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Opinions on BBS wheels

andre#4

Well-Known Member
I am thinking of getting 17" BBS RS Wheels for my tta. The BBS RS is the one that looks almost like our original wheels.

I am asking for opinions on what size of outer lip to choose.

As you all know, our cars had a deeper lip on the front than on the back. That is the opposite of what most supercars have. Most supercars have a deeper lip on back.

Now, with these BBS wheels, I am choosing the lip sizes, and I can make the outer lips any size I want.

Should I mimic the original tta style and have the 3" lip in front and a 2.5" in rear? or should I have the lip the same in front and rear? Or should I do what other supercars do, and make the lip smaller on the front?

And another thing...should I have polished rim lips or brushed aluminum with clearcote like the stock ones?

The rest of this post is my opinions and thoughts which you may not want to read. I just want your opinion on what to use. Thank you


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It is hard for me to decide. on one hand, I am used to the tta, and like seeing the huge deep lip on the front tire. I sort of wish the rear lip was big too. Although I am used to it being a little smaller, it does seem strange.

Part of my motivation is to make the car look as close to factory as possible, while having 17" wheels. (this will enable me to use Goodyear Eagle ZR45 tires, which are the same exact design as the original zr50's except in 17" size). this factory look idea would indicate the need for the deep front lip.


Perhaps the most exotic looking setup would be a smaller lip in front and bigger in rear. But a smaller front lip might shortchange the front of the car's looks...it is very hard for me to decide without seeing it on the car, or at least seeing a picture of it, and I don't know how to do photoshop.


I guess I am leaning towards a factory look (3" front lip, 2.5"rear), or maybe 3" lip all around. The factory look could still be accomplished pretty well if the rear lip was big too (same as front), as it is only a 1/2" difference. To me, a car looks more muscular with a big lip on the back, as it implies a fat tire.


My only reason to do a factory setup (with the rear lip smaller) is because it would look more like the wheels were made just for
that car, to factory specs as in a custom upgrade, as opposed to someone putting bbs wheels from another car, which would essentially mean they are the wrong wheels.

Now I have sort of talked myself into the factory look. but I still like a big rear lip. that is why I am asking for other opinions.



So what does everyone think?


Same lip front and rear?


Factory look?


Supercar look?


This picture shows the general design of the wheel.
 

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This photo shows 2 of the wheels in question. The one in the foreground has a 2.5" outer lip, and the one in the background has a 2" lip. The 2" is too small. but the 2.5 would be correct for the rear wheel in a factory setup. Add 1/2" to that for the front wheel.

The other pic shows them on an old bmw with very narrow tires stretched over them. I would never stretch tires like that. I would use 245's on 8" rims. These crazy people put 205's on 9" rims.

For the center caps, I would remove the bbs emblem from the large center bolt. Those center bolts have a recess for the emblem. I would put a TTA sail panel shield emblem in there, and fill it with some kind of clear polyurethane until it fills the recess. That way it will be smooth and the emblem will be inside the bolt head. Then put the new gatorback tires from tire rack.
 

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This is an article on the Firefox that I think PAS was involved with. It also has the Firehawk that slp did. But it shows the similar BBS wheels on the firefox. They have the 16" BBS centers with the 17" rims, like BBS made for corvettes. I would be using the 17" centers, which have slightly more gold lace and less outer rim. Anyway, it is an interesting article.
 

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I'm all for it. I think it's the best wheel option for our cars.

Whatever you decide, please let me know where you're buying them from and how much they end up costing. I'd love to squeeze a set of Baer Pro+ behind them.
 
Yea I think those would be a great addition to any TTA! 17's would look great! Be sure to let us know what you decide. The perfect tire and wheel can sometimes be tough to figure out.
KID
 
I think if you are doing it just to put on tires that are close to being original, you are making your car even less original by putting on those rims. It's like getting a foot transplant because they don't make your favorite shoes in your size anymore. The rims are going to be the most obvious things not original to the car, and your best bet is to find a nice replacement set of tires for your original rims. If you want a factory look, leave what came on from the factory. If you are looking to change the look of the car, that's a different story.
 
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Go for it. I saw these wheels on a late 80's black drop top Vette at a show this weekend and it looked killer. Just the standard wheel advice, made sure the offset is correct and they dont rub the frame in the front or wheelwell lip on the rear. It would be nice if you could arrange a "trial fit" before your to far in.
 
I did some more calculations, it appears that the max outer rim width is going to be 2.5". So, do I do 2.5 all around? Seems to me anything less than 2.5" may look strange. Although as long as there was a 2.5 in front, a 2" in rear might look ok.

Because of the design of the wheels, there is no way to get a full 3" lip without changing the offset. This is because the forged center hub of the bbs wheel is thicker.

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I think if you are doing it just to put on tires that are close to being original, you are making your car even less original by putting on those rims. It's like getting a foot transplant because they don't make your favorite shoes in your size anymore. The rims are going to be the most obvious things not original to the car, and your best bet is to find a nice replacement set of tires for your original rims. If you want a factory look, leave what came on from the factory. If you are looking to change the look of the car, that's a different story.

I agree with what you say. You have a great point, and I have considered this at length. The only problem is, I want parts that are correct historically. To the time period. A tta could have had bbs wheel upgrade in 1989. And it could have had (probably would have had) gatorback tires on it. To me, the body design of this car is one of the most beautiful and classy of any sportscar of all time, and it deserves a $4,000 set of forged german 3 piece wheels. Plastic lug nut covers and plastic faux snap on hubs are not in keeping with the timeless, classy, "Princess Di" good looks that this car has. I'll say nothing about the performance. Except to say that the original cast wheels are somewhat soft and easily bent, causing high speed vibrations.

When I see a tta with original rims and these modern tires that are not even the proper shape, I can't love it. or even like it. It is like, to me, you may as well put a huge made in china sign across the whole car. I am a total cynic and can't stand anything new because it all sucks. I am trying to live in the past vicariously through inanimate objects. (well, I will animate the tta if I can afford this $4/gallon fake alcohol-diluted gas they sell us)


There are several problems with the current crop of tires for this car.

1. Modern tires have different shape sidewalls. The rim becomes recessed. LOOKS WRONG!
2. There are hardly any choices for good performance tires anymore. Just goodyear f1's, which are totally radical in design. Everything else is either all season or asian. Not buying 2nd or 3rd rate tires for this car.
3. The modern sidewalls have crazy ugly post-postmodern designs all over them, advertisements meant for gen x'ers. May as well have flat screen tv's built in to the sidewalls with M-TV playing 24/7 videos of honda civics.
4. The tread looks ridiculous

If I saw two tta's, one with original wheels and modern mis-shapen tires, and the other with BBS wheels and regular looking tires, to me, it would be the second one I would tolerate. Really, these cars deserve a wheel upgrade. I have my stock wheels in the basement anyway, and won't use them because the original tires are old and I am saving them. I won't take the tires off, because they look great and have original weights on them and original air inside. They have 8k miles on them. On the car now is a set of chinese fake tta wheels, which I want to get rid of, and I want to replace them with bbs forged wheels. I think I may as well go to 17's since I can use fresh new gatorbacks. MM-KAY?

I am also crazy and eccentric beyond anything you could imagine. I wish I could give details but this is a public forum.
 

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This is going to be custom rim halves, so I can spec any offset I want. They still make replacement rim halves, but I will have to buy used centers. It will cost between $2-$4k depending on how it is done. There are lots of options, all of them involving custom work and mixing and matching, as there was never a true 17" BBS RS model specified for this car. BBS did corvettes, but they used 16" centers with oversized rim halves to make up the difference to 17". And of course the offset is way way off. So, I can use corvette centers if I want the look with the smaller center section. (that will look like the green trans am in my first post in the article). or I can go with a BMW center, which is a true 17" center, but that will require redrilling of the holes, as there is a 0.3mm difference on each lug. And this is a whole new ball of worms. How can I trust anyone with a drill? That would involve brains and hand-eye coordination, etc. Those guys are all retired or dead, aren't they?

Then there is the matter of the rim halves, which are custom made, to my specs, in Deutschland. Obviously, the quality is beyond reproach. you also need 136 titanium bolts and nuts to screw the stuff together. They come from Deutschland too.

I am going with stock width and stock offset for the front. I may use a front offset for the rear, as the difference is only 0.5", and the rears could stand to be brought out .5" and still look right. And that would give the deeper lip back there.
 
Well... you and I are considering those wheels for entirely different reasons!

Personally, I'm looking for a lighter weight wheel I can put large brakes under that doesn't look make it like I'm from the hood.

I've also been looking at the CCW Classic wheel. Similar look.
 
Tell me about the ccw wheel that looks similar. What model is it? Is it a spoke/mesh type wheel?

The only wheels I have found that resemble the BBS RS is a very cheap Konig wheel called Privat Remember. It is a very cheap knock off, and the rims are not stepped. Cast aluminium, made in china, and no gm bolt pattern.


Don't misunderstand me. I am not doing it just because new gatorback tires will fit. That just happens to be a nice bonus. Sometimes I emphasize the wrong thing when I get frustrated about something, and I type too much. Hopefully someone gets a laugh from my insanity.

I am doing it because the car looks incredible and should drive better (at least at high speeds on a smooth road). And we should not forget that our stock wheels are Pontiac's replica of the BBS RS racing wheel. Ideally I would have some good brakes under there too. Preferably Brembo 13". But I am not actually gonna do the brakes part of it on the tta. I would do that on my project car.

One of my projects is putting a black GTA hardtop body on top of a c5 or c6 corvette chassis and frame. I plan on stretching the wheelbase 3" and widening the track 6". I have not decided on powerplant. It will probably be LS/turbo, or BMW straight 6 turbo. It will definitely have a Rolls Royce interior though, with 10 hides of red leather, persian walnut dashboard, console and door sills, Smiths gauges, wilton wool carpets, etc.. I already have the interior. I probably wont get started on this for another 6 months, but it should end up being the ultimate daily driver car. I aim to make it as quiet and comfortable as a cadillac, with performance at least as good as a tta. (exhaust cutouts and adjustable suspension for sporting needs, but generally set up like a cadillac for relaxing commuting).

I am also working on a 90 mpg car.
 
Tell me about the ccw wheel that looks similar. What model is it? Is it a spoke/mesh type wheel?

The only wheels I have found that resemble the BBS RS is a very cheap Konig wheel called Privat Remember. It is a very cheap knock off, and the rims are not stepped. Cast aluminium, made in china, and no gm bolt pattern.

CCW SP18 and SP20 and Classic are all BBS RS "look" wheels. Only the classic however is a 3-piece wheel like the RS. Take a look: Complete Custom Wheel - Wheel Profiles

For the Classic:
16,17, and 18" diameters

Any width from 3-16", bolt patterns from 100-130mm (4.75 = 120.65mm), and lip sizes from 1-10".

$2500/set, +$200 for brushed gold anodized center section.

They say the 18x11 is only 21lbs. so they're light weight too.
 
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