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Old 11-10-2020, 01:58 PM   #1
APEXRaceParts
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Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Pleasanton, CA
Default Help APEX Design The Next Subaru Track Wheel



APEX is ready to dive back into engineering wheels specifically for the Subaru community, and we’re asking for your feedback on which direction we should go. Over the past few years we’ve received positive feedback from WRX/STI and BRZ enthusiasts enjoying our existing wheels on and off the race track, and we believe now is the time to expand our offering to provide enthusiasts like yourself with more fitments and designs. We are excited to offer a wider variety of strong, lightweight, and affordable wheels to this community, that provide great functional features beyond just a different aesthetic.

We need your help to ensure we prioritize the fitments and features you want. Knowing your preferences on important topics like forged vs. flow formed construction, desired tire width, what big brake kits we need to clear, and how many of you will be dialing in negative camber has a big impact on our final barrel shape, widths, offsets, and so on.

When you grab your next cup of coffee, or during your late-night forum browsing, could you take a minute to share your thoughts with us? We appreciate your feedback and look forward to contributing to this community further.





LEARN MORE ABOUT APEX
For those whom we have not yet had the pleasure of working with, since 2007, our focus at APEX has been to produce high-performance wheels with extreme durability and unprecedented value for the performance driving community. Combining proven Motorsport design features, vehicle specific optimizations, and advanced flow-forming and forging technology, we've created wheels that have taken performance driving enthusiasts by storm. As a grassroots Motorsport oriented company, composed of a diverse group of auto enthusiasts, we understand that enthusiasts from all corners of the car community seek quality products at an affordable price point and that these should not be mutually exclusive.


YOU ARE IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT
APEX does not view the car community through a traditional lens. Since inception, this company has worked hand in hand with enthusiasts through many channels, but much of what we have accomplished stems from our unique ability to incorporate forum members into product development. Rather than sitting around a conference table internally brainstorming a list of products that we feel are relevant to a specific community, we have made it our mission to enlist enthusiasts like yourself in the decision making process. Tell us where the market is currently missing the mark for you, and how we can employ our core competencies to fill the current pitfalls. The action of putting enthusiasts at the forefront of product development ensures that APEX delivers satisfactory products.


THE BIGGER PICTURE
We guarantee a different customer experience. Car nuts come in all shapes and sizes, and it is imperative to recognize that enthusiasts have different priorities, as well as short and long-term goals for their machines. It is not until our product specialists have completed a needs assessment, that we can suggest a valuable and meaningful solution to our customers. Anything less would be a disservice. Manufacturing wheels that complement the multitude of suspension, brakes, alignment settings, and tires specifications instills confidence in our customer interactions.


SHOW US WHAT YOU CAN DO!
“All of this sounds great, but show me what you can do.” When track enthusiasts took delivery of their new BMW F8X M3/M4, they quickly realized that the standard 10” rear wheels were not cutting it, regardless of how sticky their 275mm wide tires were. Drivers had to cautiously modulate the throttle out of mid-corner with the threat of upsetting the car, and therefore lap times were not an accurate depiction of what this new powerful platform was capable of at the race track. Correspondence poured in, and after some validation from the community, a lightweight EC-7 18x11” ET44 was born. A strong 18" wheel that offered enough brake clearance for the massive OEM BBK, check. Precise and proven width and offset to support a 305 or 315 r-compound or slick without extensive modifications, check!

The following article should give you an insight into our process, and our devotion to the details: APEX Test Fitment - Squeezing a 315 R-compound onto a stock F8X

In that spirit, we'd love to hear from you - the Subaru community. Start by clicking the link above and taking our Subaru wheel survey.

- Team APEX
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Old 11-10-2020, 02:00 PM   #2
APEXRaceParts
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For those not familiar, here is a quick snapshot of the flow formed and forged fitments APEX currently offers for the Subaru community:


18" EC-7 Flow Formed 5x114.3 Wheels - Clears 6 pot & 4 pot STI Brembo BBKs

- 18x9.5 ET38






17" ARC-8 Flow Formed 5x100 Wheels - Clears PP/TRD Brembo 86/BRZ BBK

- 17x9 ET42
- 17x9 ET35




17" & 18" EC-7R Forged 5x100 Wheels - Clears PP/TRD 86/BRZ Brembo BBK & 4 pot STI BBK

- 17x9 ET42
- 17x9 ET35
- 17x9.5 ET40
- 18x9 ET35
- 18x9.5 ET40






- Team APEX

Last edited by APEXRaceParts; 01-19-2021 at 01:35 PM.
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Old 11-10-2020, 02:30 PM   #3
T-37
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Voted. I'd actually been hoping you'd offer the SM10 for Subaru at some point. There aren't many symmetrical 10 spoke wheels available anymore, many have gone to split 5 spokes (TC105N/X, GTX01, etc) and for whatever reason they aren't that visually pleasing to me.
There aren't many offerings for aggressive fitment 5x100s either, so hopefully that's a possibility
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Old 11-10-2020, 08:46 PM   #4
CoronaWRX
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Done, nice designs!
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Old 11-11-2020, 06:31 AM   #5
Aczwild
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Done and I agree with T-37 on the 10 spokes. I would also mention look at competitor pricing as well like the Titan 7 wheels that are competing in the same space as you...
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Old 11-19-2020, 06:19 PM   #6
APEXRaceParts
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Quote:
Originally Posted by T-37 View Post
Voted. I'd actually been hoping you'd offer the SM10 for Subaru at some point. There aren't many symmetrical 10 spoke wheels available anymore, many have gone to split 5 spokes (TC105N/X, GTX01, etc) and for whatever reason they aren't that visually pleasing to me.
There aren't many offerings for aggressive fitment 5x100s either, so hopefully that's a possibility
We love the SM-10s and so far Survey results are showing you guys love them too!

We appreciate all the feedback so far and are sitting at just over 80 results so far. Please let your friends know about it as we would love to collect more data to ensure we are continuing to provide for this awesome group!

-Joe // Team APEX
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Old 11-19-2020, 06:28 PM   #7
APEXRaceParts
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Aczwild View Post
Done and I agree with T-37 on the 10 spokes. I would also mention look at competitor pricing as well like the Titan 7 wheels that are competing in the same space as you...
Appreciate the feedback and we are always analyzing the entire market to ensure we bring you the best wheels for the value.

-Joe // Team APEX
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Old 11-19-2020, 07:08 PM   #8
APEXRaceParts
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As mentioned, currently SM-10s are the popular choice with Satin Bronze as the leading finish currently. Asked one of our marketing team members to do a quick render for you all to see featuring Angel Roman's 2017 WRX STI track car.

SM-10 Render:


EC-7 for comparisons:


-Joe // Team APEX

Last edited by APEXRaceParts; 11-19-2020 at 07:18 PM.
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Old 11-20-2020, 09:53 PM   #9
RacecarWRX
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Hey Joe,

Filled out your survey. Glad to see Apex hired such a cool and fast FRS driver to join their team.

I peeked at the Apex wheels last year when I upgraded my bbk, but didn't pull the trigger because the bbk clearance was too tight. Only 2mm. I have the AP Racing CP9668 caliper. I was forced to go with the Titan 7 R10 which was the only rim I could confirm would clear the bbk without spacers. It seems like the spoke pattern is what helps determine bbk clearance and for the survey it looks like you guys MIGHT have a wheel that clears now, very similar in design to the R10; forgot the model number in the survey.

Now if you could design a wheel that fit the AP Kit (355mm rotor) inside of a 17inch wheel and have them be forged, I'd switch in a heartbeat. I didn't like the weight gain of the 18 inch rim, and its tire. Also 17in just means cheaper tires, and well considering how fast you can melt rubber at the track, I would kill to buy all my favorite tires in 17s over 18s.

Also it should be worth noting that AP also released a new kit using the same CP9660 with a 372mm rotor, but I doubt this would ever clear a 17inch wheel. In case you are wondering the 9668 is a thicker caliper which uses a thicker brake pad compared to the 9660.

Really at the end of the day, the lightest wheel with the most clearance is what I would desire.

Also, I think the track subie guys like the Konig Hypergrams. Seems like they pretty cheap, relatively light, and have some pretty good caliper clearance. Word of mouth here, no first had experience. Perhaps on the non forged wheels, it is worth look at these as a frame of reference.

Last edited by RacecarWRX; 11-21-2020 at 09:56 AM.
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Old 12-02-2020, 01:41 PM   #10
APEXRaceParts
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RacecarWRX View Post
Hey Joe,

Filled out your survey. Glad to see Apex hired such a cool and fast FRS driver to join their team.

I peeked at the Apex wheels last year when I upgraded my bbk, but didn't pull the trigger because the bbk clearance was too tight. Only 2mm. I have the AP Racing CP9668 caliper. I was forced to go with the Titan 7 R10 which was the only rim I could confirm would clear the bbk without spacers. It seems like the spoke pattern is what helps determine bbk clearance and for the survey it looks like you guys MIGHT have a wheel that clears now, very similar in design to the R10; forgot the model number in the survey.

Now if you could design a wheel that fit the AP Kit (355mm rotor) inside of a 17inch wheel and have them be forged, I'd switch in a heartbeat. I didn't like the weight gain of the 18 inch rim, and its tire. Also 17in just means cheaper tires, and well considering how fast you can melt rubber at the track, I would kill to buy all my favorite tires in 17s over 18s.

Also it should be worth noting that AP also released a new kit using the same CP9660 with a 372mm rotor, but I doubt this would ever clear a 17inch wheel. In case you are wondering the 9668 is a thicker caliper which uses a thicker brake pad compared to the 9660.

Really at the end of the day, the lightest wheel with the most clearance is what I would desire.

Also, I think the track subie guys like the Konig Hypergrams. Seems like they pretty cheap, relatively light, and have some pretty good caliper clearance. Word of mouth here, no first had experience. Perhaps on the non forged wheels, it is worth look at these as a frame of reference.
We appreciate the feedback, and thank you for the kind words. We are going to look into all options and make the best possible wheel we can for this community.

We have had a solid amount of people take the survey so far and the results are pretty clear you guys would love to see an 18x9.5 SM-10 or SM-10R. We will be working on this project and look forward to updating you all in the near future!

-Joe // APEX Team
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Old 01-12-2021, 10:54 AM   #11
ntg44
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I know it's only been 6 weeks, but any update on the SM-10? I need a set of wheels for the spring and it's my first choice before I plunge on EC-7s. If I have any chance of somehow getting a set of these by April, would like to know before buying

Thanks.
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Old 01-18-2021, 05:33 PM   #12
APEXRaceParts
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ntg44 View Post
I know it's only been 6 weeks, but any update on the SM-10? I need a set of wheels for the spring and it's my first choice before I plunge on EC-7s. If I have any chance of somehow getting a set of these by April, would like to know before buying

Thanks.
Happy New Year NASIOC group! We do have some work in progress for you guys. As stated, the survey results showed that you love the SM-10s and we are working to bring you not just one, but two fitments! We are working on a 18x9.5 and 18x10 fitment as a lot of you commented on the survey that you wanted to see a x10 width wheel.

Check out some local testing we have been doing to ensure we provide the best possible wheel for everyone:

Here you can see our initial testing on a local 2017 STI with the common black 4 pot front Brembo had some interference (you can see witness marks in the 2nd photo from the owner trying to fit the 2018+ STI wheels that do not clear due to the 4 pot vs the newer 6 pot Brembo).



So using spacers we get the ideal caliper clearance of a minimum of 3mm to account for thermal expansion when driving these cars hard




Fear not, we are leveraging these findings to ensure we release the right product, spacer free. We will continue to update as we make more progress. Thank you all for the support and interest in improving the offerings to your community!

-Joe // APEX Team

Last edited by APEXRaceParts; 01-19-2021 at 01:28 PM.
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