Winter Wheel Showdown: Enkei Raijin or TSR-X?

[AdreeN]

Picking up my Apex Blue ITS.
Narrowed it down to two wheels for winter on 235/40/18, but having a tough time picking a winner:

1) 18x8 42mm Enkei Raijin
- Narrower for deep snow
- Less poke, closer to stock


2) 18x8.5 38mm Enkei TSR-X
- More aggressive styling

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[ChromaPop]

It seems to me that given this time of year you can sleep on this decision for about 8 months

 

[AdreeN]

It seems to me that given this time of year you can sleep on this decision for about 8 months

Ill be watching for discounts! Never too early to buy if theres dealz

 

[ASPEC]

The Raijin are gorgeous.

 

[SilverRocket]

My opinion, go as open as possible in terms of spoke/rim face design, so the TSR-X.

I can't tell you how annoying it is when the snow builds up and you have to poke at it through smaller openings that are big enough to let snow accumulate but small enough that it doesn't allow you to effectively remove the snow.

Side note, I don't know if it's just that specific picture where the owner upsized the tire but I tend to agree with another who posted their observation that the CTR can nicely rock 18's, the ITS on the other hand looks like it received drag radials.

 

[AdreeN]

My opinion, go as open as possible in terms of spoke/rim face design, so the TSR-X.

I can't tell you how annoying it is when the snow builds up and you have to poke at it through smaller openings that are big enough to let snow accumulate but small enough that it doesn't allow you to effectively remove the snow.

Side note, I don't know if it's just that specific picture where the owner upsized the tire but I tend to agree with another who posted their observation that the CTR can nicely rock 18's, the ITS on the other hand looks like it received drag radials.

Thanks for the advice, definitely was not thinking that!

Its def that one pic, think they had super wide/tall tires

 

[SilverRocket]

Thanks for the advice, definitely was not thinking that!

Its def that one pic, think they had super wide/tall tires

No problem, glad I could bring perspective.

It happened first hand on my Si. After driving in deep snow and parking it outside, it froze to the rim and added a significant amount of weight. By the time I got up to speed on the next drive it felt like the wheel was going to come off, it was so unbalanced.

Pulled over to a gas station and spent 15 minutes with my snow brush scraper trying to angle it to clear as much as I could. It was a pain in the ass.

I still use the stock rims for winter, wasn't about to go buy a new set but I did tell myself that if I need new set of winter rims they're either full steelies or easy to reach the barrel rims.

 

[Frenzal]

My opinion, go as open as possible in terms of spoke/rim face design, so the TSR-X.

I can't tell you how annoying it is when the snow builds up and you have to poke at it through smaller openings that are big enough to let snow accumulate but small enough that it doesn't allow you to effectively remove the snow.

This if you get a lot of snow!

 

[Victorofhavoc]

No problem, glad I could bring perspective.

It happened first hand on my Si. After driving in deep snow and parking it outside, it froze to the rim and added a significant amount of weight. By the time I got up to speed on the next drive it felt like the wheel was going to come off, it was so unbalanced.

Pulled over to a gas station and spent 15 minutes with my snow brush scraper trying to angle it to clear as much as I could. It was a pain in the ass.

I still use the stock rims for winter, wasn't about to go buy a new set but I did tell myself that if I need new set of winter rims they're either full steelies or easy to reach the barrel rims.

An alternative is to just carry some washer fluid and a spray bottle... Takes 5 seconds and no need to freeze your hands off.

You have to carry around a couple gallons of fluid in winter anyway given how inefficient, wasteful, and small the system and tank are in this car.

 

[SilverRocket]

An alternative is to just carry some washer fluid and a spray bottle... Takes 5 seconds and no need to freeze your hands off.

You have to carry around a couple gallons of fluid in winter anyway given how inefficient, wasteful, and small the system and tank are in this car.

Good idea. I almost always have a full gallon of washer fluid in the trunk and regularly top off the fluid with another container, but no spray bottle so it wasn't an option.

In that case a bottle of de-iceing spray might be handy but like frenzal said, it depend how bad your winters are.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

Good idea. I almost always have a full gallon of washer fluid in the trunk and regularly top off the fluid with another container, but no spray bottle so it wasn't an option.

In that case a bottle of de-iceing spray might be handy but like frenzal said, it depend how bad your winters are.

I actually just used this method this morning on my wife's car. We got an ice storm in last night and the fold up mirrors were frozen as were door handles. I have a battery powered weed sprayer I use to do ONR wash in the garage, so I filled that with washer fluid and went to town deicing. Worked wonderfully, especially since the little pressure it provides helps push the fluid into the areas where ice and snow have settled.

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