240R Wheels - special stuff - give me some

[cyberface]

I've been going on about this for years - getting the utterly gorgeous 5-spoke black 240R wheels for my Exige, to run my summer tyres on (whatever those may be - currently I've got some A048Rs supplied new with the car to use up) whilst I leave the winter tyres on the existing standard Y-spoke alloys.

I've saved up the money, and I'm ready to pull the trigger. It's also getting out of winter-tyre season and I'll be wanting to start getting back on trackdays soon.

Obviously because they've been damn good to me in the past, I'd immediately give Lipscomb the business, but as sod's law would have it, just as I'm in the position to actually be able to afford some of these wheels, none are available. Lotus don't have any, Lotus Motorsport don't have any (well I can have some front wheels, I think, but the rears are on back order and nobody will quote a delivery date).

I'm not really keen on keeping an order in for an 'open' back order, especially with Lotus - I could be waiting until after the summer has finished. Equally, if I'm going to be spending proper money, I want the wheels that I've wanted for *years* - not just a set of the forged 'lightweight' Sport wheels you can get at short notice from Lotus dealers, which I'm not keen on.

So - does anyone know either (a) someone with some for sale, (b) an available wheel that looks very similar, (c) a cool 5 or 6 spoke wheel that is available in Exige S2 sizes and offsets (I've been pointed towards some neat Japanese wheels but have no idea whether the same wheels are available in the right sizes - the problem being that the Exige front and rear wheels are different diameters and with some wheel designs, the 16" size comes in 5 spoke and the 17" size comes in 6 spoke - which would look silly), or (d) a budget option whilst I wait for some 240R wheels to become available. By 'budget' I mean cheap - I'm not spending more than a grand on 'tide me over' wheels whilst I wait to spend bigger money on the wheels I really want...

I may have asked this before, in which case I'm sorry, but I'm actually in a position to buy these wheels now, I have tyres to go on them, and a car for them to go on

[Boggy]

I'd stick a post on Seloc as well may be someone wants to sell a set of 240R rim's, even if you have to get them re-sprayed or something it's not the end of the world

& by the way I agree, those 240R rim's are wicked!

Boggy

[theturbs]

A decent budget option is the Team Dynamics ProRace 1.2 - around GBP600 for a set.

I think the Japanese wheels to which you refer are made by Rays/Volk - these are very cool indeed.

No doubt you've already looked on the SELOC TechWiki already, but there's a section on there which sets out some alternatives.

HTH

[Stu_00]

Cyberface - you could speak to these guys http://www.ncbmotorsport.com/

They have a selection of wheels for Lotus. (Ask for Mark)

Might be a different avenue of thought....

[cyberface]

Stu_00 said:

Cyberface - you could speak to these guys http://www.ncbmotorsport.com/

They have a selection of wheels for Lotus. (Ask for Mark)

Might be a different avenue of thought....

That 'Flash' website is terrible

Thanks for the suggestion, may give them a call to see what's available

[Stu_00]

No probs

[Gooby]

This was a long time ago but Plans had some very nice second hand 240R rims floating around - worth a call!

[cyberface]

Gooby said:

This was a long time ago but Plans had some very nice second hand 240R rims floating around - worth a call!

Many thanks mate! I've called them, the nice lady on the phone had no idea what I was talking about but is going to find out and call back, hopefully today If they've still got them, and are round, then assuming they're not silly money (i.e. could buy an entire S1 trackslag instead) then I'm having them. If they need refurb then I'm fortunate to have Spit & Polish in the next town down from me in Tonbridge - their work has always been considered top-notch by the internet commentariat, and I've used them myself to refinish a set of 2000 Carrera Anniversary 18" Porker wheels (tricky as they were originally chromed, with an appallingly prone to corrosion finish, fortunately I didn't want chrome but just standard Porsche silver for my 993) and the wheels came back as-new. The chaps there knew their stuff too, and were happy to talk about the technical detail regarding different types of alloy, heat treatment / resistance and painting / powder coating / lacquer etc. Black is an easy colour to paint, I'd thought

The only issue would be if the wheels were a funny alloy. The wheels I'm after are the standard aluminium ones - I've heard that some Motorsport wheels were produced in magnesium alloy (an altogether different proposition in terms of cost, road usability and refurbishability) but that may very well be misinformation and internet BS... anyone here know?

If there's only *one* 240R wheel and it's normal road-use aluminium alloy (as per the 240R road cars) then I can buy any second-hand set I can find, depending on condition and price, and refurbish as required...

I think maybe my source of 'information' regarding magnesium wheels may have been getting the 240R *Exige* wheels mixed up with the special 340R *model*, which IIRC was delivered with aluminium wheels but supplied also with magnesium wheels - the magnesium wheels being needed to get the weight down to Lotus spec but, being magnesium, not being road legal (or homologated, or some other legislative issue). I suppose there's only a hundred differentiating the two cars...

Obviously I'd prefer to give my business to Lipscomb but they can't get the 240R wheels from Lotus or Lotus Motorsport. So before I cave in and buy another set like my old VXT (the Team Dynamics multispokes, even though I don't think they suit the Exige shape, they're cheap, relatively light and proven robust on Kent's utterly trashed roads), I'm going to try to get a set of 240R wheels second-hand for a week or two. So if anyone has any...

If all avenues 240R fail, what is the best / quickest / most recommended place to get Team Dynamics wheels in Exige S2 sizes and offsets? I bought the set for the VXT from Thorney but they were a custom batch made for the Vauxhall 5-bolt hubs, and quite a bit more expensive than the higher-volume Elise / Exige wheel.

Finally, thanks for all other advice, but I've decided that the wheels are a lot of money - and I've been waiting *years* to have an Exige with these wheels (since I saw the very first pictures of the 240R, in fact). So really, if I'm going to spend real money, it *has* to be these wheels. If I can't have them, then I'll go for the cheap'n'cheerful option until I can source some 240R wheels. Whilst there are some very nice looking designs in the Volk / Rays / other Japanese 'special' performance wheels, they're also very strong money and I'll still be wanting the 240R wheels. So I think it makes sense to go for what I really want, and not compromise unless it's a hell of a lot cheaper (in the case of the TDs, less than half the cost IIRC, so no problem).

Incidentally - the Team Dynamics wheels available for the VXT were the Pro Race 1.2 with 12 spokes... I've seen these on Lotus-badged cars too. However TD also make a 5 spoke wheel, the Pro Race 2... the VX220 wheels were a special batch so only one design was available, but the Lotus 4-bolt hubs are a much bigger market so does anyone know if the TD Pro Race 2 is available for the Exige? As in off-the-shelf from a reputable supplier? I can call TD themselves, but presumably they only deal in certain batch sizes for resale?

If the TD Pro Race 2 is around the same price as the Pro Race 1.2 then I'd seriously consider this as a 'right-now' option because I like the 5-spoke design and they're light, and I can happily use them until I get some 240Rs. The known Pro Race 1.2 option is a 'reluctant' option because I don't really like the look of them on Exiges and it'd only be because they were cheap and available - whereas I *do* like the Pro Race 2.

[Mr Fix It]

I would also speak directly to Team Dynamics. They make the lotus wheels you are talking about (well, their ringspun or whatever brand make em). They also make the latest 260 cup wheels. The last time I asked them about a year ago at the autosports show at the NEC, they would not supply the offical lotus wheels, which noboubt have a lotus logo in them, but they would supply a wheel which was almost identical.

[OrangeD]

Elise parts had a set a little while back that somone had ordered and cancelled they were cheap well