Any updates on Speedvision's rep. 20" 215s? - Stevev and/or others?

[GladiatorOwner]

Just curious on how the rep.s from Speedvision are working out? Are the reps holding up well (any concerns after a few months) and how are the vredestein's wearing. I know Stevev has/had them on his X so maybe he (or someone else) could update us? I am considering using the same setup on my black sapphire x5d.

[h2daizzo]

Hi Gladiator,

I just put on the black 215 replicas i bought from Speedvision. Great service, very professional and keep you updated through out the whole process. The owner even went personally to where they were being powdercoated to make sure they did a great job before sending them out to me. As far as the wheels go, they are good, not great. The finish looks awesome but I say good and not great because when I took them to Les Schwab for tire balancing, they told me that all of the wheels were not "perfectly round" which means they were bent from the get-go. They also stated that it was so minor that i may not even notice it. He was right, they rode perfect with no vibration and a smooth ride. Although i was a bit upset to hear they were slightly bent, I had kinda expected it knowing that I was paying such a low price and that they were replicas. I thought about sending them back, but after talking to a couple of the very experienced guys at Les Schwab, they said that if they are pretty close to "balance" right now, I dont need to worry about it. Any risk of messing the rims up more is not increased over what it would have been if they were prefectly round. Thus, i kept them and am very pleased so far. I only had them for about 200 miles so I will update again when ive put some more miles on them.

As far as tires go, I went with the Toyo Proxes ST II's because of previous experience with the ST I's. Its a better all season tire and I hit up the snow a few times a year.

Hope that helped.

Izzo

[rh71]

^ did you go up to various highway speeds with those out-of-round rims? That's probably more telling than putting more mileage on them. A good balance job will help but it can only do so much... if you're good at all speeds you shouldn't have anything more to worry about.

[GladiatorOwner]

Thanks Izzo. I would be looking to use the 215s only for the summer since I'm planning on using my current 19"-212s for winter. Thats why the interest in the Vredesteins instead of the Toyos. I have entertained the OEM 21s but feel the tires are too limited.

Like 71 mentioned, have you tested them at speed to detect any vibration?

[Stevev]

I got my from SpeedVision Motor Sport since last June. So far, no complaint abt. the after-market wheels. There are no signs of quality defective issue on these wheels. The Vredestein tires are wearing out evenly and I have no vibration issue at high speed or low speed from day one until now. The only thing that I noticed since I have these shoes on her was the mpg dropped to about 15ish mpg. Other than that, I am very please.

I agreed with the other post above, the guys from Speed Vision Motor Sport provided great services and very professional.

[GladiatorOwner]

thanks, this is good news - quality/service wise. So I guess I should expect about a 2 mpg loss? Can you share how many miles the tires have on them, sound issues (if any) and maybe a guessestimate of when they will need to be replaced? A lot of people have the tires but not the wear history.

[Stevev]

I have about 8K miles on these tires and not really sure when to replace them. I would guess around 20K - 25K depends on your driving habits. As far as sound, I noticed very little noise from these tires. I believed there are posts about the Vredestein tires on others forum. You may want to check it out.

About Speed Vision Motor Sport in Glendale California. I contacted Allen when I got my package. He is a good guy...

[GladiatorOwner]

Anything beyond 15k is bonus for summers (I think) so 20k and beyond is respectable. Good enough, thanks for your insight.