A while back, Duane from RCompound USA and Kristian from Battlecraft decided to link-up to do a limited run of Volk TE37SL wheels for fun. With the original TE37 wheel mold destroyed and off the market, the boys thought it’d be cool to take a more modern TE37SL wheel and do them in a classic colorway. The sizing on these wheels would be limited specifically to one size; a 15×8-inch wheel with a +35mm offset in a 4×100 bolt pattern. They are geared towards the Honda/Acura market of the ’90s because that’s a majority of their demographic and they wanted to ensure that they give some love to the Civic and Integra enthusiasts who opted to not go the popular 5-lug route…

They contacted me a few months back when they first decided to have these wheels manufactured because they wanted me to come up with a logo design. It’s not something I do very often but I’d like to think that I have a pretty good eye for things. I imagine they thought so too, otherwise they wouldn’t have asked. Maybe I was like the last option and they asked a bunch of other people who turned them down, I’ll never know. For this narrative, let’s just say I was their first option, haha. Kristian came to me with a very specific idea so it wasn’t too difficult, I suppose my task was just to help put all his thoughts and concepts down, organize them, and execute something that would fit that collection of ideas. It wasn’t very hard, I’ve been so busy the last few weeks that I honestly forgot about it, and Kristian probably didn’t even realize it until he read this just now. All I had to do was come up with the art file, he’d send it off to someone he knew who could create the decal for the wheel, and then the wheels would be ready for public consumption…

What came after that was getting photos of the wheel(s) once everything came together. They actually gave enthusiasts who attended our “Chronicles & Coffee” gathering a few weeks ago a first glimpse of the wheel. The decals came in that morning, Kristian applied it to the spokes, and they were displayed inside RCompound USA during the meet. For the photos, choosing a car to put them on wasn’t too difficult. I think we all unanimously agreed that Dave Chik’s white Civic hatchback would be the perfect car. It’s so well put together that it exudes that perfect balance of form and function—plus it’s white. There’s no better blank canvas to showcase a wheel and its very specific colorway than on a white Civic. You’re almost guaranteed that the wheels will pop in photos. The problem was that Dave only had one day to come down, July 3rd, and the wheels were scheduled to drop on the Battlecraft website on, you guessed it, July 3rd. Duane had already announced the date long before so it didn’t make sense to move the date of release. We didn’t want to take any chances with people losing interest in this drop so Dave was kind enough to show-up extremely early that morning to get the wheels mounted on his car so we could shoot it…

We didn’t want to dirty the wheels and the fresh tires on it so I just told them to follow me so I could get some photos of it down the street at a local liquor store by our complex. I’ve actually never been inside the liquor store but I’ve always enjoyed the colors and how its just situated in the middle of the neighborhood. I’d also shot another car in front of it a while back with great results so I’ve always wanted to go back there for more photos. We started shooting at around 9:30 AM and the lighting was already pretty harsh. Thankfully we chose a white car so it made it a bit easier for me to work with the natural light to make the photos look better. I’m pretty happy with the results. So much so that I didn’t intend on posting these up on the site but I like the photos so much that I thought you’d guys would enjoy seeing it in a larger format than what you’re used to when you’re skimming through Instagram…

All in all, I think everything came together well and the drop was a success. One of the colorways sold-out almost immediately and there are just a few sets left of the other color. It’s a $2400 set of wheels so for them to move that quickly, in my book, is a HUGE success. Kristian and Duane definitely took a huge chance on these and it paid off. It was a calculated risk and a worthwhile endeavor…

I was asked to get photos of the wheels and the wheels on the car but I always try to sneak in some lifestyle photos whenever I can. After putting together two books, I find myself constantly looking for “that shot” which captures a vibe where you can really feel what it is like to be there with us. The photo above was definitely the one. It’s always a good feeling knowing that no matter our measure of success and how far we get in this industry, at the core of it, we’re still just car guys who just like hanging out and talking cars…

I specifically didn’t explain the two color choices for these limited edition wheels because I’d rather let Kristian explain it to you. Though he has a tendency to over explain things sometimes, especially on a live microphone, I thought his literal description was very well-done.

This was what he wrote for the Battlecraft page:

“Produced by RAYS Engineering in collaboration with BattleCraft and R Compound USA, the TE37SL Club Edition was born. The iconic 6 spoke design is reborn as a tribute to our favorite era of Japanese motorsport and styling. Bringing back the classic “Titanium” hues of the early 2000’s, this is the first time the Super Lap version of the TE37 has been offered in these brilliant colors.

The first colorway option utilizes the bright and brilliant Titanium Silver complemented with black Volk Racing and our custom Club Edition logo on opposing spokes. This option offers a clean look that highlights the overall design and shapes of the TE37 spokes.

The second colorway is our little tribute to the highest level of Japanese production car racing and our favorite era of motorsport – the Japanese Grand Touring Championship (JGTC). In a field of predominately NSX’s, GTR’s, and Supra’s, RAYS Engineering with the TE37 Forged Mag reined supreme and supplied over three-quarters of the teams. The Titanium Gunmetal option of the Club Edition wheel highlights the history of racing technology transitioned over to street with the red and blue logo design alongside Volk Racing blue.”

For this set, I’ve divided the photos by wheel color, with Dave’s Civic having both on the car, with one side featuring the Titanium Silver, and the other the JGTC-inspired Titanium Gunmetal. The photos are very wheel-centric, as you’d expect, so I’ll just let you guys take in the photos…

This set below is of the Titanium Silver. If you guys are seeing Dave Chik’s Civic for the first-time, it’s a B-series powered hatchback featuring a Exceed by Mode Parfume front lip, EK9 CTR face, CTR rear lip, custom bumper cut-outs in the rear, Magical Racing mirrors, and a rare Top Fuel rear wing. The wing, which once belonged to Ryan Der, was actually sold years ago, ended-up in Puerto Rico for some time, and returned back to California to Dave’s build…

The two shots below were captured right in front of RCompound USA. I figured a few shots in front of the shop wouldn’t hurt. The last photo with that specific angle was inspired by some of the older photos that I used to see inside the old Rays Engineering catalogs. I was actually going to use Photoshop and make a faux catalog image with the wheels and all but I just got lazy. That and the Titanium Gunmetal sold so quickly that it definitely did not require that level of commitment on my part to get those wheels to sell, lol…

While shooting, admittedly, I was a little weary of how the photos would come out because of the harsh lighting and also because I’ve been a bit rusty after not shooting for so long. Once I did some post-processing I realized that they didn’t come out so bad after all. It definitely helps that Dave’s Civic is fantastic-looking, no doubt. That’s all for today, hope you enjoyed the photos…