Mark in Baltimore

Should I go with the Fikse full race satin (anodized) finish on the centers AND rim or should I just opt for the anodization on the centers only? I know that the race satin is the easiest to take care of but I'm not sure how the heat from the brakes would affect the anodization. I also really love the polished rim look and wonder how much of a pain these unanodized, uncoated, shiny rims would be. Will they need constant attention and rubbing to keep them from looking stained and pitted? While not a full-blown, dedicated track car, my 993 is infrequently driven on the street and spends most of its time on the track and is stopped by Pagid orange pads, if that gives any indication of brake dust amount and corrosiveness.

Thanks in advance!

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Hi Mark:

Heat from the brakes will not affect the anodization on those wheels,....failure to remove brake dust and using a corrosive brake pad will,...

With any wheel; keep it clean, keep it waxed and you will be just fine.

Ted Drake

I had some fuchs anadiozed red. The brake heat on the front centers faded the red to pink. I dont know what clear/satin would look like faded.

My track rims use to have anadiozed barrels. I went back to polished barrels so I can buff out any scuffs from changing/mounting race tires 3 times a year.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Ted,..Mark;

Colors will not hold up well, clear anodizing does,.......

This is why Porsche never used any anodized colors on wheels, only paint.

Mark in Baltimore

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the responses.

Steve, am I being foolish by wanting the uncoated, shiny rims rather than the anodized, satin rims or are they both about the same maintenance? It would seem that the anodized rims might be initially lower maintenance but would offer less of a chance to make clean and shiny as you could if you polished the uncoated rims. What do you think?

I would love to hear from other Fikse owners, too.

Thanks!

tchanson

Mark,

I'll add my two cents, since I have a set of FM10's with polished lips and satin anodized centers, albeit on what is primarily my street and occasional DE car.

The Fikse satin anodized centers are pretty durable in my experience, with little maintenance required as long as you don't let accumulated brake dust sit for weeks on end.

I would imagine that generally the satin anodized rim lips would be as tough, and would almost certainly be less work than the polished lips. My satin anodized centers are just "wipe and go" for the most part. Like you, however, I can't resist the bling of the polished lips.

I generally "need" to do a quick polish of the outer rim sections (usually with Simichrome, although Wenol Red or Blue work OK as well) every couple of washes to deal with water spots, etc. The polished rims equire more maintainence, but the trade off is worth it IMO.

Good luck,
Tim

Mark in Baltimore

Tim,

Thanks! That's exactly the feedback I'm looking for.

Anir

Mark,

Missed you at the Road America turtle pond this weekend!

I am very fond of my Fikse FM-10's with race satin anodized centers and lips. I also thought about the polished lip, but eventually decided against it simply for maintenance issues.

The FM-10's do require a bit more time to hand wash due to all the nooks and crannies, but they are worth it. The anodized finish has held up well to both street and track use.

Good luck with your decision!

Mark in Baltimore

Anir - thanks for your help. I downloaded one of your photos from the archives that is serving as my Fikse full satin reference. Your big reds come popping through quite nicely.

I know the FM-10's are going to require more time to clean but I'm prepared for the work. I had a set of BBS RA (?) wheels on my Rabbit GTI a couple of lifetimes ago, and managed a routine that kept my rims sparkly like a holiday.

Cheers,

Mark in Baltimore

Tim,

One more question: how long does it take to Simichrome each wheel? Is it a quick wiping or are you rubbing the heck out of each rim before it looks good? I'm also assuming that if you're not tracking the car too much, melted rubber and such would add add to the shine time.

tchanson

Mark,

It's not a big deal, IMO. One clean cotton cloth to wipe on one pass of Simichrome, another clean cotton cloth to wipe it off. Not especially elbow grease intensive. Maximum time? Maybe a couple of minutes per corner. You can also apply a coat of wax to the polished outer rim sections which helps a little (or at least I tell myself) in keeping track schmeg and brake dust off them. Hope springs eternal...

Some folks complain about how hard FM10's are to keep clean, but I frankly don't find them all that difficult. If you cleaned those much tighter patterned GTI BBS's, the Fikse's won't be a challenge to you. I use P21S wheel cleaner and a fat Loew Cornell round, natural bristle brush with a wood handle and plastic barrel, which you can whack around in the spokes and lug recesses of FM10's without risk of scratching anything. Available at most any art/hobby supply stores. Works great for me.



Good luck,
Tim

Mark in Baltimore

Tim, excellent info and what I wanted to hear. I know more maintenance will be required with the polished rims but wanted to know HOW much more would be required. I can live with that extra effort.

Thank you,

Mike Buck

I have the same wheels as Tim. I'll second as his comments as well. The BLING is worth the extra polishing time every few washes.

My track pads, now PF97's and Pagid Oranges earlier this year do not pit the aluminum. Between run sessions on track, I'll wipe the brake dust from the lips with a towel or blow it with compressed air to be safe. Per Fikse recommendation I use Simple Green when I wash them and it does great.

Honkity Hank

You do need to keep after them to avoid pitting though. I purchased an 87 951 with Fikse's and was dissapointed that the wheels were not kept up to a high standard and so the rim is slightly pitted as are the inside of the spokes. Some simichrome polishing sessions really helped a lot but the pitting will require some material to be removed. I wash them with SImple Green and find that this works very well.

Mark in Baltimore

Mike - thanks for your feedback. I've decided to go with the race satin centers and polished lip, in large part to guys like you who have paved the way.

Hank - yeah, I'm prepared to maintain the wheels. Since this is not a daily driver, keeping it clean won't be so onerous. Thanks for your, help, too.