Just been cleaning the 17x8 five spoke OZ Chrono's I picked up recently and was interested to see they are marked Made in Japan on the inside of the spokes. I'm pretty sure OZ's were only ever offered as a factory fit option on the JDM ST205's. This is a similar situation to the Recaro seats with Le Mans red/blue/silver trim.

A long time ago when I was trying to track these down direct from OZ in Italy they said they were only available in Japan. This seemed a bit odd to me at the time but now that I see they were actually made there then it makes sense.

It does surprise me though that OZ would licence their name to be used on wheels which weren't made by them in Italy. Still, now that I have a set I'm not complaining! I shall probably use them as spares for TrackToy rather than replacing my heavyweight 18x8 Revolution 6 spokes.

_________________
Don
GT4DC Chairman
1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205WRC JDM 269bhp @ 0.9bar
1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four Special GT 590bhp @ 1.8bar
1989 Van Diemen RF88/89 Formula Ford 1600
2008 Nissan Patrol GU 3.0L ZD30DDTi 154bhp

There was some kind of tie up with Enkei and OZ IIRC.

Hopefully if made by Enkei they will not use the same aluminium/chocolate mix used by OZ!

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JP
GT4DC Treasurer

Grey St185 RC
Silver BMW E46 M3
Multicolour yawn Honda VFR400
Silver Honda Civic Type-R

The OZ Chrono Evo's I had looked great but were very much of the aluminium/chocolate tenedency. I put this down to the fact they were part of their aftermarket 'bling' range and not for motorsport use. A couple of mine ended up either egg-shaped or 50p coin shaped . TTE fitted motorsport OZ's on their rally cars so I'm sure they wouldn't have made them with chocolate.

The 'Made in Japan' OZ's seem very solid and similar to the 16x7 Speedline 6 spoke wheels I have. They almost sound forged as they make a similar ringing noise to the Rays forged 17x8's if you tap them with a small hammer. That would be too good to be true!

I'm sure I read something about Enkei a while back which inferred they were Japanese re-branded OZ's or some other well known brand. Maybe Toyota asked them to be named as OZ for the WRC kudos?

_________________
Don
GT4DC Chairman
1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205WRC JDM 269bhp @ 0.9bar
1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four Special GT 590bhp @ 1.8bar
1989 Van Diemen RF88/89 Formula Ford 1600
2008 Nissan Patrol GU 3.0L ZD30DDTi 154bhp

IIRC The 'made in Japan' 17" x 8J OZ chronos (rocking horse poop) you have were specifically manufactured in Japan for the ST205.
That's why you'll note that they have the correct Center Bore = direct fit

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Vice Chairman
1990 White UK Celica ST185 - Project DTM
1997 Cream BMW R1200C (as seen in James Bond "Tomorrow Never Dies")
2005 Jaguar X-type 3.0 Sovereign AWD Automatic
Blood Bikes - https://www.freewheelers.org.uk/

In my wheel searches I have seen one set of OZ Chrono 17" x 8JJ et35 5x100 wheels that were magnesium...and they were covered in TTE stickers that the owner informed me were 'original'.

Would be awesome if your rims combined the looks of the chrono with the lightweight of magnesium.

Out of interest have you weighed them?

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Karl
white 205 jdm 1996

nb: Magnesium O.Z Racing rims (eg Grp N 5 stud types ) often have Mg marked on them


also of note, the O.Z Racing 17" x 8J Roulette gravel specs (which are made of pure heavy) have the O.Z ITALY logo & Made in Japan on them.

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ST165 turbo 4WD
ST185 GT-FOUR RC Carlos Sainz Limited Edition 825•5000
ST185 turbo 4WD Carlos Sainz Limited Edition 2541•5000

Interesting about the OZ roulettes. I wonder if they were only sold in Japan as well? They are a bit of an acquired taste (I'm not a fan myself) and I'd always assumed they were competition use only.

No sign of any Mg markings inside the spokes but should have time to weigh them tomorrow.

_________________
Don
GT4DC Chairman
1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205WRC JDM 269bhp @ 0.9bar
1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four Special GT 590bhp @ 1.8bar
1989 Van Diemen RF88/89 Formula Ford 1600
2008 Nissan Patrol GU 3.0L ZD30DDTi 154bhp