Toecutter Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 Quoted from classicz; I know a lot of people here are very interested to know who i got my brand new watanabe's from, i didn't want to post details, until everything had been complete, but i am now more than confident to vouch for this supplier! The Guys name is Miki Yokohata from prestige mart (Details below), and he has been incredibly helpful during the whole process. The wheels are not what you would call cheap, but given that you could easily pay over AU$1500 for a secondhand set here in Australia, i thought it was more than reasonable. It cost me $2300 for a set of 16x8 and a set of 16x8.5 Watanabe R 8 spokes in Magnesium finish. That included shipping (EMS with insurance) as you may have read, i had ordered the wheels with a michined lip, however watanabe forgot this, and shipped them purely with a magnesium colour.. Miki helped me greatly by organising for watanabe to pay for the local finishing here in Sydney, i can not be any happier! i just wish all suppliers were as open with their communication and honesty I am pretty sure he can order anything you want from RS watanabe, i however supplied the spec to him Miki Yokohata Prestige Mart email: tpot@tpg.com.au http://users.tpg.com.au/tpot he is based in Western Australia and has an australian bank account etc. so no need to deal with japan accounts etc. to have a look at what Watanabe offer, goto their website at: www.rs-watanabe.co.jp (they have a pretty good user gallery too!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Hi Guys, just for the record, that is my post from classicZ still highly recommend Miki just got to save up for another set for the Z now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossy Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Got a pic of them on your car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 well.. yes.. but my car is far from finished yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators gav240z Posted January 27, 2009 Administrators Share Posted January 27, 2009 I would love a set of these myself. Can I ask what they set you back? Watanabe's and Zeds were made for each other IMHO . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 i paid about $2300 back in mid 06 for them and that was custom ordered including shiping from japan no idea what prices would be like now.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acf321 Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Hi Hughesy Have written to the Watanabe guy twice now to buy a set of these rims for my new project .... Despite your glowing feedback, I can't make contact with Miki .... Do you know if the business is still open? I even tried to e-mail the watenabe site directly !!! but still nothing .. Any clues to purchasing a set of RS8's would be greatly appreciated. Rgds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 I Hope he is still around, Off the invoice, Miki's business number was (08) 9445 1802 please let us know if you get a hold of him, would love to get another set eventually for the Z Kent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NZeder Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Maybe you should ask BenZed of Otomoto if he can get them from his contacts in Japan - he can get other stuff from Japan so maybe RS Watanabes would not be too big of an ask and this might also add to his already good selection of parts he currently supplies to zed community. They might not the same but the RB-R in 16x8 are a good fit and look on the zed and offer a lower $$ for the purchase price. So I think if someone was to supply both rims this will cater for the budget minded and those that what the period correct rims from the period vendor/supplier And maybe we could then find out if someone can source some of the hayashi Street Fin rims (again period correct from the period manufacture) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acf321 Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 Kent Just tried calling Miki on the number you posted, following two separate e-mail attempts. Thought things were fishy when I received no response to my e-mails, pleading with someone to sell me a set of Watanabe's. But the plot thickens ... Miki's number just rings out ... twice. Wonder what i'm missing. I have e-mailed BenZed to see if he's any better positioned. At this rate, I'll be buying something else! Cheers Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 maybe try ringing him after hours.. he is not a big distributor, so maybe he has a day job?.. or maybe he is just no longer around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acf321 Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 Kent Just dialled it again .. a Japanese Lady answered and said Miki would call me and he DOES still sell wheels. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 awesome, that is great news.. pm me the price he quotes to you, would be interested to see how much they are these days Kent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xa1973 Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 awesome, that is great news.. pm me the price he quotes to you, would be interested to see how much they are these days Kent Why not post it up for us all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acf321 Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Just spoke to Miki and we discussed the Watanabe R type wheels that I am looking to purchase. In a word, Miki said he had received two e-mails from me but had not had a chance to enquire in Watanabe in Japan. He is going to make some calls tonight and e-mail me back a quote for R-Type wheels in gun-metal with machined lips, in 16*8 and 16*8.5. The wheels are the exact ones that Kent has shown above. When I get the quote I will post to let you know what the price is. One caveat however, Miki did say that due to the appreciation of the Yen, the price has risen. Cheers Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fufu Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Don't get your hopes up too high guys. Miki quoted me AU$2700.00 prior to the peak of the yen just over a year ago. I then found Eiji from Datsunspirit which decreased their price to 2000 at one point and I was pretty keen on getting it through him as AUD was sitting at 0.95 to the USD. I then got persuaded by a friend to buy it direct, very bad decision as I'm still waiting over 6 months and over 3 different Watanabe sets as they keep stuffing up the order. Price I ended up paying was $1700AUD. once again prior to the economic downturn. I would be expecting to pay anywhere above $3000 now for a set. I'd be quite interested to see what the price is now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xa1973 Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Just spoke to Miki and we discussed the Watanabe R type wheels that I am looking to purchase. In a word, Miki said he had received two e-mails from me but had not had a chance to enquire in Watanabe in Japan. He is going to make some calls tonight and e-mail me back a quote for R-Type wheels in gun-metal with machined lips, in 16*8 and 16*8.5. The wheels are the exact ones that Kent has shown above. When I get the quote I will post to let you know what the price is. One caveat however, Miki did say that due to the appreciation of the Yen, the price has risen. Cheers Adam All Good Mate Gotta pay to play, may as well in a Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acf321 Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Sit down before reading this Gents ... Miki e-mailed me just now after chasing up the quote last night. For the exact set as seen on this thread by Kent, ie polished lip 16*8 and 16*8.5 the price is A$3500. Lucky i'm not up to the wheel decision part of my car. By the way, given unsprung weight is so vital to handling, does anyone know the weight of Watanabe wheels in 15 and 16" diameter? I spoke to Ben Zed and he said the Rota Grid is 9kg, and Rota RB is only 7.5kg ... both these are getting pretty light. Despite aesthetics, weight will form a big part of my decision. Adam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fufu Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Pricing wasn't that surprising. only a kidney You might want to message Nzeder he has a set of 16" wats so he should get access to the weights information quite easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NZeder Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 I have 16x8.5 and 16x9.5 but with tyres on - I will weigh the 16x8.5 with the 225/50/16 next time I get a chance for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PZG302 Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 By the way, given unsprung weight is so vital to handling, does anyone know the weight of Watanabe wheels in 15 and 16" diameter? I spoke to Ben Zed and he said the Rota Grid is 9kg, and Rota RB is only 7.5kg ... both these are getting pretty light. Despite aesthetics, weight will form a big part of my decision. Adam. Adam, For a road car the difference won't be too much between good quality rims that are only a few kg apart. If you are really serious about unsprung weight then you will also be looking at saving weight with changing your standard brakes for light weight calipers and hubs with nice two piece rotors and hats to reduce the weight. Reducing unsprung weight really only becomes and issue with race cars where a small weight cahange can really upset the balance of a highly tuned suspension system, think open wheelers and some sports cars (Le Mans prototypes). I run Simmons wheels as my dry set up which weigh around 8-9kg. I couls have go the light weight rims fitted to the centre which would have saved me about 2kg a wheel, but the trade off is strength. I wasn't chasing the time that the weight saving would provide for having to replace rims a lot more often from hitting ripple strips and so on on the track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevo_gj Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 For the exact set as seen on this thread by Kent, ie polished lip 16*8 and 16*8.5 the price is A$3500. Ouch, gutted.. So much for my pipe dream of 2 grand for a set of wats. Gonna be a long time before I can afford that for the wheels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Sit down before reading this Gents ... Miki e-mailed me just now after chasing up the quote last night. For the exact set as seen on this thread by Kent, ie polished lip 16*8 and 16*8.5 the price is A$3500. wow, quite an increase (not a surprise though).. i paid around $2500 for mine when i got them back in mid 06 (yen was around 81 at the time) glad i got them at the time! what offsets where you looking at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NZeder Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Ok bathroom scales say the following 225/50/16 Toyo Proxes T1R on RS Watanabe 16x8.5 -6 = 18KG 245/45/16 Toyo Proxes T1R on RS Watanabe 16x9.5 -19 = 20KG I hope this helps - sorry I don't have the car with the 16x8 +10 Rota RB-R anymore to compare (my old race car) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acf321 Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Thanks Kent & NZeder Not sure what offset I need, however I know I want 16X8 and 16X8.5 and I note that BenZed has bought those exact wheels to put on his narrow bodied Z. Never really got a handle on that offset thing really. I will write to Ben in due course to see what offsets he used ... In the mean time I'll get saving and pray for the yen to appreciate !!!! I'm getting my car on a truck this week just in time for the Easter long weekend ... sight unseen !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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