I converted the figure so they cost you about $509.977 AUD great price was that for just the 2 or a set of 4?

I'd really love a set of Wantanabe's for my Z I have the superlites if you look in my gallery but the Wantanabe's are just that bit nicer and of course the all time great wheel for the Z in my opinion.

I wanna polish mine up but.

that was only for the 2.

You then have to add on the costs of shipping, gst, brokerage fee, import duty, customs etc...to get it into australia and it becomes a hell of a lot more than 500.

The seller was also selling a matching pair of watanabe's: 15x7.5 +8 which were in perfect condition. I believe they went for around 34000 yen.

Now I just have to hang out a bit longer and find a set of 15x9.5's.

From what I've seen on yahoo auctions, most of the watanabes ,ssr's in the more desirable sizing/offset etc go for around 50000yen per pair.

I am also partial to the negative offset ssr mk3's but they often go for even more money than the watanabe's.

So you actually pay someone to bid for items on Yahoo japan ?

I paid someone to get the wheels anywhere they could find them in japan.

The first set they found happened to be on yahoo auctions.

They send back a shipping container to Australia every month or so.

15X8's? wow thats huge for the front, just a couple of questions, how do you propose to smuggle them under the guards, and do you thing a rim that wide will have adverse handling effects on the Z?

I am currently looking for a set of wheels, well kinda looking, I have a contact who brings stuff in keeping his eyes out over there so we will wait and see. I was thinking 7's with nice deep dish would be more than ample to fill the front flares, and 7.5's or 8's heaps for the rear?

Looking Good

Chris

Yeah, 8 is pretty wide there mate! HI-FIVE!!! You can join our special Watanabe club now! Collect your name-badge at the door.

Your wheels seem to be a bit weird lookin - a different style to the classic RS-8. Are you sure that's enough offset? I hope so!!! I think I prefer the classic style to be honest but having not seen them on a car I should hold my judgement! Can't wait until we can see some pics of your car with them on.

http://www.rs-watanabe.co.jp/images/photogallery/autosalon02/autosa5.jpg

I thought this was pretty flash too. Not my style but

http://www.rs-watanabe.co.jp/images/photogallery/autosalon/super246z.jpg

(cant seem to post images or URL's anymore......... Mike whats the deal?)

I would have to agree, they're odd looking.

It's nice that they're Watanabe's but I'm not sure I like how the arms/spokes melt directly and flatly into the inner rim edge.. it's very odd.

I much prefer the arms to maintain their form right into the rim edge.

Still though, they're fat arse Watanabe's and congrats on them

Congratulations on your wheel purchase trs,

However, I think that particular design was originally made for slightly more modern cars than the S30-series Z, like the DR30 Skyline for example. You might need spacers to use those on the front of an early Z. They have a fairly positive offset ( rather than negative ) and with that width this can mean you get some interference between the wheel ( or more especially the tyre ) and the inner wing ( fender ) sheetmetal and suspension components ( especially the springs and spring seats ) at full steering lock. You can sort this out with spacers, but that gives you clearance issues with bodywork and you might need flares or Overfenders.

You could use them on the rear with - I would think - less chance of clearance problems.

Gav, just a heads-up mate - there's only one 'n' in Watanabe. If you spell it "Want a nabe" it makes a good joke in Japanese. A "Nabe" ( pronounced "Nab ay" ) is a Japanese iron cooking pot. I think you might end up with something that will not fit on your car!:-)

All the best,

Alan T.

Oh gee now I'm blushing .

Oh well now I know i wonder how many times I've wrote about putting cooking pots on my car before .

eehehe yeah you want some nabes with good dish Gav if you're planning on entertaining.

This one (attached) seems to have way too much positive offset, I'm not sure if the spacers youre using are safe Gav!!!

Japanese wordplay joke: What do you get if you turn a deer upside down? Lollies! (do you get that, Alan???)

Poor Gav,

Its all too easy to make a faux pas with foreign words and names.

Hey, where have the Smilies gone? Smilies are OFF. Did I turn them off by accident?

Alfadog,

I shall avoid the lemon flavour lollies from now on :-)

Alan T.

I was hoping to eventually secure a set of 9.5's and 7.5's.

these are actually 8.5j.

This way I could interchange the 8.5 front and rear depending on what I was doing with the car.

And yes, I was planning to run flares.

It was a bit of guesstimation on my part as to how well they would fit, but hopefully they should be ok under ZG flares on the front.

They might be a middle of the road for the rear though.

*If anyone sees a set of 9.5j's let me know!

Chris, I have started weights training in preparation for these wheels.