At a glance
- The standard 5.5J front wheel is why most owners change: it limits the front tyre. See road tyre sizes.
- The usual replacements are Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 (16 inch front, 17 inch rear), ATS DTC (17/17), Compomotive and OZ. By 2014 the Team Dynamics were said to be more common than the standard wheels.
- The wheel stud pattern is 5x110. Check offset and width against the car before you buy, as rubbing at full lock came up several times.
- Weight figures in the threads disagree. Don't buy on weight alone, because the tyres you fit change the total.
Standard wheels
One 2017 owner listed the original 5x110 wheels as 17x5.5 ET28 at about 10 kg (front) and 17x7 ET38 at about 11.5 kg (rear). That is a single post, so check it on your own wheels. Another owner said that Team Dynamics would not be so common if it weren't for the "stupid front tyre size".
Common aftermarket wheels
| Wheel | Sizes and offsets owners quoted | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 | 7x16 ET20 front; 7.5x17 ET37 or 8x17 ET36 rear | One owner ran 205/50R16 and 235/40R17 with no rubbing. Widely used on track |
| ATS DTC | 15 and 17 inch sizes, including 7.5x17 and 9x17 | Popular. See the weight caveat below |
| ATS GTR | 8x17 ET20 front; 9x17 ET27 rear | One owner's set |
| Compomotive | 7x17 ET20 front; 8x17 ET30 rear | One owner ran 205/45R17 front, rubbing slightly on full lock. They will make other sizes at a price, said another |
| OZ Superturismo / Turismo | 16 and 17 inch | Replacement wheels hard to find (2014) |
| Speedline (VXR220 original) | 7J front, 8J rear, 16/17; offsets about 26 and 35 (one owner, "I believe") | One owner ran 215 and 235 tyres and liked it. Most use 195/205 front and 225 rear |
| Fast Wheels FC04 (Canada) | 17x8 5x110 ET35 | See below |
One owner said you have little freedom with wheels: most of the examples in the 2014 threads were custom specified (offset and so on) for the VX. The most common set-ups are 16/17 or 17/17. Another owner was after an 8x16 front and 9x17 rear combination and no one knew of one.
Other things said in the threads:
- Spacers. A 9 mm spacer on the front and none at the rear was used with the Fast Wheels 17x8 (below), with no rubbing. Original rear wheels on the front with about 5 mm spacers were an older way to fit 205s. See the track tyre guide.
- Astra wheels. In 2008 an owner mentioned Astra SXi wheels fitted to a VX220 that looked good and needed a small spacer. Hearsay.
- Strength. One owner said the Speedlines were chosen for the VXR220 for their strength (a rally design). Others pointed out that weight does not tell you strength, as it depends on the alloy and the shape. Nobody had any test results.
- Breakage. In 2008 one owner who had a set of an early ATS design said they came with track-use-only disclaimers and bend easily on a kerb, while the ATS DTM wheels were road legal. A German owner had never heard of a broken ATS. Treat both as hearsay.
- Replacing a damaged wheel. Owners said that if you need one of an uncommon type you are out of luck. That was the reason one owner leaned to Team Dynamics (2014).
Weights: conflicting figures
Weight comes up a lot, and the figures don't agree. A 2014 owner posted a ranking of lightest to heaviest: OZ Superturismo, Team Dynamics, standard, ATS DTC, VXR Speedline. Another owner said the list was wrong and the ATS DTC were lighter than the OZ. Figures quoted:
| Wheel | Weight (one owner's figures) |
|---|---|
| Team Dynamics 1.2, 17x7.5 ET37 | 8.6 kg |
| Team Dynamics 1.2, 16x7 ET20 | 7.9 kg |
| Team Dynamics Pro Race 7x17 / 7.5x17 / 8x17 | 8.8 / 8.3 / 9.0 kg |
| ATS DTC 7.5x17 / 9x17 | 8.3 / 9.3 kg |
| Fast Wheels FC04 17x8 (maker's figure) | 7.8 kg |
| Speedline, front / rear (one owner) | 10.7 / 11.1 kg |
Another post gave ATS DTC at 5.5 kg front and 8.8 kg rear, but a different owner suspected the 5.5 kg figure was for 15 inch wheels. A set of ATS DTC with R888s on a "scale from the seventies" came out at about 15 kg front and 17.5 kg rear for the wheel and tyre together. A supplier of Team Dynamics wheels claimed in 2008 that the front saves over 3 kg and the rear 2.8 kg over standard. We haven't checked any of these.
Tyres matter too. One owner pointed out that tyre choice can undo an expensive wheel weight saving. Another argued that you will fit the same tyres whichever wheels you have, so the differences between wheels stay the same.
A measured example: Fast Wheels FC04
In 2017 a Canadian Speedster owner fitted flow-formed 17x8 5x110 ET35 wheels, which cost about CAD 200 each, with a 9 mm spacer at the front and none at the rear, Pirelli Trofeo R 205/45R17 front and 225/45R17 rear, and no rubbing anywhere. He weighed complete wheel and tyre assemblies on a bathroom scale (reads to 0.5 lb), so it is rough:
| Original wheel and tyre | FC04 and Trofeo R | |
|---|---|---|
| Rear (both 225) | 47 lb | 38 lb |
| Front | 38.5 lb | 36 lb (205 instead of 175) |
He estimated about 23 lb saved over the set. The old tyres had about 6,000 km on them and the new ones were new, so some of the difference is tread depth. He said the car felt very different over bumps, with much less energy going into the suspension, more than he expected. Another owner challenged the weight claims; the owner replied with the measurements above.