[osirhc17]

I'm buying a 2000 GTS on Saturday but she currently sits on steelies. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, it has winter tires mounted on those steelies. Instead of finding matching summer tires (cheaper, no doubt) I decided instead to buy new wheels with summer tires and swap just everything out when winter comes. I'm looking at tirerack since I have a distribution center nearby I can just pick them up with the tires already mounted on the wheels and balanced. Thing is I have no idea what brand is good brand for quality wheels. I'm not looking to spend an arm and a leg here. I was trying to keep it under $100 per wheel but I'm noticing that of course there's a trade off in terms of quality. Can anyone recommend to me a quality brand of wheels that won't break the bank? I was looking at a set of Sport Editions but I just read online that they're soft and can bend easily. I live in Philadelphia and PA in general is known for their potholes, so I don't want to take the chance that I'll bend my wheels within the first week of owning the car.

I'm looking specifically at Motegi Racing, Anzio, MSW and moda - these are all around $150/wheel and under. It looks like MSW is made by OZ, is that true? In that case I feel MSW is probably a decent brand (and a few models/styles I really like), but I'm really out of my element here. I could tell you exactly how to build a PC, wire your home network, set up a home server and fix your printer but I have little knowledge of wheel brands lol. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

 

[Pliad]

how you solved this problem?

 

[osirhc17]

how you solved this problem?

I went with a set of 16" MSW Type 86s in gunmetal with a set of BFGoodrich G-Force Comp-2 A/S tires on tirerack.com - grand total of $789 (~$106 per wheel and ~$89 per tire) and I picked them up at their distribution center in Delaware since it was only an hour away from me. Picking them up saved me over $100 in shipping costs. Also there was a $50 mail in rebate on the tires from BFG, and BFG is really good about their rebates. It still took a while to receive my rebate card but they email you with status updates every step of the way so you're not sitting there wondering if they even received your rebate submission form.

I have to say I've been really happy with these wheels and tires, and I've had many compliments from people and car enthusiasts alike (same with the tires). I've had them on my car for little over three months now. These tires are fantastic, great performance even in the rain. I'm also really liking these wheels. My Celica is Super White (040) and the contrast between the gunmental and the white looks awesome - especially with the window tint on the sunroof (**** PA laws prohibiting me from tinting my windows, it would look even better if I could tint my windows all the way around).

It looks like both the tires have come down in price now, the tires are about $87/ea, however it looks like the Type 86s are out of stock for the season. I chose these MSWs since they're made by OZ which is a known and trusted brand. The Type 85 also received very positive reviews on tirerack. Lastly, I filtered out gravity cast when searching because I did not trust that gravity cast wheels would really hold up, especially in my area where there are more potholes than smooth road on most streets. I'm happy to say that so far these wheels have not only held up but still look fantastic. Due to the gunmetal color, which is more of a matte than a gloss finish, brake dust accumulation isn't noticeable until you're up close with the wheel which is nice when you don't have time to wash your wheels.

All in all I think tirerack offers a good deal when you buy tires and wheels, since they mount and balance the tires for free. And if you live near a distribution center you can pick them up which will definitely save you at least $100 if not more. In the future I'll probably splurge on some more expensive wheels but for now these are great for the price. I'll post back if I experience any issues with these Type 86s.

This is a moving shot but here's what they look like on my Celica. I'll see if I can get an image of it stationary soon so you can see the wheels better:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzmIkbstHAJDTE1mWl9YOHBHcmc

 

[Colton Gomez]

Which set did you end up getting for your Celica? I honestly keep winter and summer tires in my garage so I can replace them anytime I want. I got my aftermarket wheel from 4wheelonline. You can find plenty of reputable brands in this shop, try using their customer support page to find the model that best suits your car.