In my search for new 20" wheels, I wanted what seemed impossible to find. Like just about everyone else, I love concave wheels.....deep concave is what I really wanted. I also knew that I wanted a square set-up, so the same wheel & tire specs all around. That said, I don't like the idea of running really wide tires up front, so I decided that I wouldn't go any wider than a 265 tire. And I don't really like tire stretch, which means I can't run wide wheels and of course that makes it difficult to get good concavity. See the issue here?
So I started looking for wheels that were 20 x 9.5 that had the right offset to run pretty much flush and still offer good concavity. Well, I found the exact wheel in the exact spec that I was looking for and it has a really nice, deep concave look to it. The wheels are fully forged Apex VS-5RX, which are the SUV version of their popular VS5-RS. According to Apex, these wheels are specifically made for SUVs and heavy EVs, so they are stronger than the VS5-RS, but the downside is that they are 2 or maybe 3 pounds heavier as well. But they are still much lighter than my OEM 19 x 9 Rotor wheels, so I'm okay the "extra" couple of pounds. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the VS-5RS is the lightest weight wheel Apex makes in the first place, so the weight of the VS-5RX is fine. The VS-5RX also has no lip on the wheel rim, which gives it a really nice look. It also has shallow pockets around the entire inside of the lip (hard to see in the pictures, but it's a really nice detail in person), probably to help lower the weight of the wheel by a small amount. And of course the wheels came in the correct hub bore and the perfect offset to run flush in the front. I had planned all along to run a 5mm spacer in the rear since I was running a square set up and the back wheels always need just a small amount of additional offset to stay as flush as the fronts. Interestingly, I found that 5mm spacers are just about the biggest "hubless" spacer you can run on our cars and still be able to have enough hub sticking out to center the wheel properly, so that worked out pretty well too.
Anyway, I got the wheels and now I need to get my tires. I'm going with 265/30/20. I love the brushed clear finish on these wheels and it works well on my Ibis White car. I'm probably going to paint or powdercoat my calipers gold, but I'm not 100% decided on the color yet. What do you guys think of gold calipers on my set-up? I really don't want anything too bright/flashy such as red or even blue. I want something more subtle, but still noticeable.
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Originally Posted by Neil F
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