Method Race Wheels

[Genghis_Bob]

We took a good shot at it last year. With new ownership, there may be another/better shot. Stuff is just starting to shake out. What they are doing/how they are doing it could look totally different a year from now. Should I be in a position to act, everyone will know.

If this ever happens i am on board, i'd even go for 16x8 rota slipstreams. My problem is that i'm still on oem tires and they need replacing soon. I need to figure a setup out soon and i keep debating on going 15 or 16.

 

[PCA-1]

If this ever happens i am on board, i'd even go for 16x8 rota slipstreams. My problem is that i'm still on oem tires and they need replacing soon. I need to figure a setup out soon and i keep debating on going 15 or 16.

Decisions, decisions......GL

 

[Tropski]

I know I am bringing this thread back from the dead, but I did some digging to find info on the Method rally wheels and I found this,

"What are the materials and manufacturing process used to produce the MR502 VT-Spec wheel?

Sean ? All of our gravel wheels are pressure cast with A356.0-T6 aluminum. This process utilizes a mold into which molten aluminum is forced into a cavity that is the shape of the wheel with air pressure. Utilizing a pressure casting instead of a casting which is filled simply by gravity, pulling the material into the cavity improves material properties and produces less scrap parts. The production facility that produces the wheels is TUV, JWL, and VIA certified meaning they are produced under the strictest process and quality control standards available in the industry."

http://www.dirtfish.com/blog/what-champions-roll-with-an-interview-with-method-race-wheels/

I don't know whether or not the MR501 VT-spec wheels are made the same way, I believe they are indeed gravity cast. It looks like the new MR502 VT-spec are low pressure casted though, correct?

Just thought I would share some information I had found to help someone in the future. I actually did end up buying some of the MR501's, I will post pictures when I get a chance to install them.

 

[Phoenix104]

Well, I thank you for posing and clearing that up due to ignorance previously displayed. While Rally America may not be as prestigious as the WRC, the cars still get tortured all the same. Likewise, Subaru uses Method rims for all their rally ventures, from Global Rally Cross, Chinese Rally Championship and Rally America. (Their GT cars use BBS's I believe though,...) If Method was a bad wheel company, I highly doubt Subaru would still use their products.

No one doubts Team Dynamics as a brand. They are well respected in the racing world, from rally to track. Competition is a good thing, and when I can get a high quality, strong rim for about half the price and support an American company, I shall, and will.

Plus, they look just bad-ass all around. Can't go wrong with a classic rally rim, but it's nice to see someone do things a little different to shack it up.

On a side note, the article states... "All of our GRAVEL wheels are pressure cast with A356.0-T6 aluminum..." and on Methods own website they state the MR501's were, "Developed as a high-offset 15? GRAVEL wheel..." I would assume that the MR501's are pressures cast as well. Plus, Tirerack specs on the 15" 501's do say, "1pc. Low Pressure cast..." so there is that too. Not to sure about the 17" variants though, considering they don't specify the weight tolerance or label the 17" as a GRAVEL rim.

Anyways... I do believe the horse is sufficiently dead... back to original topic...

I actually did end up buying some of the MR501's, I will post pictures when I get a chance to install them.

Please do! I've been dying to see them on a Fiesta and have been debating on picking up a set myself.

I really want some MR502 for my rally tires. I E-mailed Method and they stated they were in the process of manufacturing a 4x108 bolt pattern for them. We'll see how long I can hold out waiting... I might just snag some 501's in the mean time.

 

[M-Sport fan]

^^^Good to know, and I agree with you that the 'car breaking roughness' of many of the Rally America events is surpassed ONLY by the no longer on the schedule Safari Rally, and the Acropolis Rally of the WRC past, with some stages of the currently on the schedule, Guanajuato Rally Mexico, and maybe Argentina being rougher as well.

The Speedline Maramoras are also another different from "what everybody else has" rally look/spec option for our cars, as they ARE currently made in our PCD/offsets, but in very limited color options as well.
Light and fairly inexpensive, but, you MUST purchase them from English/Euro vendors as there are NO (that I know of) US/NA based distributors for these.

 

[Noodles]

There are alot of wheels from across the pond that i wish had venders over here. WolfRace brands have a couple wheels for our fitment as well as Ronal. Someone should take advantage of the favorable exchange rate and import a bunch of these to sell over here.

Sent from the Canyon's Edge

 

[Phoenix104]

^^^Good to know, and I agree with you that the 'car breaking roughness' of many of the Rally America events is surpassed ONLY by the no longer on the schedule Safari Rally, and the Acropolis Rally of the WRC past, with some stages of the currently on the schedule, Guanajuato Rally Mexico, and maybe Argentina being rougher as well.

Yup! And that's where some of the toughest races in the world are held too, so it's fitting. (Baja 500/1000 in Mexico and Dakar Rally across S. America.)

The Speedline Maramoras are also another different from "what everybody else has" rally look/spec option for our cars, as they ARE currently made in our PCD/offsets, but in very limited color options as well.
Light and fairly inexpensive, but, you MUST purchase them from English/Euro vendors as there are NO (that I know of) US/NA based distributors for these.

Oh yeah, I like Speedline's. Not a huge fan of those Maraoras, thought. The styling seems... off. As if it's not sure if it wants to rally, or be a thin-spoke track rim. lol but that's just me.

And i'm so jealous of Europe for getting all the vendors for the FiST... =( M-Sport, Mountune, PumaSpeed, Michelin rally tires, various rim companies. Guess I'll just have to move there and pick up a 3-door R5. =D

 

[Tropski]

Here are some terrible cell phone pictures, let me apologize in advance because they are pretty bad. I will be taking some better ones soon, and Ill post those up!

In this one ^^ you can still see some of the white lube they use to mount the tires.

So, I went with a 195/60/15 General Altimax Arctic, and honestly I think they are a tad too big. Discount tire had a great deal on them though so I bought them. I think a 195/50or55/15 would suit the car better, but there are not nearly as many tire choices in those sizes for some reason.

The pictures don't really do it justice honestly.

Other things to note, the speedo is slightly off, maybe 2-3 mph at 80, nothing horrible.
The ride is 100% better versus the stock setup.
Last but not least, no rubbing!

 

[Phoenix104]

Nice! They look bad ass. =D I like the beefy look with the 60 series tires. Any plans on painting them, or just going to keep them black for now?

 

[BionicBarnacle]

Any issue with brake clearance? I am tempted to go with a 15" wheel for the summer once I need new tires, but clearance and heat issues are my only concern.

 

[Tropski]

For right now I plan on leaving them black, I plan on painting the chrome lug nuts black to match the wheels too. One weird thing about these wheels is that they don't come with a center caps. I called method and apparently they don't make caps for them. So not sure if I'll fab some up or just leave it. Decisions....

As far as brake clearance goes, there is actually more clearance now then there was with the stock wheels believe it or not! The spokes are flat with the outside of the wheel and just looking at it, it seems as though brake cooling would actually be improved with these wheels. There is a ton of room in there. It makes sense though because they designed these wheels to fit over the AP racing 4 pot calipers that the subies use for rally.

 

[richtor]

These Method wheels and the Sparco's are not competition wheels like the Team Dynamics Pro Rally wheels are. The Method wheels and the Sparco wheels are cheaper because they are manufactured the cheapest way, gravity cast, and they are made in China. Method doesn't manufacture wheels, nor does Sparco. These are brands in name only.

All Team Dynamics wheels are manufactured in the UK, by the same factory, Rimstock Plc, the largest OEM wheel manufacturer in the UK. There is no secret to this. All you need to do is visit Team Dynamics website, http://www.team-dynamics.com . As the Pro Rally is actually used on a professional level, and is the same, unmodified wheel you can buy, it is not in the same, lower class as either Method or Sparco. Not even close. No WRC team is going to slap on a set of gravity cast wheels made in China and hope they don't break and crash out. Just because a wheel "looks" like a rally wheel, certainly does not make one.

Many companies operate this way. It is more the norm than not. Contract with Chinese/Far East wheel manufacturer and go from there. Many of the brands Tire Rack sells are their own private label wheels. Bremmer Kraft, Sport Edition, Sport Tuning, and TR Motorsport comes to mind.

As far as beating prices go, you can buy the real thing or the cheap copy. Cheap, fake Rolex or real Rolex. Fake competition wheels, real competition wheels.

I was first introduced to Method Race Wheels back in 11 by Greg Foutz. As an off road race truck driver/owner he was very impressed by the weight and the quality of the Method Race Wheels. What I dont know is if their race wheels(beadlock) are made with the same quality as their street wheels. From reading some of the later posts Method seems to be claiming it's the same or same quality wheel.

Since the Foutz recommendation I keep seeing there wheels on more and more off road race vehicles. This can happen one of two ways, either they have a big money backer and they are paying drivers to run them or they are as good as they state and drivers are running them because of their weight and strength. To back up the second reason I see a driver won a race with the Method Race wheel running for 14 miles off road with no tire. http://www.torquenews.com/1084/how-subaru-wrx-sti-went-14-miles-rim-alone-win-rally-stage

I'm no wheel man but to me that seems damn tough and I would like to see any other manufacturer run their wheels through a similar environment.