The Bridgestone Super R.A.P. aluminum wheel has been resurrected

It looks like a steelie, but the Bridgestone Super R.A.P. is an aluminum wheel. Introduced in 1987, it was designed to be “the ideal competition wheel”. This year marks the 60th anniversary of Bridgestone’s motorsport program, so the company has resurrected the Super R.A.P. to celebrate the occasion.

The revived wheel is called the Super R.A.P. Evo, and it was brought our attention at the Tokyo Auto Salon in January. At the time it was a prototype and Bridgestone was taking surveys to see lug pattern and sizes they should make. They expected a few hundred responses, but received over 3,000. From there they fast-tracked it to market in just 10 months, going on sale in Japan in December 2023.

The original Super R.A.P. was a 2-piece wheel, but the Evo is a 1-piece. They were developed for rallying, which is why they have no spokes. The design protected brakes from dirt, using only tiny holes for cooling. The Evo’s only available color is Racing Pearl White, while the original also came in red.

However, due to their extreme lightness — the smallest size of 13×5.5J weighed just 7,7 pounds each — they quickly became popular with gymkhana enthusiasts. They were particularly popular with AW11 Toyota MR2 drivers, but also gained favor with owners of performance kei cars like the Honda Beat as well. They were also quite popular on  or retro-styled cars like the Nissan Pao due to their old school steelie looks.

The Super R.A.P. Evo comes only in 15-inch diameter, in 7.0J and 7.5J widths. Two lug patterns are available, 4×100 for the Roadster/Miata owners, and 4×114.3 for everything else. These days, it’s pretty hard to find new performance wheels in 4×114.3, so this will help fill a much-needed niche. The wheels will cost ¥48,000 (approximately $335 USD) for 114.3 PCD and ¥49,000 (approximately $345 USD) for 100 PCD. For now they are only available in Japan.

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