Project Toyota Supra MKIV: Part 19 – FIKSE Wheels is back!

Kudos to the owners of these Supras, they’re beautiful. This FIKSE‘s Instagram pic gave me a great start in trying to figure out which design I wanted. With the Supra’s factory wheel being a five-spoke design, I was leaning toward the FM5 (bottom) before ever seeing this picture. In this polished silver color, however, I found myself leaning toward either the Mach-V (middle)—the same as I had on my M3—or the split-spoke Profil-5S (top). But I also  realized the reason I was leaning toward the thinner-spoke wheel was because of their shininess. I didn’t want to make the wheels too flashy, and the first thing people noticed on the car.

The goal for my wheel design was to have something that looks cool, but is also very subtle. I also wanted something that would pass as what I would call an “OE-plus” design—like something you’d see on a special edition of a car from the factory—versus something that was obviously aftermarket. This is also why I didn’t choose any bright colors. I also wanted something both modern, but also period correct.

The Supra has lines that are pretty timeless. When people who don’t know much about cars walk into my garage, they’re baffled upon learning it’s now twenty-six years old. Several have even thought it was less than a decade old! Therefore, a newer looking wheel works, but which one works best for a timeless design that’s still from the nineties? In my personal opinion, I believe I found the perfect combo.

Fast forward three months. Several of you know what the anticipation of this moment feels like as you’re cutting open the first box. Having gone through this process now about a dozen times on my own cars throughout the years, my excitement is as high as the first—especially since this was a first-time color combo for FIKSE themselves. While I love and prefer Fikse’s “hidden bolts” design, I did also want to showcase the fact that it is a three-piece wheel, which is why I chose two tones of gray. For the style, I decided to go with the Profile-5, which is like the FM5, but with a recessed center section.
The color combination turned out exactly as I wanted. Excuse the poorly cut outer wrapping but it was my attempt at getting enough exposed for the picture without ticking Mr. Gladstone off, who specifically said to “not let the tires get mounted without the protective plastic on!” As you can compare with the previous pic, these wheels can photograph drastically different than how they look. They two grays contrast each other less in person (more like the  picture of that one in the box above).
Of course, with purchases this big it’s easy for me to sometimes question what I’ve done, and suffer not so much a “buyer’s remorse” but wonder if I chose the exact FIKSE wheel design or color that would work best. It’s pictures like these, however, that will sometimes almost instantly erase that fear. I mean, when you’ve got two F40s–arguably the most iconic car–running the same wheel, it definitely gives me confidence in my decision.
While pictures taken in the outdoor sunlight don’t really do these wheel colors justice, getting up close and personal under daytime-white lighting shows them better. They turned out exactly as I’d wanted. The center is FIKSE’s new “Blasted Silver” that was specially done, and the outer is metallic anthracite. Each wheel comes with a serial number.
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7 comments

  1. Wow! What a great story and throw back. I remember that black e36 so well and often site it as being the perfect turbo setup at the time for the M3.

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    1. Can’t thank you enough for your feedback. With stories like this one tends to wonder if it’s too much for the general audience. I knew for the some of the younger crowd it was going to be, but it meant enough to me that–in hopes of it being for a few others who understand–that I wanted to relive it all, and try to sincerely portray in these pages what I was feeling. And the start of the just-announced GTR R33 project will be very nostalgic for me as well. That should be up any day (already completed the first 3 parts). I’ve really enjoyed these past few weeks of writing, also having not done so in a few years. Thanks Andre!

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  2. I like it when wheels serve a purpose other than looking cool.
    Heartwarming to read about the history of FIKSE as I´m also employed in the automotive aftermarket.

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  3. Man that is SUCH a throwback! I remember having all those EE and CC magazines. Maybe still have some at my parents house. The first time I saw Fikse wheels was on an FD RX7 built by a renown RX7 tunner, maybe Pettit? They were polished FM5s on a yellow car…gorgeous! I ended up being between Fikses or Kinesis wheels for my ride back them but ended up going with Kinesis K10s.
    Had a bit of a run in with AA back in the day too. I applied for an internship there in college but ended up down the road a ways at Mosler Engineering building the molds/parts for the first MT900s.
    This article definitively brought back a whole lot of memories!

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    1. haha, yes! I remember Kinesis, too. It was the Kinesis/Fikse/HRE/Forgeline battle, it seemed. So get this, AA had a customer that needed to get rid of his K20s. Had them for sale, and no one bought them. In his impatience, he asked AA to find someone to straight-up trade them for E36 M3 contour ***stockers***, because he wanted to go back to stock. They called me and I jumped in that car so fast lol. So that’s how I ended up with my Kinesis K20s (on my first Estoril blue M3). They were impeccable, too. Yes, that’ll never happen again. And yes the Moslers (Raptor was it?). That was hot stuff. There’s one I see here in KC a couple times a year.

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