KBS911

Went to Daytona today to meet with John at CCW wheels for measurement and fitment/guinea pig for the new 2010 C/L wheel fabrication so if anyone was planning a trip I can save you the time.

First off John is an incredibly knowledgeable guy, but very laid back and matter of fact. No airs here. He was popping off specs and answers to his people as we toured the plant on everything from Vipers, and Vettes to Porsches. Got a guided tour of the facility and met some of his folks, good people all. He recently moved in to the new place so some areas were still being developed.

I was fascinated by the forgings and the Wheel 101 lesson I received as we observed the fabrication stages from forgings to finished wheels, 3 piece assembly, and tire installation and balancing. Evidently many of the "you name them" wheel manufactureres get their forgings from the same source.

I pulled into the plant and his team got to work on my car. They were amazed at the 4' long torque wrench and breaker bar I brought to the party. Even John joined in, jacking the car, measureing, and making sure his techs got all the detailed dimensions of the OEM wheel and hub fitment. By the time I left they had the CAD drawings up on the computer.

I should get my wheels next week. John actually said he could have them by the weekend but wanted to run them to a local GT3 race shop for fitment and final checkout so i wouldn't have to make an extra trip with my car. Thats what I call a "custom" wheel! I was going to get the 19" wheels but after talking to John I am opting for 18" with RA1 tires. He has about 15 orders on his desk as we speak and all but one of them are for 18" wheels. 19 " wheel forgings for the rear (12") aren't available for about 6 weeks but after next week everyone should be able to place their orders.

In all a great experience. I was very impressed with CCW. Quality forgings, CNC equipment, CAD design and a motivated and helpful staff. The wheels will be the C-10 (Corsair 10 SPOKE) model. See pics. Interesting point is that there are 5 red anodized alignment pins on the hub. John thinks that they may be able to be removed and allow for a conventional 5 lug pattern installation. He will check that out.

I apologize for the lengthy post but it was a fun afternoon and i wanted to share.

KBS911

More pics.

KBS911

Last pics

mdrums

Yep CCW are great! I love mine...not the lightest forged wheels but super strong!

Curious...what was John's reason to go with 18 over 19" wheels on your GT3RS?

rmag

Good to hear he's gotten around to making them!

GT3

Very nice. They don't have the PCCB measurements, huh?

KBS911

Yep, John said he didn't build the lightest wheel and that most or at least a lot of folks tend to track their CCWs so he want's to make sure thay can take a beating. They didn't seem heavy to me but I'll try to weigh them before they mount them. How do yours compare weight wise to stock.

As far as the 18's he indicated that most people use the 18's for the track because the tires are cheaper and more available and that you get good displacement of the rubber on the road.

BTW, I like your black wheels. I'm torn between anodized black or anodized silver. The anodized wheels are shot peened prior to being anodized and are actually cheaper than the painted wheels.

cfjan

Did you see the anodized and the painted version side by side when you visited the shop? From the website, the painted version seems to look better, but it is hard to tell from the website pics..

Also, no worry about changing color due to heat.. or maybe the new anodizing process has improved and this is no longer an issue?

mooty

never met john at CCW, but bought a lot of wheels from him and chatted with him many many times on the phone. if anyone knows wheels, he does.

thanx for getting the car in there and whip john into shape... now what about RS specs? we have different offset and i think even width is different.....

mooty

changing color on wheel is sign of skill ;-)
if yours stayed black, you are most likely 10 seconds off pace.
if you make your black fikses turn purple in 3 events, you are probably good for ALMS like myself hahahaha....

the latest anno from CCW is call britepoint anno. they have a pebble finish, i believe that's the set i sold to mdrums. they stay black.

i also have satin finish painted black, they also stayed black (as you can tell, i drive slow.)

the painted finish is easier to clean b/c it's smooth finish while the anno is pebblish.

cfjan

Mooty, thanks for the feedback.. I am definitely not fast enough to heat up the wheel to change color, but I like to plan ahead.. you know.. !

Do you find the painted finish to be easily damaged? Which one would be more durable?

mooty

i dont go off much. so both are very durable when i had them.
it 'appears' that anno is more durable, but that's based on my visual guess.

rmag

Hows do I rate ... went from black..purple..gold..(newer wheel on right)

mooty

was it anno or painted.
holy poly moly..... jenson button, alonzo and company better step up their pace or get out of F1 for you.

rmag

anodized.