What 4x100 15" wheels are strong and which aren't?

With e30 15" wheels hard to come by, and the desire to find cheap OEM wheels to use for rally (i.e. disposable), I need 4x100 and will use spacers for almost anything.

I'm looking mostly at 15" wheels from Mini Coopers, Hondas, Integras, and 90s Escorts. We have also discussed Saturn wheels as well, since they LOOK strong.

So, any thoughts or "reputations" on which of these wheels are strong? which are soft metal/bend easily, etc?

It's a pretty broad spectrum but want to narrow it down to those that have a reputation for being pretty strong.

Don't the NB Miata 15" alloy wheels take a ton of abuse at rallyx without complaints?

RedGT said:

Don't the NB Miata 15" alloy wheels take a ton of abuse at rallyx without complaints?

There are certainly lots of them out there.

I vaguely recall that the bore diameters are different between E30 and Miatas, but I don't remember which one is bigger.

I think the e30 is bigger, which is why you can run e30 wheels on Miata, but not the other way around. 

Saturn is the same as VW - 57mm.

Saturn wheels are remarkably light, and I've never seen a bent one.  In stark contrast to VW wheels which were apparently made with peanut butter as part of the alloy.

I had/have a set of SC2 wheels on the Quantum.

B13 Nissan wheels are a 59mm pilot so will definitely clear the BMW bore, or any other bore for that matter.

ZX2 wheels are extremely strong but they are 54mm pilot, just like every other Mazda based 4x100.

codrus said:

I vaguely recall that the bore diameters are different between E30 and Miatas, but I don't remember which one is bigger.

 

e30 is much bigger than Miata. e30 is only 1mm bigger than Honda/Acura. I plan to put 20mm spacers on to correct for offset, so hub bore isn't really a concern at all. 

RedGT said:

Don't the NB Miata 15" alloy wheels take a ton of abuse at rallyx without complaints?

The fast cars run 14" snowflakes, though. 

Miata wheels are light and reasonable, but not 'strong'. Honda alloys are heavy, but nearly indestructable. Civic Si, Gsr blades, fat fives should be cheap. Mini 4x100s are goddamn anchors, I would avoid em even for beater duty. 

Knurled. said:

RedGT said:

Don't the NB Miata 15" alloy wheels take a ton of abuse at rallyx without complaints?

The fast cars run 14" snowflakes, though. 

little wheels are better for low power (same reason I currently run 14s). But with more power, larger/heavier wheel become more tenable (and 15" rally tires are far more widely available these days). 

Nugi said:

Miata wheels are light and reasonable, but not 'strong'. Honda alloys are heavy, but nearly indestructable. Civic Si, Gsr blades, fat fives should be cheap. Mini 4x100s are goddamn anchors, I would avoid em even for beater duty. 

Yep, fat fives and GSR blades are currently top of my list (plus as a former Integra owner, I like how they look anyhow). Lightness is not a concern here, since rally tires are already heavy as hell. 

Since your not concerned with weight. Have you thought about Bassett or Aero steel wheels? You can spec the backspace and not run the spacer. You could probably get a set for the cost of used wheels. 

The team dynamics pro race wheels are supposed to be a good balance of cost, strength, and weight.  

Saturn wheels are pretty stout.  They are also very readily available.  But they are 50mm offset and only 15x6.

I have a few sets you can have, but you need to take the car with them lol.

MINI Cooper base R81 wheels - 7-hole pattern - are reasonably light for OEM wheels at 12 lbs. They are the lightest of all MINI wheels. My ex- often remarked how "quick" her MCS felt in the Fall after swapping on these (winter wheels) for the 16x7 Panasports on the car during the warmer months.  The R81 is only 5.5" wide, if that matters.

Here is a list of MINI 4x100 wheels with dimension and weight info.

Papabear said:

Since your not concerned with weight. Have you thought about Bassett or Aero steel wheels? You can spec the backspace and not run the spacer. You could probably get a set for the cost of used wheels. 

steel wheels are generally a no-go for rally. 

In reply to irish44j :

I do think you could get away with steelies if you monitored them and discarded them after a certain number of events.  Figuring out that number could be interesting, though 

Aluminum wheels probably fatigue out eventually too, but at least the centers don't just suddenly break out of them.  

84FSP said:

The team dynamics pro race wheels are supposed to be a good balance of cost, strength, and weight.  

yeah, I'm well familiar with the aftermarket for rally wheels, which is what teams with cashflow use.  But 3-4 sets of team dynamics is in the thousands of dollars nonetheless. 3-4 sets of 1990s OEM wheels off CL/FB marketplace is in the sub-$500 range. And 3-4 sets is what I like to have available, mounted with different types of tires. This stuff adds up, and my budget is low...

I would probably start trying to track down somebody who parts out Hondas or Saturns or something.  Finding my local Saab guy made me stop worrying about where to get more wheels.

The first batch of Joegblood wheels were heavier than they promised. They trade hands very cheaply within Spec Miata circles because of this. 

If you come across more cheap miotter sets and you don't want them, let me know. I'm happy to run them for rx and could use one more set.

I'd worry about the strength of diamonds etc - I was underwhelmed when I taco'd one while mounting a race tire. 

irish44j said:

Papabear said:

Since your not concerned with weight. Have you thought about Bassett or Aero steel wheels? You can spec the backspace and not run the spacer. You could probably get a set for the cost of used wheels. 

steel wheels are generally a no-go for rally. 

Stock steel wheels, or dirt track wheels? I'd think good dirt track wheels would work well, as they often were built more to solve problems with stock wheels breaking than going for lighter weight. But I'd be interested in hearing from people who have used dirt track wheels at rally events.

The issue with steel wheels is mostly stretching / deformation around the lug holes under repeated side loads.  Aluminum wheels will eventually have fatigue failures, but if they're closely monitored for cracking, it's unlikely that one will fail catastrophically without warning.  Steel is softer and easier to deform, so it can be perfectly fine and then suddenly you hit it with too big a side load and stretch it right over the lug nuts and suddenly you don't have a wheel.  

84FSP said:

The team dynamics pro race wheels are supposed to be a good balance of cost, strength, and weight.  

Those are the only aluminum wheels I've heard of breaking at a rallycross - and he broke two on two separate runs that day.