# Lightweight Enkei RSM9 wheels in 19 X 9 size



## 21212 (Aug 2, 2004)

After about 12 weeks, finally received Enkei RSM9 Platinum Silver wheels These are 19 X 9 with 50 offset. Weight is slightly over 20 pounds. Quick pictures from phone camera. So far, no problems of any sort. Tires are Michelin Pilot SS in OEM size. Will go to track next week for real test . Tire Rack says they fit without any problems.

I wasn't totally satisfied with the color which is not like Hyper Silver. It is more a cross between silver and titanium that comes from Audi. The wheels have a slight grey cast.

Required different bolt than stock which was supplied by Enkei

Also use a centering ring.


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## Quisp (Mar 18, 2012)

Nice wheels! I agree that the color is what i would have expected when they said Hyper Silver. I would have expected a bright silver, these look like titanium or light gunmetal.
They still look good.


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## Williamttrs (Mar 29, 2013)

Very nice. Let us know how they track.


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## 21212 (Aug 2, 2004)

Quisp said:


> Nice wheels! I agree that the color is what i would have expected when they said Hyper Silver. I would have expected a bright silver, these look like titanium or light gunmetal.
> They still look good.



Actually, they were clear that they were "PLATINUM" silver. From the pictures, it appeared to be similar to Hyper Silver, but in fact, the finish is darker. Tire Rack didn't mislead me. It was really my error. 

In the end, there were no other choices. The finish isn't bad, I just would have been happier with a finish more like the Hyper Silver they offer in other models.


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## hightechrdn (Dec 9, 2011)

Great looking TT-RS! I also have a Sepang Blue TT-RS and have been looking at those very wheels... 

What do you think of the build quality of the wheels? Fit and finish? Worth the roughly $500/wheel cost?


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## 21212 (Aug 2, 2004)

hightechrdn said:


> Great looking TT-RS! I also have a Sepang Blue TT-RS and have been looking at those very wheels...
> 
> What do you think of the build quality of the wheels? Fit and finish? Worth the roughly $500/wheel cost?


I'm not much of a wheel expert. They seem fine. I have no complaints so far. They seem similar to OEM quality. No mounting problems. Finish is like OEM. I wasn't that excited about the style, but it is good enough. Mostly, I wanted to lose the 5lbs per wheel, maintain same fitment as OEM, have OEM level strength and have a silver like color. I would have preferred hyper silver since it matches the Audi Optic package. 

I will track in next few days. That will be better test. 

If I could afford them, I would have bought the same wheels at Black Beautty: HRE p40 (see AWE site if you aren't familiar with these) I think. They are stunning, strong and light. But, $1600 per wheel was too much.


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## Poverty (Feb 17, 2012)

Looks awesome. Next mod needs to be the 8 pot caliper upgrade now!


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## carl44 (Nov 23, 2012)

track rims and tires TTRS TTS TT


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## carl44 (Nov 23, 2012)

carl44 said:


> track rims and tires TTRS TTS TT


 http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?6061373-track-rims-and-tires-TTRS-TTS-TT 

sorry for the double post.carl


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## MSS Automotive (Mar 20, 2013)

21212 said:


> After about 12 weeks, finally received Enkei RSM9 Platinum Silver wheels These are 19 X 9 with 50 offset. Weight is slightly over 20 pounds. Quick pictures from phone camera. So far, no problems of any sort. Tires are Michelin Pilot SS in OEM size. Will go to track next week for real test . Tire Rack says they fit without any problems.
> 
> I wasn't totally satisfied with the color which is not like Hyper Silver. It is more a cross between silver and titanium that comes from Audi. The wheels have a slight grey cast.
> 
> ...


 Nice, I like them. 
Can I keep this picture for our site and also, do you mind taking an AFTER picture ideally in the same location when your MSS Spring Kit gets fitted? Should make a perfect '_BEFORE_' and '_AFTER_' comparisons shot.

Ohh, did you get the info on the seat harness, that was the only solution I have found to date...seems a lacking area that manufacturers have as yet to tackle.


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## 21212 (Aug 2, 2004)

*before and after shots*

William 
I am happy to take a "after" shot. I will try to work with a better camera. This picture is from my phone. 

I did get the seat harness info. I still can't get over that no one in UK or Continent has developed this modification with all TT's running around over there.


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## 21212 (Aug 2, 2004)

*track info*



Williamttrs said:


> Very nice. Let us know how they track.


 I was at NJ Motorsports Park for two days with NEQ. These wheels are an excellent solution for track. I didn't experience any problems with them. No rubbing. I was driving over corner curbing and turtles all day and they performed very well. No damage that I was able to notice. 

The combination of the wheels and the tires, 235/55 19 Michelin Pilot Super Sports reduces the weight per wheel by approximately 7lbs. The wheels are 5lbs lighter than the stock "rotors". The tires are two pounds lighter than the stock Toyos. The combination results in a better ride on the street and slightly more crisp turn in at the track. I only had one track day at a different track (LRP) with the stock setup so the comparison is not very precise. And I think the PSS's might be a bit more responsive anyway. 

Keep in mind that the finish is a couple of ticks in the direction of Titanium compared to Hyper Silver. 

But, all in all, I would recommend this combination to anyone looking for a "same size" solution. I worked with "Blake" at Tire Rack who was very helpful


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## hightechrdn (Dec 9, 2011)

21212 said:


> I was at NJ Motorsports Park for two days with NEQ. These wheels are an excellent solution for track. I didn't experience any problems with them. No rubbing. I was driving over corner curbing and turtles all day and they performed very well. No damage that I was able to notice.
> 
> The combination of the wheels and the tires, 235/55 19 Michelin Pilot Super Sports reduces the weight per wheel by approximately 7lbs. The wheels are 5lbs lighter than the stock "rotors". The tires are two pounds lighter than the stock Toyos. The combination results in a better ride on the street and slightly more crisp turn in at the track. I only had one track day at a different track (LRP) with the stock setup so the comparison is not very precise. And I think the PSS's might be a bit more responsive anyway.
> 
> ...


 Are you actually running a 235 instead of the stock 255 width tires? Wondering if that was intentional or a typo... If you are indeed running 235 width tires, why would you go smaller with your wheels being same size as stock with close to the same offset?


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## adamTTRS (Jan 28, 2013)

*Hey 21212*

What track did you run Thunderbolt or Lightning? What were your lap times? I am interested to hear some of the results


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## 21212 (Aug 2, 2004)

*my mistake*



hightechrdn said:


> Are you actually running a 235 instead of the stock 255 width tires? Wondering if that was intentional or a typo... If you are indeed running 235 width tires, why would you go smaller with your wheels being same size as stock with close to the same offset?


 I screwed up. I reversed the numbers. The tires are 255/35 19.


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## 21212 (Aug 2, 2004)

*We ran both tracks*



adamTTRS said:


> What track did you run Thunderbolt or Lightning? What were your lap times? I am interested to hear some of the results


 I was there with NEQ for two days and we ran one track each day. Unfortunately, it poured on Monday and my sessions on Lightening were all in the rain or on wet track. It was interesting to run in the rain, but not as much fun as running on dry track. 

Tuesday was Thunderbolt. Weather was hot, humid and but mostly clear. It had rained a lot overnight so the track had troughs of water or puddles in a few spots in the morning that eventually dried out. My car ran great on this track. Frankly, I was surprised at just how fast it was. I couldn't keep up with a Corvette, a GT3 RS or a heavily modified, turbo charged Cayman S. But, it ran well against most other cars in the group; M3, R8, some Miatas, various 3, 4 series and 6 series Audis. If I were a better driver, the car could run faster. 

I don't have any times unfortunately. Didn't have a data acquisition set up. 

Probably the most remarkable event occurred on Monday. I went out on the skid pad which was absolutely saturated with standing water. I wanted to try to get the back end to break loose. There were 911 variants and BMWs doing 180s and 360s as they broke loose. I turned off the traction control and sport mode. I still couldn't get the car to break loose more than a little. It seemed as though the stability system was numbed, but still there. The car could break loose a little but then it would right itself. There was another fellow with a TTRS who had approximately the same experience. 

On the dry track, I was also impressed at how little understeer the car had relative to my earlier cars; a b7 S4 with a coilover suspension/sway bar upgrade and a 2004 R32. The TTRS is a big improvement. The stability control was hard at work a number of times, but I don't recall ever having the plowing sensation I used to experience. I just need to learn to feel comfortable going faster.


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## MSS Automotive (Mar 20, 2013)

21212 said:


> William
> I am happy to take a "after" shot. I will try to work with a better camera. This picture is from my phone.
> 
> I did get the seat harness info. I still can't get over that no one in UK or Continent has developed this modification with all TT's running around over there.


Yep, the lack of a harness solution is a surprise.

Tops on the track events – sounds like you are already enjoying the car on track...fab. 

PSS are great on track - I found the following change worked well for me on a dry track...though I reckon I could improve further playing with tyre HOT pressures...;
- reduced front tyre 'HOT' pressure gradually down and found 28PSI was just the ticket. 
- kept the rear hot pressure at 30PSI.

The above change allowed some rear drifting with the front biting well. I also turned in lower lap times by the end of the day - which is never my aim mind - however the car just felt so manageable.

The theory here is that reduced pressure on the front gave me more tyre contact patch and the increased rear pressure gave me less contact patch.


The cold air pressures measured the morning after the track event were as follows...;
- driver side front 25PSI (_Audi recommend 32PSI for a UK car_)

- passenger side front 24PSI (_Audi recommend 32PSI for a UK car_)

- driver side rear 23PSI (_Audi recommend 26PSI for a UK car_)

- passenger side rear 23PSI (_Audi recommend 26PSI for a UK car_)

On my next track event I plan to go 26PSI all round COLD. What I expect to happen is for the fronts to race up to 32PSI and the rears to hit 30PSI. I will then reduce the fronts back down to 28PSI with no change to the rears. 

In essence, I want to keep front and rears at same HOT PSI and see how I get on. My theory is, for the weight of my car - 1566kg - 30PSI all round HOT is optimum.

Anyway, I will test and feedback here as per norm.


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## 21212 (Aug 2, 2004)

*those are some remarkable tire pressures*



[email protected] said:


> Yep, the lack of a harness solution is a surprise.
> 
> Tops on the track events – sounds like you are already enjoying the car on track...fab.
> 
> ...


 Those are some remarkable tire pressures. It has been my experience if I go that far below the recommended pressures at the beginning of a track session that I badly chew up the tires before they heat up. The graphics on the sidewalls get scrubbed off and the tread blocks are badly worn. Granted that was in my S4, but I can't believe the physics are that different. 

I am also perplexed about greater front pressure versus less front pressure. I had one instructor with some racing experience suggest the strategy you suggest of more pressure in the rear to release rear grip. I had a second with lots of experience recommend the reverse, more pressure in the front versus rear. 

Honestly, I couldn't tell that much difference between the two. In some cases, it seemed that tire (hot greasy tires) and track (hot versus cold) conditions had more impact than air pressure, although I know the pressures are important. 

I guess I will need to tinker with it a bit more. 

I assume that you are doing this with your spring package installed. So, this could add another variable to the equation that might cause different outcomes. 

Generally, I have found that it is best if I go out on the first run with the recommended pressures and then, bleed the pressure down to recommended after each run. After the second run, they are usually pretty well set and only require modest tinkering depending on exposure to sun, left turn predominant versus right turn predominant track.


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## MSS Automotive (Mar 20, 2013)

21212 said:


> Those are some remarkable tire pressures. It has been my experience if I go that far below the recommended pressures at the beginning of a track session that I badly chew up the tires before they heat up. The graphics on the sidewalls get scrubbed off and the tread blocks are badly worn. Granted that was in my S4, but I can't believe the physics are that different.
> 
> Generally, I have found that it is best if I go out on the first run with the recommended pressures and then, bleed the pressure down to recommended after each run. After the second run, they are usually pretty well set and only require modest tinkering depending on exposure to sun, left turn predominant versus right turn predominant track.


 Yep and your comments makes sense so I will start as recommended and bleed till am down to 28PSI hot...makes a great deal of sense to me doing that instead...thx

Indeed, this is with MSS fitted.


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