Review of VMR 810's!

[Eagle]

Hey everyone, I recently acquired a new set of wheels and all i can say is that I couldn't be more pleased with this purchase, the wheels are beautifully engineered for form and function The process of purchasing the wheels was also easy and painless, thanks to Tracy McShaw: Sales and Marketing Rep at VMR, which is conveniently located in Anaheim for us So Cal guys/gals. I started talking to Tracy a while back when my friend mentioned to him that I was interested in getting a 2nd set of Euro style mesh wheels that I can use for the track. I quickly started browsing their extensive catalog and narrowed down my options to just a few.

The contenders were the V710FF, V810 and V703 all fairly similar styles but in the end I chose the 810's because of looks/style, weight and sizing. Here are the specs I went with:

Specs:

• Diameter = 18 in
• Width = 10 in
• Offset = +25
• Color = Titan Bronze
• Weight = 23.4 lb's
• Manufacturing Process = Flow form casting
• Front Spacers = None
• Rear Spacers = 20mm

They originally came in gun metal but i opted to get them powder coated in my color of choice (trust me there are a ton of options). VMR has their own powder coater that they send their wheels to which makes it super easy to have done and reduces any kind of lag time you might have with a shop that is not closely tied to you the buyer or the wheel manufacturer. The quality of the PC was immaculate and ended up looking better than the PC i had done to my 19 inch NISMO wheels.

VMR also allowed me the option to purchase a set of lug nuts through them, these are also made from the same manufacturing facility as the wheels and offer them in a variety of styles and anodized colors. I ended up going with the short lugs in red.


Finally, I was last left with a decision on what tires to mount on my new VMR 810's. I began looking at Hankook RS3's, my tried and tested Bridgestone RE-11's and the latest entry from Bridgestone the RE71R's

Tracy was able to order the RE71R's and have them installed for less than what it would have cost me to get it done at Americas Tire Co where i normally go. He worked out the logistics got the tires ordered, wheels powder coated and then tires mounted within a week. I was astonished at how efficiently he and his staff at VMR handled my whole transaction.






I picked up the wheels from their shop and installed them a couple days later and was simply elated at how everything turned out. Everything went perfectly. I required some spacers for the rear wheels, 20mm fit just right. Special thanks go to John Capati at Corner 3 Garage in Laguna Hills, for supplying the spacers and helping me find just the right size.

Something intersting to note is that even though these are 18's, they give the appearance of being 19's because the spokes run all the way to the lip and the lip is not stepped at all. I first noticed this when i mounted them on the car and compared the size to my 19' NISMO's, i was confused and almost thought that somehow i had been given 19's but then checked the tire size, confirming that i did indeed have 18's. The obvious wheel gap hammered the point home, yes I know i need coil overs. Trust me that is coming.





The wheels were installed a week before Nissfest, which gave me some time to break in the tires and get used to the new handling characteristics of the car. I did a quick run through Ortega Hwy 74 one day and was quite pleased with how the square setup was treating me. Steering felt initially more laborious due to the 275 tires i was now running up front instead of the 245's i have on the NISMO wheels. But I soon began to feel the car rotating better and a little quicker than before, I could tell that I was going to enjoy these at the track on 11/21.







My track day ended up being a great success except for some minor aerodynamic problems i had with my undertray and bumper. The wheels and tires helped me achieve a 4th place finish at Fontana speedway with a final time of 2:00.976, i missed the last two runs of the day which would have given me a great opportunity to improve on my already quick pace.

Again special thanks to Tracy and VMR for making such an awesome product if you are interested in getting a set of wheels from VMR I highly recommend you contact Tracy, I'm looking forward to the 2016 season with Nissan Challenge which starts on 2/21.