Hello All,

Calling all Jaguar FType Performance Driving Enthusiasts! We need your help completing a survey to determine which products to bring to market:

[CLICK TO TAKE SURVEY HERE]

VelocityAP is very pleased to announce that we have committed to an exclusive partnership with APEX Race Wheels to bring some off-the-shelf lightweight fitments to market for the Jaguar F-Type. We first began working with Apex on a special Aston Martin track build project, and have since used their products on a wide variety of customers BMW & Porsche customer race car builds. We were extremely impressed with both the quality and price point - wheels this light and well made usually cost 3-4x as much. Apex has proven their chops and become the go-to option in the die hard track & race communities where strength, weight and affordability matter. When we saw just how right one of their options looked on the Aston Martin V12 Vantage, we knew it was time to pursue some FType fitments.







For those of you not familiar with Apex - I believe the saying goes, “lightweight, strong and affordable; pick two”. APEX has disrupted this thought process for over 12 years now, and once we get a better understanding of your preferences for an affordable (yet race-proven) set of shoes for the F-Type, VelocityAP & Apex will put our creative and engineering minds to work to develop a lineup of APEX wheels that makes sense. Street, track, or race, we’ve got you covered. Initially we are looking at bringing out a couple production run options of Flow-Formed Wheels. For those of you not familiar with Flow Forming:Benefits of forging, without the pain

These APEX wheels are produced using a manufacturing process known as flow forming. This process significantly reduces weight in the barrel, which has the greatest impact on rotational mass. During the manufacturing process, rollers apply high pressure to the inner barrel, compressing the aluminum into its final shape. This effectively eliminates porosity and aligns the grain structure of the metal, which increases tensile strength. The end result is a lightweight and extremely strong barrel that equals that of a traditional forged wheel at a fraction of the cost.

YOU ARE IN THE DRIVERS SEAT
APEX does not view the car community through a traditional lens. Since inception, this company has worked hand in hand with enthusiasts through many channels, but much of what they have accomplished stems from their unique ability to incorporate forum members into product development. Rather than sitting around a conference table internally brainstorming a list of products that we feel are relevant to a specific community, they have made it their mission to enlist enthusiasts in the decision making process. Tell us where the market is currently missing the mark for you, and how we can employ our core competencies to fill the current pitfalls. The action of putting enthusiasts at the forefront of product development ensures that APEX delivers satisfactory products.

The following article should give you an insight into the Apex process, and their devotion to the details: APEX Test Fitment - Squeezing a 315 R-Compound onto a stock F8X

Before we get too ahead of ourselves, we wanted to hear from you—the community. The best way that you could help us develop these new wheels would be to take the brief survey above.

 

I had Apex Arc-8s on my BMW 135i for years and they were a lovely wheel. No problems and they were quite capable over terrible Detroit roads. Their 1 series specific fitment allowed me to fit a 285 series tire under the stock fenders; up from 245 original equipment. Much recommended.

 

Survey taken !

 

Me too!
Although I shudder to think what the shipping cost to Oz on a set of these would be.

 

Based on the other stuff we ship to Australia I would suspect around $150-175 AUD per wheel. If you assume around 25lbs per wheel with packaging, it's usually about $7 AUD per lb.

 

Thanks for filling out guys. Really excited to see the results. I think a $2000-2500 lightweight flow formed option is just what the doctor ordered for these cars.

 

I suggest anyone not contemplating a purchase refrain from taking the poll so as not to skew the results for what might turn into a great group buy.

 

Can you guys share opinions about flow forged wheels? My research says "Just as strong as forged" and light weight (maybe not as light as forged) but it seems too good to be true. Worried about potholes.

 

How much weight saved over the stock gyrodynes?

 

Yes, please don't respond unless you have interest. There are styles here that I like better than other options, and it's the lack of a style that "grabs me" that's kept me from getting aftermarket wheels.

I have responded.

 

I guess that depends to some degree on which style is selected and which diameter. From what I gather the 20" Gyrodynes are 32.5lbs for 20x9 front and 34lbs for 20x10.5 rears.

The EC7 and SM10 Apex designs are pretty much bang on 24lbs for 19x10 and 19x11. They are 9% heavier than the 18x10 and 18x11 versions of the same wheels. If the 20" ends up at let's say 10% heavier than the 19" options I'd expect them to come in around 26lbs per wheel in 20x10 and 20x11. So roughly 6lbs lighter per front and 8lbs per rear. Again, that's just using some equivalent examples & calculations but I think it's pretty realistic.

 

So, I'm far from a wheel expert but I do know this - these wheels are popular with super-hardcore track junkies who are pushing them to the limits. I know Apex has real (there are lots of fakes) VIA testing certificates for all the wheels.

And here's the coolest part - if you ever break or damage a wheel or even curb rash one really badly..... WE CAN OFFER 50% OFF ON REPLACEMENT WHEELS!!!! Yes, there are T&C's but they are all very reasonable and fair - you have to have purchased them new, it has to be a complete matching set and you can only order the exact style, finish and offset that you had before. But there's no limitation on what happened. You could literally drive over a kerb at 50 miles an hour and wreck all 4 wheels and we will get you a replacement set at 50% off:

 

ALSO - THERE IS A SECOND PAGE!!!!

We have 74 responses so far but only 47 made it to the second page where there are additional questions about size, width, suspension modifications and brake clearances.

 

What if some of us love shopping for wheels and see nothing interesting? IMHO, asking a small group to determine what wheel they think is popular for their cars kind of skews it for potential customers who like options.

 

So, while I totally agree with you and in the bigger picture getting a slice of all tastes and full sample size is ideal.....

In this case part of what we are trying to do is determine which wheels we will actually make. There are MOQs of quite a number of pieces per style/offset. So most likely we're going to start with 1 or 2 fitments and go from there. The MOQ's for finishes are smaller than the wheel MOQ's but most likely we are going to end up with something like 90-120 sets of one particular style, with a front and a rear option and 2 different finishes.

If things go well from there it may expand into some more options. So in this case, if this is not a product you're actually interested in purchasing and it skews the results it does make it more difficult for us to pick which style, offsets and finishes to start out with in order to keep the cash flow negativity to a minimum.

 

I've had the Vorsteiner flow forged VFF-103's in 21 inch for about 20 months, maybe 12,000km, driven on average roads (some nice some rubbish), have hit the occasional pothole. No dramas, I love the wheels and if I was buying a different car the first thing I would do is to put something similar on it. Really makes a massive difference to handling and the ride wasnt adversely affected despite going from 19's to 21's (a bit firmer on sub standard roads, otherwise good).

 

I appreciate the explanation. Makes sense.

 

No problem. And yeah I should maybe have made that clear in the original post - that the survey is for you guys for sure, but also for us. There's 4 wheel types that could be used, could be 2 different widths and offsets for front and rear so that's 16 variations x 180 MOQ. That would be 2880 wheels right there... Much as I wish I had $1,000,000 to put into wheels it's just not possible!

What's most likely is we'll start out with one fitment of the most popular style, 180 front 180 rear, and then do 2 or possibly 3 finishes. It's still a $100K+ purchase order!

 

Hello Mr. Stuart,
I filled out the survey, very interested in Apex Wheels for the F-Type! Let us know when taking deposits or payment!

 

Big Thumbs up by the way on this initiative! You guys are killin it! OEM F-Type R size and offset are perfect... why go wider and add weight when I'm already cutting 3.1 second to 60mph on stock heavy weight wheels and p zeros!?!?