I think BBS gave up on the aftermarket market some time ago and kind of
plays that role of "we're the best, if you want us PAY FOR US!". It seems to
me that they still do supply allot of OEM wheels (admittedly, high end cars)
and I would think they'd have to be somewhat competitive on those.

I had been told quite a few years ago (when having a heart attack over the
price of replacing two 15" OEM BBS wheels on a Jetta GLI) that VW had bought
up BBS. Can anyone here confirm or debunk that? I'd like to know if that was
smoke being blown up my ......well, you know. FWIW I ended up replacing all
4 wheels with alternate aftermarket wheels and at that time in my life I had
no clue about wheel weights and never did notice any handling difference /
change.

Chris
99BBB

"pws" > wrote in message
...
> Leon van Dommelen wrote:
>
>> The 15" Enkei was 15. So were the 15" 6-spokes. Mazda also put 18 lb 16"
>> OEM
>> wheels on the 2002 SE. It is all essentially the same car.
>
> Well, technically, the 15" Enkei was 14.5 pounds on the '96M and '97 STO.
> Mazda never reached 15 pounds on any of their alloy wheels until they went
> to 16".
>
>> I do not know that Mazda was deluged by 2002 SE owners regretting the
>> added
>> weight.
>
> Probably not, though anyone who is really concerned with wheel weight
> probably swapped them for something with less weight.
>
>> Also, do not forget that wheels are only a small part of unsprung weight.
>> The tires add a lot to it (and tires on a 14" wheel are likely to be many
>> lb lighter than on a 16" one.) The brakes, shocks, and suspension
>> elements
>> add more unsprung weight. Frankly, I doubt whether I would really notice
>> if someone put wheels weighing another 10 lb each on my Miata. I
>> might,
>> but I sure do not guarantee it.
>
> I think that you would notice it. I drove two '96M editions within minutes
> of each other. One car had a new set of RE-71 tires on the 14.5 Enkeis.
> The other miata had worn-out Toyos T-1's on the 15" BBS wheels.
> This was probably a bit more than a 10 pound difference, but the feel of
> the two cars was completely different.
> While mine gripped better with the new tires, the other car felt more
> nimble and tossable to a good degree.
>
>> How about the 1995 M-Edition BBS at 12 lb and $900 each?
>
> $900.00 each? Is that a typo or is BBS insane? Actually, that would be the
> buyers that are insane.
> Those wheels are nice, but $3600.00 for a set of 15" wheels that are not
> even the best on the market seems WAY, WAY, WAY too high a price to me.
> My SSR's are larger (16X7), weigh almost the exact same, (they would weigh
> another pound or two less than the BBS wheels if the size was the same for
> both), and cost about $350.00 each, which is not inexpensive by any means,
> but $900.00 for any 15 inch wheel is just nuts, unless it is made of
> precious metals.
>
>> Why not just go for the Borbets that you like?
>
> Good call. :-)
>
> Pat