18×9 Fifteen52 Turbomac Wheels

When I sold my S4, the new owner also purchased my old track wheels – so when I got my 2012 Audi TTRS, I knew I needed a new set of track wheels to go with it. My friend Brian had a set of white 18×9 Fifteen52 Turbomac wheels for sale off his old S3, so I jumped on it. The Turbomac has a vintage inspired design, and the TTRS itself is a homage to the Audi Sport Quattro and Group B rally cars of the past – so the wheel was perfect for this car. The white on white combo, while not ideal for hiding brake dust, brought it all together with a unique look that I absolutely love.

You may recognize this wheel from the Ken Block Gymkhana series – he ran a special edition called the “Turbomac HD” meant to take a special form of abuse that Gymkhana entails. This wheel is the cast version, but it’s still plenty strong – I dropped a wheel a few times in the rather rough surface of Streets of Willow where there some pretty deep potholes, and no cracks or issues…and the previous owner had used these wheels on plenty of track days on his S3, and they’re still in top shape.

I’m currently running Toyo R888s on these wheels, and it’s a great combo. No rubbing, lots of meat, and grip for days. The tires are pretty much shot, and I’m planning to just buy another set of R888s if the price is right – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Part of me is tempted to make these my new street wheels – with the MSS Kits lowering springs, the 18s are plenty big, and having a little extra rubber isn’t a bad thing…but I have a feeling keeping the white wheels clean would get old. All of the many holes around the outer edge of the wheel are tricky to clean, unless you take the wheel off and reach it from behind. As a track wheel that is fine since the wheels get removed after a weekend of use for easy cleaning, but as a daily driver that would be a bit too much.

It’s exciting to try new wheel brands, and my experience with Fifteen52 has been a positive one. Between my last three Audis I’ve had 3 sets of BBS (18″ CO, 19″ CH, 19″ CH Black), 1 set of Enkei wheels (PF-01), 2 sets of Rays wheels (LE37, Sportechnic Mono 10s), multiple OEM sets, and probably some others I’m forgetting. Surprisingly I’ve never owned HRE or Rotiform despite them being some of the biggest names on the scene now, but I still need to find a new set of street wheels so we’ll see where that takes me.

What’s your favorite track wheel? Do you dig the white on white? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think…