FFE with aftermarket wheels - could you post pics?

Hating the look of the factory wheels on my 2014 FFE. Checking options on TireRack but not finding anything I love. Could a few of you post pics of what you've installed? Real pics vs. TireRack's simulator are much more helpful. I've found that the look of the FFE grill really changes the look of the car and wheels that look good on the ST don't look the same on the FFE.

Also, will be selling my new FFE wheels and Michelin Energies soon (400 miles) if anyone is interested

NavinRJohnson said:

Hating the look of the factory wheels on my 2014 FFE.

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Wow, really? I love them... one of the car's best features.

Sorry, hate was maybe too strong. They're tasteful looking and match the grille and chrome well, but personally prefer something larger (18) and a little more aggressive looking. Also looking for sharper handling which a lower profile tire w/18s should provide. I do understand the trade-offs. Just looking for some real world pics if anyone has done it.

NavinRJohnson said:

Just looking for some real world pics if anyone has done it.

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Check TexiCali's posts here... he put custom black wheels of some sort on his FFE, as well as blacked-out some the chrome. I remember the thread(s) had some details about the wheels.

I'm not a huge fan of the factory wheels either. They look too "electric." I'd love a set of Focus Titanium five-spokes (powder-coated black), but they're really expensive. Plus, they're 18s, not 17s, so I'd have to spring for new tires also. Someday, I may just go ahead and buy a set. I was looking at some similar wheels, but I think they were a few pounds heavier than the factory wheels.

ST Focus wheels.

Have you looked into Plasti-Dipping your current rims? I have thought about doing it to my factory wheels and leaving the upper 5 spokes silver, darkening the rest.

That FFE with the ST wheels is just the pic I was looking for. Nice design which looks even better on the ST. Is that FFE also lowered?

Nope, not lowered. It's my car, I've noticed that it seems to sit lower than most. I think it's because my wife is always hauling stuff in it.

What tires did you go with? Does it ride much harsher than stock? Is there more tire noise? What about range - any noticeable change? I assume handling is noticeably improved? I know lots of questions but seriously considering doing the same, and may even go with a lighter wheel from TireRack.

Those are the stock ST rims and tires. They were noticably heavier than the stock rim/tire combo. Ride and noise wasn't that much different but the range suffered horribly. I'm talking 25% loss horrible. Probably a combo of the weight and stickyness of the tires. The car was also much slower off the line.

It was incredible on the autocross track. The rear weight of the battery seemed to help with the balance but the silence made it hard to guage the speeds entering different aspects of the track. With my 5.0 Mustang I knew the gear and sound of the engine at certain points on the track.

I would try and find a lighter rim/tire combo so you can still have the benefits of the Electric.

jachady said:

Have you looked into Plasti-Dipping your current rims? I have thought about doing it to my factory wheels and leaving the upper 5 spokes silver, darkening the rest.

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Yeah, I was hell-bent on Plasti-Dipping my FFE's stock wheels as soon as possible. However, when I looked under the car to determine the jack points, I got real leery of jacking the car up. It's not the robust structure I'm used to seeing on my steel-framed ICE vehicle. The thin, stamped-metal, cross-struts gave me real pause about jacking up the 3,500+ lb. FFE from a single point just to perform a minor cosmetic mod. I'll probably wait until I can take it to shop with a real lift and do it there instead.

jachady said:

Those are the stock ST rims and tires. They were noticably heavier than the stock rim/tire combo. Ride and noise wasn't that much different but the range suffered horribly. I'm talking 25% loss horrible. Probably a combo of the weight and stickyness of the tires. The car was also much slower off the line.

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That's quite a disincentive! Thanks for the info!

jachady said:

Those are the stock ST rims and tires. They were noticably heavier than the stock rim/tire combo. Ride and noise wasn't that much different but the range suffered horribly. I'm talking 25% loss horrible.

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What pressure did you run the tires at? With the FFE being heavier than an ST, probably the PSI should have been upped accordingly, even though you were using the ST rims and tires. If you ran the ST wheels at the "regular" 32 PSI, the increased rolling resistance could have certainly contributed to the reduced range.

Anyone with Konig Oversteers or Enkei RSF5 on their FFE? I like these on STs but maybe too aggressive for the FFE. Pics would be great.

Took the plunge and bought the Sport Edition F11 wheels from TireRack for my '14 FFE.

These are 17" so I just moved my stock tires over. Thought I'd post a couple pics so people could get a sense of what they really look like. Unfortunately, even though I've worked in IT applications for over twenty years, I can't seem to figure out how to post the pictures in this post, just click the links below.

http://www.dropbox.com/s/hn6oy8dvsllq4ev/IMG_0020.JPG?dl=0

http://www.dropbox.com/s/0jvbioubx47j7ta/IMG_0018.JPG?dl=0

These are 42 offset, so they fill the wheel wells better than the stock wheels and give the car a bit more aggressive stance.

At 21lbs, they're also supposedly 4 lbs lighter than the stock wheels.

So far, a definitely improvement to my eye. I'll be selling my original wheels if anyone's interested in buying them.

When posting pics from Dropbox put the files in the public folder. Then right click on them and select "copy public link". Use that link for the img tag.

I use Dropbox all the time to post images.

NavinRJohnson said:

Took the plunge and bought the Sport Edition F11 wheels from TireRack for my '14 FFE.

These are 17" so I just moved my stock tires over. Thought I'd post a couple pics so people could get a sense of what they really look like. Unfortunately, even though I've worked in IT applications for over twenty years, I can't seem to figure out how to post the pictures in this post, just click the links below.
These are 42 offset, so they fill the wheel wells better than the stock wheels and give the car a bit more aggressive stance.

At 21lbs, they're also supposedly 4 lbs lighter than the stock wheels.

So far, a definitely improvement to my eye. I'll be selling my original wheels if anyone's interested in buying them.

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What did you do about the TPMS sensors? Buy new ones from tirerack or re-use the originals? Since you have the wheels off, will you please weigh one wheel? Thanks.

I had the TPMSs moved over. Total cost of the job was $75. The factory wheels are 21.8 lbs, much lower than I had read elsewhere.

I couldn't have two cars with the same wheels (FFE and CMax Hybrid). So I was trolling Craigslist and caught a set of Focus Wheels off a Black Edition. Here are the before and after.





I have to say, I am not liking them 100%, so I am in the process of coating them in black plasti-dip. Will post picture of that when I get done this weekend. Let me know what you think.