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HRE recently came out with a new line of wheels called FlowForm. These are made in a casting process by pouring molten aluminum into a mold instead of being forged, to save on costs. But how does it perform on an E92 M3? Here is an excerpt of the review:
FlowForm wheels are 7-double spoke wheel with starting weight around 22lbs. The inside face of each double spoke is dished out. This gives an interesting visual detail as well as helps save weight. The edges of the double spokes connect with the outside of the rim in with a very sharply delineated edges. The Gloss Silver has a very deep luster next to the Space Gray Metallic on our E92 M3.
When you run your fingers over the wheels, you can feel a very smooth uniform finish with absolutely no pitting. I realize that looks are subjective, but HRE wheels are a work of art to me and seeing them up close you can tell that not only are they gorgeous but extremely well made. The edges of all the spokes where they hit the barrel of the wheel are uniform and without flaw.
The biggest thing I noticed after installing them was how much more they fill out the wheel wells compared to the 19†BBS Competition wheels. Another benefit was how much more contact patch you get with these wheels versus the Competition Package wheels. The fronts of the HRE’s give you 20mm more grip on each side and the rears 30mm more grip on each side. That’s a total of 100mm more contact patch.
When were photographing the M3 from the rear, we could see how much wider the rear tires are – 295’s vs 265. The extra width along with the wheels that fill out the wheel arches are more completely now and add to a very aggressive stance on the E92 M3.
Driving Feel
With a wider tire, I did notice a little more tram lining on our M3. The grip though was great. Pitching the M3 hard into a corner the extra grip was noticeable. As our M3 is lowered, one of the main concerns I had was rubbing. I am happy to report that there is no rubbing and I do not have to roll fenders. Even fully loaded up in a corner under power, I could not get the HREs to rub. Anytime one lowers a car and puts bigger wheels, this is of prime concern.
Another concern when you step up in wheel size is ride quality. The E92 M3 is already a pretty stiff and solid ride, plus ours has lowering springs on it. I did not discern any harshness from expansion strips or the occasional imperfection in the road such as pot hole I ran over.
