Lightweight wheel porn

A6 All/ S6 All
#1

I came across a set of used forged wheels when I was selling a set of Porsche fitment wheels from the same manufacturer. I didnt have the money to buy them at the time, but the seller was nice enough to hold them for me so I could save up my allowance to make the purchase. The manufacturer was AMT Forged Alloys, who are no longer selling wheels directly to the public. They gave the high end wheel game a shot, but apparently had issues getting the product to the customers within the agreed upon timeframe. After a few negative buyer reports on the internet of people waiting several months for their wheelsets, the company’s reputation took a hit, and they eventually closed up the retail portion of their business. They still make wheels for many different high end tuning companies, and the US military, but not direct.

The cool thing about the company is that they (apparently) used a higher grade of forged blanks then the competition, which allowed them to produce a stronger, lighter wheel than the competitions monoblocks. At the same time, you have to take everything with a grain of salt, as direct comparison strength tests between different manufacturers are rarely (if ever) performed.

Anyway, here are a few pics of the wheels in 20x9. They are the ‘heavy’ version, designed to handle the load of an SUV. On the bathroom scale they came up as 21.6 pounds including the center caps.

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p4pb11821838/p4pb11821838.jpg

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p4pb11821837/p4pb11821837.jpg

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p4pb11821836/p4pb11821836.jpg

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p4pb11821834/p4pb11821834.jpg

They are definitely not the most blingy wheels you will come across, but after having both lightweight and heavy wheels on my cars, I try to keep the wheels to a maximum of about 25 pounds. The car just feels so much better with lighter wheels.

With the stock S6 19s coming in around 35 pounds each, these should make a huge improvement in the feel of the car. Now I will need some lightweight rotors to replace the OEM stock 385mm boat anchors on the car, and hopefully knock another 5 to 10 pounds off per corner.

#2

Did you find lightweight rotors? If so, who makes and how much?

#3

Cool wheel.

Not-so-good Center cap.

Awful couch.

#4

Hahahaha Agreed, agreed, agreed :slight_smile:

#5

Not exactly. I am doing an 4F RS6 brake upgrade, so if I get lightweight rotors made then they will be for that setup.

JHM might be able to make some for the S6. I would guess they would be about $700-$900 a pair plus shipping.

#6

When I received the wheels and saw the caps, I kinda laughed. The previous owner used his own Merc caps. Ill do something like that too.

But regardless, knowing what these wheels originally cost, it is no wonder the company had to close up shop when they paid little attention to the finer details. Expensive crap is all about the little details.

Anyway, they should suit my needs perfectly.

And the couch, well, it was either a new couch or new wheels. The couch lost.

#7

I don’t think the centers look so bad, just slap a small Audi Ring sticker on them. You could also sand them down flat and have a thin skin of carbon fiber applied.

#8

It is not like they look horrible, but the center caps on a $300 set of wheels look better. There are three tiny screws to hold them on. No clip or tape or anything. And the screws are the natural bright silver, so they stick out visually, and actually physically too. Then, the screw holes are not evenly spaced. Maybe they did that so that you would always mount them a certain way. Not sure, but it just adds to the goofy look.

The company was marketing the wheels to owners of high end cars. They were advertising better-than-HRE quality, at a ‘no name’ price for a forged wheelset. So, maybe that is why they skimped on the wheel caps, because you were supposed to use your stock ones on the ‘no name’ wheels. But I still think it was a misstep on their behave to not design a better cap. Probably one of many that lead to their business closing its retail side.

#9

Is that a raymour and flanigan couch? I may have the same one. Nice looking set of wheels. Should look badass.

#10

21.6 lbs for a 20 x 9 wheel is extremely light - can’t imagine what 18’s or 19’s would weigh.

#11

Thanks man.

Not sure about the couch. My wife brought it with her when she moved in.

#12

Yeah, for sure. And this wheel was their heavy one, made for an SUV with increased load handling.

Some of their other wheels had lightening package (carved out pockets) to make them even lighter. 20s as low as 18 pounds, 19s at 16, and 18s as low as 15 pounds!

http://execstudio.com/products_wheels_forged_alloys.htm

Tech1 - 210
Porsche 997 Widebody
19x8.5 - 17.5lb
19x11.5 - 20.1lb
R Pro Lightening Pockets on the face

Tech1 - 210
Porsche Cayman / Boxster
19x8.5 - 16.3lb
19x10 - 18.5lb
R Pro Lightening Package

Tech1 - 200 Series Concave
Porsche 996 & 997 GT3 / GT3RS / Turbo S
18x8.5 - 15.3lb (centerlocks are 0.5lb heavier)
18x12 - 19.3lb (centerlocks are 0.5lb heavier)
Random Porsche application weights (± 0.5lb):
19x8.5 - 17 lbs
19x11.5 - 21.5 lbs
19x12 - 22.5 lbs (GT3, GT3RS)
20x8.5 - 18.5 lbs
20x11 - 22 lbs
20x12 - 24 lbs

This is the same wheel with the lightening package

http://execstudio.com/gfx1/products_forged-alloys_top_banner.jpg

http://execstudio.com/products/forged_alloys/Tech1-210/slides/automotive_connoisseur_execstudio_forged_alloys_tech1_210_1-piece_monoblock_pro-lightening_porsche_997_911_turbo_blue_silver_01.jpg

I just noticed on the pics that the lightweight wheels have the caps like mine, and the normal version have nicer engraved caps. I had a set with those and they weighed a couple hundred grams. So now the cap makes sense. It is ugly but it is their lightweight cap. Weighs pretty much nothing. Not that saving a couple hundred grams at the center of the wheel is going to make any difference on a 4300 pound car. I guess it was for marketing lightweight

#13

Wow! 15.3lbs for 18x8.5s. I think I found wheels.

#14

Only problem is, I dont think the company sells to the public anymore.

They apparently continue to make wheels for a bunch of the high end Tuners.

If you really wanted a set, you could try and contact the guy Mike. He seemed to be the main (maybe only) contact there. Just be warned, some people complained of extremely long wait times, way beyond what they were originally promised.

http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/997-turbo-gt2/150226-introduction-amt-tech1-forged-monoblock-wheels.html

I think the forged monoblock wheel market is going to end up taking a hit from all the “flow formed” wheels available for cheap prices, that have started flooding the market in the last few years.

If you look at the process all the rotory forged or flow formed, or whatever you want to call it, use to get the lightweight, it is pretty interesting. It is a cast wheel that has the barrel rolled out under extreme pressure to give a “forged like” weight.

Companies like OZ and Enkei have been using the this process for years. But now it seems like most of the major companies have some wheels using it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kyU-SxePIY

If you look at the used market, you will find a lot of these wheels with cracks. People complain a lot about companies like Forgestar (who, despite there name, dont have any forged wheels in their lineup) wheels not holding up. I think that is because they are still a cast wheel at heart with just a lightened barrel.

But realistically, you can buy at least three sets of flow formed wheels for the price of one set of forged monoblocks. So no matter how you look at it, they are going to be cheaper in the long run. And weight is usually within a few pounds of a monoblock wheel of the same design

#15

Interesting that they cold forge the barrels

#16

Mike got back to me within 10 minutes of pm’ing him. The wheels are out of production.

#17

That sucks. Hopefully I never need a spare.

I have a line on a nice set of LW wheels. Ill PM you the details.