► APEX | 17" Concave ARC-8's - Ultra Lightweight Drag & Track Wheels!

[Expert@ApexWheels]

APEX 17" ARC-8 Wheels

APEX ARC-8 wheels were designed to meet the specification needs of HPDE, race, and autocross drivers, while exceeding the requirements for every day street use. This makes them the perfect cost effective, dual duty wheel. With the 17" offering, you can use them for drag wheels, or for track wheels to save on tire cost, while reducing even more weight!


APEX ARC-8 in Hyper Silver




APEX ARC-8 17x10" ET25 in Anthracite wrapped in 275/40/17 Toyo R888

Meeting the Performance Enthusiast’s requirements:
Light-weight: Flow-forming allows for a significant reduction in rotational mass by reducing barrel weight. This manufacturing technique allows the ARC-8 wheel to be almost as light as a traditional forged wheel, but without the significant increase in price.

Strength: Track duty requires a wheel that can handle the punishment of high lateral G’s, hitting berms, and every once in a while a small off track excursion. Spoke and barrel design are a major factor in wheel strength. The flow-forming technique uses high pressure disks/rollers to roll the wheel’s barrel into its final shape. This gives the barrel the same strength properties as a forged wheel, since monoblock wheels go through a similar step to form their barrels. The ARC-8's mesh design helps evenly distribute loads from the barrel to the center of the wheel. The lack of a front lip, and spokes directly connecting to the edge of the wheel, also add increased strength to the outer lip of the wheel. Although a front lip can reduce weight, it can also make the wheel much more prone to bending, and this was an important factor when developing the wheel.

Once a design is selected, it needs to be tested and certified for strength. The ARC-8 wheels were not just FEA tested in a computer simulation, or in house tested to an unregulated standard. They follow Japans JWL standard, and are 3rd party tested there by the VIA in Japan.

Proper tire fitment: Stretched rubber, narrow tires, and fender rubbing are not elements to look for in a competitive wheel/tire setup. The ARC-8 wheels were designed with offsets that allow for proper fitment of extreme summer, and r-compound tires without the need for spacers or fender rolling. This means keeping the tire under the fender, and away from suspension components. Track oriented wheel widths are also important as they provide proper sidewall support under hard cornering. Too much rubber for a wheel results in excessive sidewall deflection, which translates into sloppy and delayed turning response.

Multiple fitments: Most BMW’s come with a staggered setup. Some choose to keep their car this way, while others like to switch out for an easy to rotate, square/neutral setup. This is generally based on driver’s preference in addition to costs. The E9X M3 benefits from 10” square setups are great for budget minded enthusiasts who want to extend their tires life by rotating between events, in addition to preferring the feel of a square setup. Square setups are popular on all 3 series models for track use due to the significant increase in front grip and turn in response.

For those who are looking for a drag set of wheels, a pair of the 17x10" ET25 or 17x10.5" ET27 ARC-8's would be perfect for the job! Both the 10” and 10.5” wheels are available for rear fitment for a bolt-on spacer free staggered setup. In rare occurrences, there is a control arm securing bolt that has very tight tolerances, in which you can machine down 2.5mm to have better clearance.



Meeting the needs of Daily/Street use:

Aesthetic design: Although the ARC-8 put function over form when meeting the above requirements, there is no denying that concave mesh wheels look at home on a BMW.

Paint finishes: All the wheel have a multi-coat painted finish including a full clear coat except for the Satin finish which does not have a clear (that would have made it gloss black). To give owners more options the wheels are offered in 4 different finishes. Hyper Silver, Hyper Black, Anthracite, and Satin Black. Not everyone wants their track day wheels to be grey.

Abuse of street use: The world is full of pot holes and random things to run over. APEX wheels have an excellent history of handling abuse. To date we’ve only had one wheel with a minor bend and another with a hair line crack on the inner barrel lip. Both these wheels came from the same dedicated race car, and the bent wheel is still out there racing today.

Multiple fitments: Due to the more conservative nature of street use, the ARC-8 wheel is also available in sizes that can fit more street oriented rubber, at offsets that are an easier fit. Wider more aggressive wheels can be used by those who like a more flush/filled out look. The choice is yours.

Certification: The race track has no wheel strength requirements, but the street does. Sadly the USA has very lenient/minimal regulations of wheel strength, unlike like Japan and Germany. APEX wheels are independently tested by the Vehicle Inspection Association of Japan (VIA) to the JWL standard. Wheels tested to the JWL standard require all wheels on the road to meet specific load rating requirements based on the bolt pattern, and dimensions of the wheel, the application/vehicle model has nothing to do with it. In comparison, wheels tested to the SAE standard in the USA can pick their own load rating, which can be as low as they want. This defeats the purpose of the test, as a wheel manufacturer can choose to underrate their wheels in order to reduce wheel weight. Wheels claiming JWL testing, but no 3rd party verification are prone to certifying untested/unproven wheels. VIA certification can not be done in house. It requires sending wheels/tires to japan for crush testing. Sadly a large number of vendors claim their wheels are VIA, JWL and even TUV certified, when in fact they were never tested by those organizations at all, and in some cases don't even meet the standard requirements of those tests. For this reason the certificate numbers for the ARC-8 wheels have been listed below. Self regulate the market, and ask all vendors to back up their claims. If they were tested, then they'll have the registration numbers.

Available Sizes, Weights, and Pricing:
17x8.5" ET20 - 16.50lbs - $259 - E9X M3 Fitment
17x8.5" ET40 - 17.20lbs - $249
17x9.0" ET30 - 16.50lbs - $264
17x9.0" ET42 - 17.20lbs - $259
17x9.5" ET35 - 16.95lbs - $269
17x10" ET25 - 18.45lbs - $284 - E9X M3 Fitment
17x10.5" ET27 - 18.95lbs - $299 - E9X M3 Fitment

Additional 18" Sizes Available
18x8.5" ET38 - 18.45lbs - $289
18x8.5" ET45 - 18.20lbs - $289
18x9.0" ET42 - 18.65lbs - $299
18x9.5" ET62 - 18.20lbs - $314
18x9.5" ET35 - 18.85lbs - $314
18x9.5" ET22 - 19.20lbs - $314 - E9X M3 Fitment
18x10" ET25 - 19.95lbs - $324 - E9X M3 Fitment
18x10.5" ET27 - 20.45lbs - $344 - E9X M3 Fitment

Available Finishes

• Hyper Silver
• Hyper Black
• Anthracite
• Satin Black

Warranty Summary:
2 year Structural, 1 year limited finish warranty guarantees wheels will be free from defects in materials, workmanship and paint finish under normal and reasonable use.



Please click the images for a higher resolution version.

Ordering and Contact

• Phone: Call (888) 499-9135 EXT. #1 for phone orders.
• Payment: Credit and Debit Cards: Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, Discover, PayPal. Bank Wire Transfers are also available. Contact us to use a wire transfer for payment on your order.
• Tax: California customers will be charged 8.75% CA sales tax.
• Shipping: APEX ships all orders with UPS.
• APEX Hours:
  Monday thru Friday: 9AM to 6PM PST
  Saturday and Sunday: Closed
• Warehouse and local pickup: The APEX warehouse is at 7888 Marathon Drive, Unit A, Livermore, CA, 94550 (Map It), (888) 499-9135 EXT. #2. This is where you pick up local orders.
• Service and Installation: Apex Performance Services - Dublin: 6443 Golden Gate Drive, Dublin, CA 94568 (Map It), (888) 499-9135 EXT. #3

[BMW Fanatic]

Can these clear any aftermarket BBK?

[Expert@ApexWheels]

Originally Posted by BMW Fanatic

Can these clear any aftermarket BBK?

It can clear some 355mm BBK's, and we can also test the templatses against the wheels if you'd like. Did you have a particular kit in mind?

[OM VT3]

I'm after a drag set up for my supercharged m3 but I have 380mm brembos what wheels would be best for me?

[Expert@ApexWheels]

Originally Posted by leigh

I'm after a drag set up for my supercharged m3 but I have 380mm brembos what wheels would be best for me?

With the 380mm Brembo BBK, we would recommend for you to go with the 18" EC-7's which are one of the few 18" wheels available that can fit over the Brembo GT 380mm kit! The 18x11" ET25 EC-7's in the rear can fit a 295/30/18 which would be beneficial for your drag setup to provide the extra rear traction. The 17" ARC-8's would not be able to fit over the 380mm brake rotors.

[bigjae1976]

Yes! These says lots of $$$. The wheels are cheaper and tires are about $200/set of NT01s less vs 18s with no noticeable loss in performance. AND...you avoid the low profile tire mounting charge some places have for 35 series sidewalls.

These clear ST 355mm brakes on my E46...don't see why they can't clear the E9X M3 355mm ST BBK. 17x9.5 et 35 will need a 5mm or 12mm spacer.

[bigjae1976]

Originally Posted by ApexRaceParts

Despite being 17" wheels, the ARC-8's can clear many popular big brake kits.



Give us a call for any fitment related questions or BBK clearance questions and we'd be happy to help you out!

The key is to talk to your tire shop and have them place the wheel weights against the back of the spokes and right next to the rear side lip.

So Apex...when am I getting my first pay check?

[ApexWheels]

The 17x9.5" ET35 wheels weigh in at just under 17 lbs!



Please let us know if you have any questions about this fitment and we'd be happy to help.

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

The key is to talk to your tire shop and have them place the wheel weights against the back of the spokes and right next to the rear side lip.

So Apex...when am I getting my first pay check?

[bigjae1976]

Not sure if I mentioned it...but I was running up against a deadline. I needed some wheels for a track event and had already sold my Apex 18s. I had to have them ship by the Fri before to make it on time. I had missed the UPS pickup. So the Apex customer service guy (forget his name) personally drove them to UPS at 6pm on a Fri to get them to me on time.

And I got them on time!

4 sets of Apex wheels later...I will eventually buy a 5th. And maybe even a 6th if there's ever a new but lightweight design!

[Eddy@ApexWheels]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

Not sure if I mentioned it...but I was running up against a deadline. I needed some wheels for a track event and had already sold my Apex 18s. I had to have them ship by the Fri before to make it on time. I had missed the UPS pickup. So the Apex customer service guy (forget his name) personally drove them to UPS at 6pm on a Fri to get them to me on time.

And I got them on time!

4 sets of Apex wheels later...I will eventually buy a 5th. And maybe even a 6th if there's ever a new but lightweight design!

Thanks for the support!

We have a mix of street and track designs in the works for 2014 that we'll be leaking soon

[bigjae1976]

Originally Posted by Eddy@ApexRaceParts

Thanks for the support!

We have a mix of street and track designs in the works for 2014 that we'll be leaking soon

Cool. One that's hopefully easy to clean.

[bigjae1976]

Here are 17" ARC8s on 275/40R17 NT01s in action on an E46 M3

[ApexWheels]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

Here are 17" ARC8s on 275/40R17 NT01s in action on an E46 M3

Truly putting these wheels to the test, I saw a couple good saves! Love the video, thanks for sharing.

[pkimM3r]

What kind of suspension is this e90 on? Just want a good lightweight cheap alternative for the track on stock suspension and no camber plates (perhaps in the future) but for now pins pulled only.

[Expert@ApexWheels]

17" ARC-8's would make the perfect budget friendly track wheel for your M3!



Feel free to give us a call if you have any questions regarding fitment!

Originally Posted by pkim1079

What kind of suspension is this e90 on? Just want a good lightweight cheap alternative for the track on stock suspension and no camber plates (perhaps in the future) but for now pins pulled only.

The e90 M3 is on B&G Lowering springs.

[bigjae1976]

I've been trying different go pro angles lately so here's a good shot of the wheel in motion. Looks pretty cool! Not an E9X but you get the point.

[Expert@ApexWheels]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

I've been trying different go pro angles lately so here's a good shot of the wheel in motion. Looks pretty cool! Not an E9X but you get the point.

Awesome view, definitely unique and shows the wheel off very well. Thank you for sharing!

[Antonio1988]

Would you guys be able to price together a package for wheels and tires together?

[ApexWheels]

Originally Posted by Antonio1988

Would you guys be able to price together a package for wheels and tires together?

Hi there,

That's a great question. Unfortunately, we do not offer wheel and tire packages at this time. We can ship the wheels to a tire shop of your choice if that makes things easier for you. Please let us know if you have any other questions!

[ApexWheels]

17" Concave ARC-8's look great and allow for meaty tires on your E9x!


17x9" ET30 Satin Black ARC-8s

Please let us know if you have any questions, our priority is getting you the correct fitment!

[OM VT3]

I'm after a drag setup for my M3 in a 17 i want to run a 275…….what 17 would be best?

[ApexWheels]

The 17x10" ET25 square setup would be a great choice for your drag setup. It's pictured here:



We fit 275/40/17 Toyo R888's on this car with just lowering springs and stock brakes, so there should be no problem going with these or other tires in the same sizes. Other suspension/brake setups may have clearance issues, so if you have an aftermarket suspension/BBK, please let us know and we can find a solution for you.

Although we have not photographed it, the 17x10.5" ET27 would also fit in the rear with 275's in a staggered setup. To run that wheel square, we would recommend aftermarket camber plates and spacers may be needed in the front to clear the suspension. Please let me know if you have any other questions and I'd be happy to assist you. Thanks!