19″ Work VS-XX Wheels + Pirelli PZero Nero M+S

y obsession with the VS-XX wheel made by Japanese performance wheel manufacturer Work Wheels, was born long before I even purchased this car back in October of 2005. And I guess it’s easy to see why. Few automotive wheels have the iconic look that the VS-XX has, perhaps only rivaled by the BBS LM wheel in look and presence. Unfortunately, for years this was nothing more than a pipe dream, due to their prohibitive price tag. There comes a time, however, when wallets be damned, we just need to do what we need to do. That time came for me sometime in August of 2008. And thanks as well to Hartmann Wheels/Achtun!ng, this lusty, automotive dream is now a reality.

Work wheels are custom made to your specification. From width, offset and diameter to bolt pattern, bolt seat type and center bore, everything about these wheels is tailored to the car they’ll find themselves carrying. What this means is that they’ll fit like a glove -truly OEM fitment- and require no hardware of any kind to be mounted. I did choose to have the bolts that attach the face of the wheel to the barrel, customized black in color. This not only makes the wheel look slightly larger as your eye is drawn to the edge of the wheel, it also ties in with the color of the car. Other than that, they come on Work’s “Burning Silver” finish which depending on the angle, looks almost flat silver in contrast with the mirror finish on the lips.

Something I enjoy about the wheels is the contrast between the form and their origin. From the way the convex center pieces dip into a concave hub to the way the mesh spokes curve upwards to meet the bolt lined edges and high polish lips, the VS-XX is a decidedly European Motorsport-inspired wheel. Yet, they are manufactured with superior attention to detail and flawless finish by Japanese technology. The valve stems reside inside the barrel and curve towards the outer face by fitting through a hole in the outer edge rim. They are capped with metallic high polish caps bearing the Work logo. The black/gold center caps contrast with the silver finish of the wheel and happen to tie in well to the rest of the car as well. Overall, it’s a very sporty and aggressive looking wheel that compliments the GLI perfectly.

As far as tires, since I will be running this set of wheels year round, I wanted a good performing tire that could handle most weather conditions in the Pacific North West. I also didn’t want to “cheap out” on budget tires considering how critical they are not only to the performance of the vehicle and my safety but also because they would be wrapping some of the most sought after items in my lifetime. I also knew I would have to under size the width of the tires in order to retain the car’s current low stance and allow for the increased width and higher offset of the new wheels. After realizing that I would have to go for 215.35.19 size tires, the options quickly became narrower. There was only one Ultra High Performance All Season (UHPAS) tire available on TireRack.com that met this particular sizing requirement: The Pirelli PZero Nero M+S. This tire has received universally positive reviews and is not particularly expensive so the choice became very clear. Unfortunately, one of the tires arrived defective which was only apparent after being mounted and inflated to spec. Thankfully, TireRack.com stands behind their products and a phone call from Bill Spencer resulted in a replacement being expedited overnight. Even though the ideal size would have been a 225 series tire, the resulting stretch from a 215 tire on a 8.5in wheel was less than I anticipated which means Pirelli tires don’t generally run thinner than normal. The slightly narrower tire allows for the perfect amount of clearance which results in no rubbing what so ever. There was no increase in ride stiffness or hardness after the wheel swap and even though the rubber is still breaking in, I found them to perform rather well last night after driving over 40 miles in one of the rainiest nights we’ve had in the Seattle area in several months. I’m confident they will far outperform my outgong set of Kumho ECSTA ASX.

Once all is said and done, I think the results speak for themselves.

Infinite thanks to Achtun!ng in Redmond, WA (Bill, Todd, Dion & Steve are amazing people). I’m not only extremely pleased with the workmanship and quality of the wheels, but the Achtun!ng staff walked me through the process every step of the way (Thanks guys!). They were there to celebrate this milestone of sorts with me and felt as enthusiastic as I did. Installation was also extremely professional; Steve mounted the center caps at a perfect 90 degree angle from the valve stems. He also installed the wheel locks at the opposite end of the valve stems so that I can find them in the dark if necessary without fumbling around. The wheel bolts were also torqued to spec with torque wrenches, something more and more places ditch in favor of impact tools which can overtorque or undertorque them. This is the kind of service that particular car owners would love to see everywhere but is sure to be found at Achtun!ng. I highly recommend these guys for any performance and wheel upgrade for your VW, Audi, BMW or Porsche. They are real auto enthusiasts, just like us.