plus, with him owning a 2 himself he's "MEGA CAREFULL" with your car.

I sold my original rims whilst purchasing the new ones so Andy parcelforced my old rims to the new owner - the new owner paid the delivery too - fantastic!

They are based in Oldham http://www.wheel-base.co.uk/site/home.html

Dead easy to get to.

What a top man! is Andy!!

Gave me a great quote that that beat my other 'decent' quote by a few quid!

I do however have some concerns about the Leno's themselfs!... on the MR2OC forum somone mentioned that the Leno's finish on the rims is crap.. i thought noting of it as everyone has a bad experiance at some point...

but then i spoke to Auto Design Technics in Bradford (Kahns Alloy owners) who said they no longer stock Leno's for this very same reason! was advised that they had numerous people go back to them stating that salt was getting into the rims and corroding them!

I really want these rims but that has seriously put me off? Am i worrying too much? and would i get some kinda warrenty against flaking etc?? or am i now being stoopid!

[Kieron]

Ask Andy what the warranty is on the rims and what his opinion is. I've no idea about the Lenso's.....

[Dave Couzens]

I think James Bullock had the problem with corroding lenso's on his car - (Bender Unit on here) again with salt getting on them and the finish coming off. Try him.

[fizz]

what options have i got with a £700 budget? can i actually get some rims that are 8x17's at the rear?

[ChrisW]

Fizz, I'm in a similar position. Looking to spend upto £600 on rims, then probably about £400 on tyres. I really want 7x17" fronts and 8x17" rears but they're almost impossible to find. I've been quoted £375 per wheel for some Japanese rims!

Be interested to hear if you find anything!

[Bender Unit]

Fizz,

I had my Tenzo R RS5's on for pretty much the same amount of time I have owned the car 3 odd years. Personally IMHO it is one of the few wheels that compliments the MR2.

I was very pleased with the wheels but they polished lip did begin to corrode, this isnt anything to do with how they are made, any other wheel with a dimon cut / polished rim lip will go the same way.

The only wheels that last for years are painted and laquered wheels.

I could have had the wheels refurbished for £200 and was going tdo this until I saw a bargin deal on some Rota's which would have meant 4 new alloys for pretty much the same as the refurb cost of my old ones, thing is the guy selling the Rotas was a bit of a f*ck up and took so long I lost interest and then wanted the money for my rebuild.

Now with regards to how well these wheels lasted:

I rained abuse on these things.

I am a bit lazy and don’t wash my car on a regular basis, hence the wheels could have had a months worth of brake dust and mud on them.

The past 2 winters in bristol has meant the local council spread more salt on the roads than there is in the pacfic ocean, as I didn’t always wash my car this salt was able to take hold on the rim lip.

I also had an unfortunate situation where I suffered from two seized front calipers, on 2 occasions it ate the pads to the backing and sprayed hot metal shards on to the rim. I had to really scrub to get them clean again.

I also used wonder wheels on them.

I never really put much effort into cleaning them.

They took that abuse and still looked good. The rim lip would have only needed a diamond cut and they would have blinged again! The painted / laquered centre still looked brand new.

Putting this in perspective a friend bought some new alloys with a polished lipc costing 1100 and they were junk within 3 months. He polished his car every day and licked his wheels clean for fear of scratching them. He got them painted in the end.

Point is if you want a set of rims tat will last years then get painted ones. If you want a bling set that may need refurbing then get polished lips etc.

Oh and Lenzo make nearly all the mainstream wheels that come out of Asia bar the more exclusive and expensive wheels like Rays, Volk, Buddy Club etc ….

I sold mine as I wanted wheels that were wider than 7.5 so I could fit bigger rubber on the rear. That’s the only reason.

I also want white wheels for a look I am going for so I will get Buddy Club P1's when I get around to it.

Cheers

James

[fizz]

James.. thank you very much for that very useful insight...

Its helped me make my mid up now...

I was wondering if you have any decent pics of your mota with the Lenso's on them? it would be much appreciated fella..

With regards to treating em right.. i intend to keep the stock rims on over crap periods of weather and take the flashy set out for the summer months!

Also.. what size rims did you have as you state that you wanted something wider than 7.5 wide.. and i know you cant get the Lenso's on a 7.5x17" which must mean you had the 18" rim..

Ive also noticed the KR5 model as well.. which also looks rather tastey! hmm... choices!

[fizz]

bump