Vorshlag Forgestar CF5 18x11 wheels in Matte Black!

[Gray Ghost GT]

Yaahoooo! Placed my order for a set of Vorshlag Forgestar CF5 18x11 wheels in Matte Black!

Going from a 275/35-18 square setup to a 305/35-18 square setup in 2018. More tire grip!!

 

[Mad Hatter]

Best of luck! I hope the order goes well for you. I had to wait over 9 months for the 8 CF5's I ordered, had to settle for F14 wheels instead to try to get the order in under a year! I do hope they have improved customer service and delivery time. But they are nice looking wheels.

 

[VoodooBoss]

Those delays are behind them. Nice wheels.

 

[TymeSlayer]

My experience with Forgestar was quite pleasing. I Like those wheel Gray Ghost GT. Going to try the Apex route squared this tyme around but if it doesn't work out, Forgestar here I come. Again.

 

[Gray Ghost GT]

I’m giving them 90 days from the purchase date to ship those wheels before I would challenge the sale with my Credit Card company. More time than they posted on their website. I hope those crazy long delays are behind them. Really looking forward to running them this season.

 

[Boone]

I assume you have the Cortex offset coilover setup. Does anyone else make a coilover that can handle the 11" wheels?

I assume you'll be doing the non-rotatable setup since they're coming from Vorshlag. I test fit an 11" HRE FF15 wheel on my S197, and the backspacing was nowhere close with H&R coilovers.

 

[ChrisM]

In for updates. I also had 18x9.5 CF5s and I love how they look with my car. I need MOAR TIRE THO.

 

[boardkat]

Those delays are behind them. Nice wheels.

not in my experience. here's my order history:

(4) 19x9 CF5V - 9/12/12 - 12/12/12 (12 weeks)
(8) 18x11 CF5 - 1/16/15 - 4/27/15 (13 weeks)
(4) 18x12 CF5 - 1/12/16 - 4/29/16 (14 weeks)
(4) 18x12 CF5 - 4/18/16 - 7/7/16 (11 weeks)
(4) 18x13 F14 - 10/31/17 - 2/23/18 (15 weeks)

granted, i've only been spec'ing (mostly) large sizes, but just wanted to be clear that forgestar is still experiencing growing pains when it comes to both manufacturing and QC-related delays. but i've never not received my order eventually - patience (and planning WAY ahead) is key.

 

[Gray Ghost GT]

Vorshlag confirmed the shipment of my wheels in two weeks, which translates to 10 weeks.

Looking forward to posting photos and impressions once they arrive. 305s will be awesome!

 

[Mad Hatter]

Glad your getting the wheels soon! Looking forward to your comments.

 

[Fair]

I assume you have the Cortex offset coilover setup. Does anyone else make a coilover that can handle the 11" wheels?

I assume you'll be doing the non-rotatable setup since they're coming from Vorshlag. I test fit an 11" HRE FF15 wheel on my S197, and the backspacing was nowhere close with H&R coilovers.

We made the first 18x10" wheel that fit these cars without tricks ourselves (with our initial D-Force offering) in 2011. We were on the hook for 100 of these things, and it hurt, but we got the wheel made. Our 10" wide wheel offsets can be rotated front to rear on S197 and S550 - but they are not the same offsets from model to model. Then everyone and their brother copied our published 18x10 offset...



So in 2012 we figured out the 11" wide wheel trick on Mustangs. We were one of the very first dealers to make Forgestars for track and autocross cars. Before 2012 it was mostly hard parkers...



If you manage every millimeter in the offsets and widths, there is no need for "kicked" struts or giant spacers or long wheel studs or any of that. We can do this on virtually any strut, just need a little camber up front.



On the 11" wide stuff we use a VERY different front and rear offset to avoid rubbing, poking, or the need to run giant 25-30+ mm spacers that others accept as normal. 30mm spacers are not normal nor are they the safest way to treat your wheel studs. They will lead to earlier wheel stud failure. We've been designing, making, and selling wheel studs and spacers since 2007 and have seen what happens when a series of wheel studs fail - its ugly, and a heck of a lot more "Trouble" that having a tire remounted to rotate front to rear. Heck if your suspension is setup right you should need to rotate front to rear on these cars.



One thing people get pissed about sometimes: we do not share our 19x11 or 18x11" offsets for the S197 or S550 chassis. This is the one thing that keeps our customers coming to us - our specs, that work. We learned this on the 18x10" wheels. If we openly shared this hard learned data some folks would find some other dealer who sells under MAP and they would take our knowledge for free.



Can't run a business like that. We sell at the lowest price Forgestar allows, too. But guys that work out of their mom's basement can afford to break the rules and sell under MAP. Those guys never innovate, they just copy.



Forgestar delays are legendary. We cannot control their "blanks" supply and that + delays in machining and powder coating make for delays that can span weeks or even months. It is infuriating and frustrating, and literally half the phone calls we get are people checking on wheel orders. We can only relay the status we are given, and sometimes they happen quick and other times they don't.



The main problem we see is when people try to order during the Forgestar annual "fall rebate" sale. They should prepare to pay the price of "savings" in a LONG wait. We have begged Forgestar to stop doing this sale because it jams up wheel orders every fall for months. They cannot seem to keep enough blanks in stock to meet that spike of demand, every single year. There are literally ZERO other wheel companies we can work with to make 1-piece custom wheels anywhere near their price point. It is just the necessary evil. You want something in 3-4 weeks? I can sell you custom Forgeline wheels for only FOUR TIMES AS MUCH. They look baller AF, but you gotta pay to play.



Who gets blamed when a supplier is late? The dealer. We've had people call us every name in the book - and this is 99% out of our control. If there was a faster way to do this we would. Yes, we order "stocking orders" (above) but those almost never make it to us - they get gobbled up with later orders long before they are delivered to us. Other than ordering containers full of wheels in one size/color we are just as stuck as everyone else. We could sell other brands that don't fit right, have group buys and even longer waits... but that's even more hassle.



We don't just sell to S197 or S550 Mustangs, either, as our Camaro and Corvette customers keep us hopping too.

Thanks,

 

[captdistraction]

for my curiosity, did Vorshlag ever build hubcentric spacers for mustangs? I know of the lugcentric ones (as I nearly bought a pair before going with a hubcentric offering).

From my side, almost every PWC and IMSA mustang team ran various size spacers, most of the time hubcentric and commonly in the 3/4" -1" range up front unless they ran fancier wheels than what the car was provided (many of the 302R's were all over the place, but the 302S was commonly seen with that Ford BBS wheel since it kept the sanctioning body less-unhappy).

(not trying to discredit, just curious and "I love me some tech")

 

[ChrisM]

Who gets blamed when a supplier is late? The dealer. We've had people call us every name in the book - and this is 99% out of our control. If there was a faster way to do this we would. Yes, we order "stocking orders" (above) but those almost never make it to us - they get gobbled up with later orders long before they are delivered to us. Other than ordering containers full of wheels in one size/color we are just as stuck as everyone else. We could sell other brands that don't fit right, have group buys and even longer waits... but that's even more hassle.

Ha, come on Terry! Businessing is easy and businessmen are always at fault. You should have predicted all of this otherwise you shouldn't be in business! None of this "supply and demand" voodoo! (he said, extremely sarcastically)

Anyways, I am also curious about what @captdistraction said. What's the deal, yo?

 

[Mad Hatter]

What!! no group buys!?! I only waited about nine months for two sets, but hey, whooos counting! They did arrive, so thats what counts..

 

[Fair]

for my curiosity, did Vorshlag ever build hubcentric spacers for mustangs? I know of the lugcentric ones (as I nearly bought a pair before going with a hubcentric offering).

Nope, we only sell a few relatively thin lug-centric small spacers for the S197.



For BMWs we do have a number of hubcentric spacers, up to 20mm. We make wheel studs for these as well, and have for over a decade.



After 12 years of seeing how racers f*** up and fail a wheel stud by using the wrong spacers (usually a mis-match at the hubcentric bore, between the wheel and spacer), we have decided not to get into building or recommending wider Mustang spacers. Whenever there is a "problem" we get blamed. Yet absolutely 100% of the time we have seen a stud fail it was from an outside variable - normally their wheel's hub didn't fit the stock spec or our spacers, and it "rocks". This rocking happens with every rotation. Eventually it breaks a wheel stud. And then "bad things happen".

From my side, almost every PWC and IMSA mustang team ran various size spacers, most of the time hubcentric and commonly in the 3/4" -1" range up front unless they ran fancier wheels than what the car was provided (many of the 302R's were all over the place, but the 302S was commonly seen with that Ford BBS wheel since it kept the sanctioning body less-unhappy).

(not trying to discredit, just curious and "I love me some tech")

Well pro teams have VERY different maintenance schedules than club racers, autocrossers or HPDE champions. We have supplied spacers, wheel studs and lug nuts to many pro teams and many of them buy studs/nuts in the hundreds. They often use the lug nuts for ONE tire change, then toss them. That's not how the rest of us do it.



The spacer doesn't worry me, its the extra loading on the studs. I've run 15-20 mm spacers on a Mustang before when we were playing with offsets and trying wildly new tire sizes. I couldn't sell this to a customer, but on my own car - sure, we test things. And we change studs and nuts more often than most.

That's what worries me about the "one size fits all" wheels that NEED a 30mm spacer. You have to make sure the end customer knows this, buys the right length stud, installs said stud correctly (you'd be surprised the jankiness we see on stud installs!), then replaces the more stressed long stud more often. So many variables out of our control, so its a lot safer to sell the right offsets for the front and a different offset for the rear.



That way any random tire buster could install them and not need to worry about longer studs, etc. Only one time has a customer put the 11" fronts on the rear and the 11" rears on the front. One end SCRAPES the strut and the other sticks out by a mile this way, but he did it. Drove it across town, howling and scraping, and ruined two wheels. He owned up to it and he paid for replacements, at least. Most people can look at the wheels and figure it out pretty quick

Never underestimate the random end customer's lack of experience or knowledge. Losing the need for big spacers/long studs just removes a lot of risk and hassle on our end.

 

[Mad Hatter]

As a end customer, will have to go and check and see what my random lack of experience has done today!! as it is, after getting some F14's in 18x12, then having to ride shotgun on the cars mechanics because they would install them back to front and complain the wheels were bad! Anything is possible!