I’ve had a vision in my head of what my ideal 180SX would look like for quite some time now. I’ve enjoyed all of the various iterations of this car immensely, and having the chance to own this car again is something that I continue to be grateful for.

It’s no secret that the summer of 2011 was arguably my favorite version of this car. OEM kouki 180SX aero, staggered TE37s, a well put together and reliable engine setup, and a nifty interior with just the right touch of wild to bring it all together. No impractical wheel specs, no shaved bay, and the car still had heat (even if the blower motor didn’t work.) When I look back at the car over the years, this is the time when I wish I would have stopped and left the car exactly as it sat.

As happy as I was with the car back in 2011, I really wanted a few different things at the time. I desperately wanted to run Hot Road aero and a Koguchi Power hood at the time, but the exchange rate made it all but impossible for me to achieve. I also really wanted to see the car with bronze TE37s on it but never got a chance to borrow Kyle’s to see what it would look like. I was constantly torn between black and red seats and which I like better back then just like I am today.

It’s pretty cool to walk out to the driveway and see what is more or less my dream 180 sitting out there. I sold my Blitz wheels this weekend and picked up a set of 17/18 bronze Volk TE37s for the car. To see my old car back home with Hot Road aero, a Koguchi Power hood and a set of bronze TEs on it is pretty awesome!

My current front pair of TEs are a bit lighter than the rears. Rays changed their coating process at some point over the years and things don’t really match between the two pairs. I guess Adam from C’s Garage had the same issue back in the day. I picked up a different pair of TEs on Yahoo Japan that were manufactured the same year as my current rear pair, so hopefully when those arrive I can swap them out and sell this pair. I’m super happy with how it sits now, but I’ll be even more excited when I have a proper matching set.

The specs are 18×9.5 +22 and 17×9 +15 with a 5mm spacer up front (+10 effective.) I really wanted a +12 pair for the rear, but these were too clean to pass up. I am also running a chunkier 235/40 out back leftover for the blitz, so they don’t look too bad. I will take a little camber out of the back this week and that should help a little bit. I wouldn’t mind some more front camber but have decided not to really mess with it right now. The car has -3.5 all around from my last alignment. While more aggressive front camber looks cool, I do like how well it drives right now. Hopefully removing some rear camber will help a bit with how the car looks overall.

Anyway, I am super happy with these wheels. The Blitz were great, but I think these could be the wheels I hold onto for this car. Say what you will about TEs being played out or “everyone having them,” but they’re just perfect for a kouki 180SX. So happy with how the car has turned out since getting it back last November!

I’ve got some work to do on the car before we leave for our long trek to Final Bout II next week. I’ll try to document some of it and post again later this week! Thanks for reading- I decided to post the new wheels here on my blog before posting anywhere else for a change. If you still read this I truly do appreciate it!

Damon