[theirishgonzo]

if the bolt patern for the sky is a 110 mm then rims will be hard to find.

 

[brentil]

Well it really depends on how popular the car is. If the cars are very popular you'll see more companies making rims for the cars since they know they'll sell.

Also as more companies make rims for cars with the 5x110 pattern (Cobalt SS, ION RL, Malibu MAXX, etc) you'll also get more choices to choose from.

 

[reedred]

if the bolt patern for the sky is a 110 mm then rims will be hard to find.

If the rims that were on the car at the auto show are available I won't have any reason to look. They were breathtaking.

 

[Vita]

yeah, if the bolt pattern is 5x110, there are slim pickings right now. just hope the cobalt gets more attention by rim manufacturers than the ION and the SAAB makes that use it.

i assume with the solstice/SKY using the same bolt pattern, things will pick up a notch

 

[swatthefly]

if the bolt patern for the sky is a 110 mm then rims will be hard to find.

start contacting the companies that make rims and let them know there is a strong interest!

 

[mdlestat]

start contacting the companies that make rims and let them know there is a strong interest!

I doubt that the small(ish) numbers of kappa owners alone will inspire many businesses to make product for them-- it's an awfully small pool of customers to make special product for.

It's not like these two cars are gonna sell 50K a year or anything-- I suspect they actual sales will be kinda meager, in all honesty. I guess we'll all see though...

 

[theirishgonzo]

i think gm should use 1 bolt pattern across the bord for the cars

 

[swatthefly]

I doubt that the small(ish) numbers of kappa owners alone will inspire many businesses to make product for them-- it's an awfully small pool of customers to make special product for.

It's not like these two cars are gonna sell 50K a year or anything-- I suspect they actual sales will be kinda meager, in all honesty. I guess we'll all see though...

true... kappa owners arent going to outnumber much of anything, BUT, how many people do you think actually take the time to contact a company and request something be made? i think if they found that people out there were wanting rims to be made in that size, it would motivate them to do it faster. a product that has a proven interest rather than a speculative one would certainly make it to the market sooner. besides, even if it doesnt work, what have you lost? a phone call?

 

[brentil]

I guess all those original Miata owners should have never asked companies to make parts for them, I mean look where it got them? As owners we have to be pro-active and not neigh-sayers, otherwise we really will get nowheres with these cars. As a lot of people know too, a cars succes can also be strongly linked to the aftermarket parts made available for the car.

swatthefly is right, unless we ask vendors to make stuff we'll never get anything done. It might start out as a small volume car, but over time there will be thousands. 20k Solstices a year, 10k Skys, ~1k Opels, Cobalt SS, ION RL, Malibu MAXX, SAAB, plus all the other GM/Euro GM cars using this bolt pattern. It adds up real quick. For example I contacted a company that makes 3M clear bras in order to find if they have plans, and if not to drum up interest on their part for a Solstice kit.

It might be a good idea to start a list of products we want to see for this car, that enough people would realisticaly buy to support. Then we find several vendors, and as a group we email/write/call/fax them in order to prove/generate the interetest needed to get companies moving on products.

 

[geerhed]

How hard would it be - or better yet - how much (approx) do you think it would cost for a machine shop to re-drill the rotors and hubs to match the pattern of your run of the mill camaro or corvette? That would allow for almost infinite # or rim possibilities.. I know its not a cost effective
option, but would allow those with the means to choose their favorite rim.

The next step is creating all the necessary brackets and hardware to install the current C6 brakes both front and rear... Imagine peeping through the rims on your sol/sky to see the Z51 package with cross drilled 13.4" rotors in front and 13" rotors in the back.. now thats my idea of a true performance roadster.

MALLETT - ARE YOU READING THIS?!? :lol:

 

[swatthefly]

How hard would it be - or better yet - how much (approx) do you think it would cost for a machine shop to re-drill the rotors and hubs to match the pattern of your run of the mill camaro or corvette? That would allow for almost infinite # or rim possibilities.. I know its not a cost effective
option, but would allow those with the means to choose their favorite rim.

i dont know the cost, but dont do it! that will severly affect the strength and structural entegrity of the rotors and hubs.

 

[theirishgonzo]

here is a list of what i want for my car.
cf hood with cowl enducton and some lovers eather carbon kevlar if i get a blue or red car or paint it.
some nice forget 20in rims that are light weight
4 or 5 point harnes

 

[arm1tage]

Actually I have seen this done on many track cars with cheap NAPA rotors. Occasionally you would see stress fractures on the rotor surface (not the hub area) under roadracing conditions however it is probably due to the cheap material rather than the redrilling. Can't beat C5 rotors for $25.

 

[brentil]

For example I contacted a company that makes 3M clear bras in order to find if they have plans, and if not to drum up interest on their part for a Solstice kit.

I got a response from the company;

Hello,

If the pattern comes out for then yes. We don't have the pattern at this
time & don't know when they will come out with it.

Thank You,

Thank You For Visiting Stickercit.com
STICKERCITY.COM
Phone: (818) 905 - 7059
Fax: (818) 995 - 5791
URL: WWW.STICKERCITY.COM

 

[swatthefly]

well thats good news i guess:

that means they wont go off pictures, they will wait until the car is actually out.

this also means that if the car is a production car and you have expressed interest, then i bet you they will do it!

 

[mdlestat]

I still think that the market selection will be pretty lean (at least until there are a large number of like-wheeled cars out there justifying the expense of creating castings/machining for these measurements.)

Building/designing alloy wheels isn't as quick, easy, or effortless as cutting patterns out of vinyl sheets for bra's at 3M-- (heck-- all they do there is feed the pattern's numbers into the cutting machine for the pattern and they're done)-- waste isn't a problem really, and you cut-to-order. Stocking rims (which probably have to be made in bulk to keep costs down) in an uncommon/unpopular size could get expensive fast if they didn't sell...

That all said, I'm hoping there are some good selections out there by the time I get into an RL-- the stock wheels are not my favorite feature of the Sky, and would be among the first to go negative on "stock status: "


Cheers

 

[geerhed]

Patients my fellow kappa enthusiasts.. If the car is a hit, the aftermarket will follow quickly! Let's hope the sky/sol is a GRAND SLAM! - but not soo much that prices climb!