Official APEX VW VS-5RS Forged 17" & 18" Wheel Thread

[bentin]

Note to self, ignore this site for a while…

 

[APEXWheels]

Picture time! This week we shot a bone-stock MK8 Golf R and a lowered MK6 GTI on our 18x9" ET42 ML-10RT wrapped in 255/35-18 PS4S tires at all four corners. I will admit this setup is a bit aggressive on the MK6 GTI due to the smaller fender clearances compared to the MK7/MK8, but that could easily be alleviated by dropping down to a 245/35-18 tire or dialing-in some additional front negative camber. I personally think the MK8 R would benefit from a slight drop in ride height as well. Anyways, we will have more ML-10RT on-car content on some more modified examples coming through the pipeline soon. Enjoy!

-Geirsen

 

[bentin]

Any chance you’ll be running a batch in all gold at some point?

 

[APEXWheels]

Any chance you’ll be running a batch in all gold at some point?

It is a possibility but at this time we have not seen much demand for fully painted ML-10RT without the machined lip. As we get further into the preorder phase, we will have a better idea as to new finish options we plan to offer for later production runs.

-Geirsen

 

[APEXWheels]

Attention all VW/Audi SUV/SAV/CUV owners! APEX is looking for your feedback to help in the development of our new HD Wheel line!

If you have a few minutes to complete this survey it would be greatly appreciated and help us drive our development toward the most popular options. Please feel free to share this survey link with anyone else who might be interested in impacting the development of these wheels.

If you have any questions, feel free to post them below!
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-Geirsen

 

[APEXWheels]

Now this is what I'm talking about! MK7 GTI running 18x9" ET42 ML-10RT in Gloss Motorsport Gold with the Machined lip wrapped in 255/35-18 Michelin PS4S tires at all four corners. We also shot a set of our 17x9" ET42 VS-5RS wrapped in 255/40-17 Hankook R-S4 tires, which I will post below. This particular car is running the following mods: ST XTA Coilovers, H&R front and rear swaybars, 034 front control arms, 034 front end links, Neuspeed rear end links, front camber plates, rolled front and rear fenders. Enjoy!

-Geirsen

 

[APEXWheels]

Howdy folks!

We are quickly approaching the launch of our all-new VW/Audi wheel designs & fitments and we are looking for some volunteers local to our office in the Bay Area, CA to assist with on-car photography. At this time, we are trying to track down some lightly modified examples of a MK7 GTI/R and a MK8 GTI/R that would be available to swing by our office for a few hours to do some on-car shoots around mid-late February. Any volunteers willing to assist would be getting an early "sneak peek" of these new wheels, as well as the opportunity to purchase a set for themselves at a strong discount in exchange for helping us out.

On the Audi side, we are also looking for some lightly modified examples of an 8V RS3 or 8S TTRS.

If anyone local to our office is interested and willing to bring their car by for a few hours, please feel free to PM me here or shoot me an email: geirsen@apexwheels.com

-Geirsen

 

[APEXWheels]

Howdy folks, I have some exciting news for y'all!

The first of our new VW/Audi wheel designs has officially launched today: introducing the all-new Flow Formed VS-5!

Following up on the popularity of our Forged VS-5RS design, the new VS-5 is a split 5-spoke wheel that carries over many of the functional and performance benefits of the VS-5RS but at much lower price point. This new wheel will slot along side the Flow Formed SM-10 in our MQB VW/Audi 5x112/57.1mm catalog and will be offered in our most popular and proven VW/Audi fitments (plus some new additions). This includes the 17x8.5" ET43, 17x9" ET42, 18x8.5" ET43, 18x9" ET42, and 19x9" ET42.

Since brake-clearance has always been a pain-point for MQB VW/Audi wheels, our new VS-5 fitments were developed to match (and in some cases improve upon) spoke/barrel clearances compared to our SM-10 design in the same sizes. For example, this means the 18x9" ET42 VS-5 can even clear the massive 8-piston OEM RS3 brakes w/ 370mm rotors without any additional spacing, which the same size in our VS-5RS is unable to clear.

Overall load rating and strength also matches that of the Forged VS-5RS but the trade off is some additional weight, which the VS-5 averages around 2~ lbs heavier in the same fitments compared to the forged VS-5RS.

Additionally, it is important to note that these wheels will NOT offer OEM VW centercap support due to our revised center pad design.

We are working hard on getting additional on-car photography across all of the popular MQB VW/Audi models but in the meantime, feel free to enjoy some beauty shots of our 18x9" ET42 VS-5 in Satin Bronze on a 8V S3:

Over the coming days, I plan on posting our new VS-5 specific technical threads, which will include additional details/specs/etc. These wheels will also be getting added to our fitment guides this week as well. Stay tuned!

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask away!

-Geirsen

 

[scrllock]

Additionally, it is important to note that these wheels will NOT offer OEM VW centercap support due to our revised center pad design.

What's the ID of the center if we want to use non-Apex aftermarket caps?

 

[APEXWheels]

What's the ID of the center if we want to use non-Apex aftermarket caps?

Great question! While these wheels will come with our standard black Apex centercaps, if you wanted to pick up another set in a different color (Blue, Red, Yellow, Green) you would need to select the #BC-676B (Mustang) cap on our website. Currently, the VS-5 is the ONLY VW/Audi wheel that will not be able to fit the common MK7/MK8 OEM cap size. This is more of a Flow Forming restraint as our molds to cover a wide variety of fitments/caps per profile across multiple markets (domestic, JDM, BMW, VW/Audi). That said, we went with the cap size that fits every make/model without needing to compromise or add any weight to the center pad area.

Our new Forged wheel design will use the OEM VW spec caps much like the rest of our lineup (aside from VS-5), as forged manufacturing allows us to have more flexibility with design around the center of the wheel compared to flow forming. Plus, this wheel design is going to be 100% market specific to 5x112/57.1 VW/Audi models (a first for Apex!), so we only only need to worry about supporting one cap size.

-Geirsen

 

[scrllock]

you would need to select the #BC-676B (Mustang) cap on our website.

-Geirsen

What's the OD of that cap?

 

[APEXWheels]

What's the OD of that cap?

The Mustang cap OD is going to be 54.5mm, compared to the common/standard VW cap which has a 66mm OD. That said, it will be a bit smaller of a cap but IMO I don't think it necessarily looks out of place by any means.

-Geirsen

 

[Tom Brohanks]

Hmm, I was thinking maybe switching to bronze for my white GTI if I can convince myself to pony up for new wheels again after destroying my SM-10s.

 

[reverend_sean]

Geirsen, I can't seem to find the caliper/BBK fitment guide that listed out the popular BBKs and which sized wheels they work with. Your team put this together back when the SM-10s were being rolled out. The Apex MK7 fitment site references "break clearance database below" but I just don't see a chart or link.

Can you dig it up and share it?

 

[APEXWheels]

Geirsen, I can't seem to find the caliper/BBK fitment guide that listed out the popular BBKs and which sized wheels they work with. Your team put this together back when the SM-10s were being rolled out. The Apex MK7 fitment site references "break clearance database below" but I just don't see a chart or link.

Can you dig it up and share it?

We are still working on developing an easier-to-update and more customer-friendly brake clearance table for the website but that project has gotten delayed a few times. In the meantime, here is the old table from our original guide when we first launched the SM-10s.

Please let me know if you have any questions or if you are looking at a brake kit not listed on this table (as we have quite a few more internally that we have tested).

-Geirsen