Alan is correct...you want to stay with a minimum of 11" in width.

Dave

 

damn! i was pretty excited to get myself into some cheap wheels for the winter! now its shot down!!

 

IMO, I would still not hesitate about using a 19x10.5 wheel even if the stock wheels are 19x11. It's only half an inch, and as long as you are using the correct tire width (295-305) you will be fine. Your contact patch will be marginally affected, and honestly, you get *significantly* more variance in grip going from tire brand to tire brand than you would get reducing the rim width by 0.5 inches.

In my experience, the bigger problem is the weight of Axis wheels. The first set of "daily driven" wheels I bought for my 350z were Axis Hiros in 19x8.5 and 19x9.5. Looked great, no problems with strength, but they weighed a TON - 28-30 lbs each.

Compared to the Champions I have on my 997 now, that's a 9-10lb difference per corner!!!!!

 

If you are already going through the expense of buying new wheels, why buy more narrow?? I mean you boned up and got the Champions..what width are these?

Dave

 

I'm just citing my experiences with a set of Axis wheels on a prior car - never had a set installed on my 997 at any point

I'm just trying to point out though that a loss of .5 inches shouldn't be a deal breaker in case someone was a huge fan of these wheels (for whatever reason)

But yeah, I completely agree: If you are going to upgrade, going narrow doesn't make sense... nor does choosing a wheel that is heavier than stock.

 

i am looking at these. Are they heavier than stock? on the website they are listed as weighing in at 25lb each give or take. Can I assume that there is no comparison with HRE ?

 

My experience with Axis has been hit and miss. I own a set of Axis Shine on my Honda Accord and the wheels are extremely heavy. 22-24 pounds they are not. On one of the original wheels that I received, there was a defect in the finish and for the most part, they took care of the problem easy for me, but it still wound up costing extra that I feel it should not have with paying shipping and remounting/balancing a tire, but ultimately they decided to cover the cost of the remounting/balancing, but not the shipping.

Their wheels are extremely soft. Not saying they will crack, I too have only heard of one incident of that happening, but if the wind blows in the wrong direction, you are likely to get curb rash.

I would not hesitate to buy another set at the price points they sell them for and I recently met James Chan, who is the owner at SEMA, plus I have had other interactions with several of their team members and they provided for the most part, good customer service.

I think if the price point is right and they fit correctly, as long as you take care of them, you should be fine.

 

Whatever wheels you buy, keep in mind that unspring weight carries a 1:6 - 1:7 weight reduction ratio. Meaning, cutting 10 pounds of unsprung weight equates to reducing 60-70 pounds of sprung weight.
CATTMAN

 

wow so assuming that the axis rims are about 8-10 lbs heavier per rim we are looking at 60-70 pound difference per wheel? is that correct? Thanks for the info