Shod the ER34 with Volk Racing TE37 and slap on the Endless brakes??

This month seems to be the topic of footwork for the ER34. We've been talking about tyres, wheels, brakes and suspension. :)

Well, since we are at this topic, let me wrap up this month's blog entry on the discussion of possible replacement wheels for the ER34.

What got me thinking was that the good folks at JDM Auto Link have a set of used Volk Racing TE37 enroute from Japan. What's so special about the wheels is that it's finished in one of RAYS optional colour.

The standard colour of TE37 is just bronze and white. I mean, only two colours? Yes, only two colours are available off the shelf. However, they do carry some optional colours which needs to be ordered from their factory. The list of optional colours are:-

Optional Colours:
Mercury Silver
Platinum Silver
Titanium Gunmetal
Hyper Flat Black
Diamond Black
Takata Green
Gold (aka Top Secret Gold)
Magnesium Blue
Orange
Chameleon Blue/Purple

And they also have some special edition colours as below:-

Special Edition:
Black Time attack with red lip TE37 only
Seibon edition (similiar to black/red time attack) TE37 only
Silver Green time attack TE37 only
Blue Yellow time attack TE37 only

Before we go into the specs of the possible new wheels, let take a look at my journey from the stock ER34 wheels to my current Work Emotion XD9. I took me a long while to decide what wheels to shod the ER34 with in order to ditch the fugly standard items.

After many hours, days, weeks, months of research, looking at pics, etc ..... only then I decided to go for the Work Emotion XD9. I was very careful with my wheel order, thus with advise from Work I got the recommended specs for the ER34. Now lets look at what difference did it make to the ER34 on stock versus the Work Emotion XD9.

Stock ER34 wheels specs:-
17 x 7.5J PCD +40 - Front
17 x 7.5J PCD +40 - Rear

Work Emotion XD9 specs:-
18 × 8.0JJ+35 - Front
18 × 9.0JJ+38 - Rear

With the switch to Work Emotion XD9, the ER34 had the below changes:-

FRONT
Inner Clearance: 1mm LESS
Outer Position: EXTEND an extra 11mm

REAR
Inner Clearance: 17mm LESS
Outer Position: EXTEND an extra 21mm

Pic 1: This is how Volk Racing TE37 in Mercury Silver looks like

Now if I shod it in with the Volk Racing TE37s that have the below specs:-
18 X 8.5J＋30 - Front
18 X 9.5J＋40 - Rear

The ER34 will have the below changes from what it is currently:-

FRONT
Inner Clearance: 1mm LESS
Outer Position: EXTEND an extra 11mm

REAR
Inner Clearance: 8mm LESS
Outer Position: EXTEND an extra 4mm

After checking my wheels yesterday, I have the extra space up front and rear to move the wheels outwards a bit. That means those Volk Racing TE37s will be perfect for the ER34. PLUS I will be able to fit in my Endless 6 pot brakes. Woohoo!!!

But but but I have not really decided to go for it tho. Decisions ..... decisions. I am still ok with selling off my Endless brakes at this moment. So yeah, in a bit of a dilemma now. :(

Well if you are interested in those wheels, you can check it out with JDM Auto Link. :)

My Work Emotion XD9 almost flew off the hub !!!

Pic 1: The circles indicates the missing lug nuts. Missing lug nut stud in the green circle

A couple of days ago, I heard some sort of scraping sound coming from the right rear wheel whenever I move off from standstill. After speeds of about 15km/h, the sound disappears and that’s it.

Yesterday somehow, the noise started to get more audible. I thought it was just due to some bushings on the suspension that is worn or something along that line. Peeking under the car reveals all is fine. Boy was I wrong when I inspected the ER34 more thoroughly.

Three of my Rays Engineering Duraluminum lug nuts were missing. Yes it was gone! My immediate reaction was someone stole them when the ER34 was parked in a shopping mall over the weekend. Then it dawned upon me that I could have possibly be hurt IF the remaining two lug nuts did not manage to hold the wheel in place. Worst case scenario is I could be been dead if it flew off while I was barreling down the highway. The wheel could have flung into a motorcyclist or a pedestrian. They would not have stand a chance for survival.

Anyway, that night I took a couple of spare lug nuts from my store room to fit it back in. Only then I realise what could have caused the lug nuts to fly off from the studs. One of the lug nut stud had broken and thus the vibration and stress could have over time slowly unscrewing the lug nuts off the wheel.

Pic 2: Replace missing Rays Engineering Duraluminum lug nuts with ordinary ones

I can only think of 2 possibility of why it happened:-
1) Someone stole off some of the Rays Engineering Duraluminum lug nuts and thus the stress caused one of the studs to break (which I doubt!).
2) The previous shop that removed the wheels failed to tighten one of two of the lug nuts properly and thus the stress caused one of the studs to break.

Pic 3: Can you spot the broken lug nut stud?

Anyway, I thank my lucky stars that nothing untoward happened to me and the ER34. Today I went to my regular mechanic (those who knows me would know where is this place) but are kinda pissed. They don't seem to be interested in fixing 'small' and trivial stuffs like this. I was told to wait until they are free.

C'mon I also have time constraints ok; as I stole some time off my lunch hours. Called up another mechanic I know that specializes in Nissan and drift cars and off I left for the place without a goodbye. Over in the new place my problem was fixed within an hour and off I go.

Now my wheels looked kinda crap with mixed Rays Engineering Duraluminum lug nuts and normal lug nuts. Anyone know where I can source 3 pieces of Rays Engineering Duraluminum lug nuts with M12 X P1.25 thread size??

Pic 4: What is left of the lug nut stud...

Pic 5: The broken lug nut stud will be replaced with a new unit

Pic 6: The Work Emotion XD9 now looks kinda crap with mismatched lug nuts

Installed: 18 inch Work Emotion XD9 and Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3

I finally installed my new wheels and wrapped them up with some good rubbers. I was actually shopping around for tyres as are quite undecided on what tyres should be mounted on the wheels.

I narrow down my choices to the below:-

1) Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3
2) Toyo Proxes T1-R
3) Yokohama Advan Sport
4) Falken Azenis ST115

After a week plus of cross examining the pros and cons of each tyre, I decided on the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3. The sizes as below:-

Front : 225/40/18
Rear : 255/35/18

Pic 1: Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3

Pic 2: Mounted on the Work Emotion XD9

Pic 3: Mounted on the Work Emotion XD9

The Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 is a Max Performance tyres developed for driving enthusiasts. It excels in wet conditions by delivering class-leading hydroplaning resistance and traction, as well as offers competitive dry performance.

According to the review in Tirerack,

"The Eagle F1 GS-D3 tires feature Goodyear's AAtrax tread compound molded into a distinctive wet weather racing-derived OneTRED directional tread design and earns the highest "AA" Uniform Tire Quality Grade wet traction rating. The Eagle F1 GS-D3's OneTRED design combines three distinct patterns to enhance dry and wet performance. A solid and continuous center zone maintains constant road contact to enhance straight-line tracking and initial steering response. Next, sweeping intermediate power transfer bridges use "virtual rib" technology that emulates racing slicks by delivering shoulder-to-shoulder tread contact to further enhance steering response and dry road cornering traction. Then, sweeping aqua channel grooves, which are three times longer than the tire's contact patch, angle forward and out to the edges of the tread to avoid trapping water between the tire and the road enhancing wet traction and hydroplaning resistance. And finally, the virtual ribs flow into the shoulder area to form long, stable shoulder blocks that grip the road during cornering and help resist the wear associated with aggressive driving.

The tire's structure includes twin, high-tensile steel belts reinforced with spirally wound nylon that distribute the vehicle's load across the tire's footprint to provide high-speed durability and uniform ride qualities. Slightly angled body ply construction with high-ply turn ups enhance steering precision and high speed stability while exterior sidewall rim flange protectors help guard wheels from curb damage."

It's also interesting to note that the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 was amongst 11 tyres pitted in a test by Car & Driver magazine. The end result?

Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 came out top as the best tyre.

You can download the full report (PDF - 4.4 MB) as printed in the December, 2005 issue of Car and Driver.

Hope I made the right choice!!

Pic 4: Fitting in the new wheels and tyres

Pic 5: Note one side with 255 and the other with 225 width tyres

Pic 6: Before new wheels and tyres

Pic 7: After new wheels and tyres

Pic 8: Side profile

Pic 9: Front wheel

Pic 10: Rear Wheel

18 inch Work Emotion XD9 Wheels

Yes!!! I got new wheels!!! I ordered a set of the Work Emotion XD9 from Japan (many people think I’m mad to order all of my parts in myself ... hahaha). It took a bloody 6 weeks to arrive from the date of booking to arrival in Malaysia via ship. Damn! That’s a long wait..... :(

Pic 1: The Work Emotion XD9 packaging

I got the below specifications of the Work Emotion XD9:-
Front - 18×8.0JJ+35 5H-114.3

Rear - 18×9.0JJ+38 5H-114.3

Of course many know my dream wheels are the NISMO LMGT4 but with it costing twice as much for what I had purchased, that does not seem to be a possible choice. As of now, my bank account is already depleting faster than the Shinkansen's speed!

Pic 2: This is how the wheels came like in the box

Pic 3: Removed the protective cover and there's the wheels!

With the wheels, I'll be choosing a staggered wheel format; i.e. the rear will sport a bigger width. Yes I'm aftering that FR look on the ER34. :)

These wheels will be wrapped with tyres of the below sizes:-

Front - 225/40/18

Rear - 255/35/18

What tyres you ask? Well I had a few choices in mind. Will blog about that after I fitted them onto my car. So stay tuned for that ...... :P

I also took the opportunity to weigh the wheels on my trusty electronic scale. The front weighs 10.7kg each while the rear weighs 11kg each. Not exactly light but hey ... it's not a NISMO wheel ok? So can't complain too much there.

The wheels I procured is bronze in colour (Colour code: MHG). It's also available in Chrome (WMB), Metallic Grey (MGS) and white (WHT). I choose bronze because I felt it looks best on the ER34's white QM1 factory paint. Co-incidently, my previous Prodrive GC-06 wheels on my previous car is also of the same colour.

Pic 4: Work V29R2 wheel valves

I'm utterly surprised that the wheels came with the Work V29R2 wheel valves. The are anodised in a nice cool blue colour. These will set one back JPY 1,500 if I'm not mistaken. The centre cap is optional and costs JPY 3,000. I did not get the center cap though. I prefer the centre hub exposed ... it gives that racy look to the car.

Initially I was slightly dissapointed with the wheels as I thought the deep dish would have been deeper but guess I'll have to get a different offset if I had wanted that. The size and offset that I got was actually the recommended specifications for the ER34 from Work Company Ltd itself, so I guess one can't go wrong with that.

More pics below. So what do you think of the wheels???

Pic 5: Work Emotion XD9 wheels

Pic 6: A closer look. Those decals are fluorescent and glows in the dark!

Pic 7: Embossed WORK logo

Pic 8: Fat wheels?

Pic 9: All 4 wheels together

Pic 10: Warranty card and information booklet