IYKYK: why fitting Japanese wheels to a German performance car is cool

Renowned photographer Mark has been working with Top Gear for many, many years. When not taking photos he’s buying inappropriate cars. Here he shares his addiction with the world

For as long as I’ve owned a car, I’ve always had the need to muck about with it. Sometimes it’s a different exhaust or audio, other times it’s a completely new engine – usually with a lifespan measured in miles rather than years. Whatever the tweak, they seem to do a pretty good job of draining any cash I can get my hands on.

This need to modify isn’t because I think I know better than the clever engineers designing these cars. If anything, what I do usually results in making every car a bit worse. That might sound like quite a strange hobby to enjoy, but it all revolves around the need to make a car that bit more personal to me.

I’ll never be the kind of person who turns up at an event and joins row after row of identical cars. I’ve also no desire to go so bonkers with a car it needs a “F*** The Haters” sticker on the window because it now resembles something that should be airbrushed on the side of a Waltzer.

The solution – for me at least – is somewhere in the middle. The Japanese Shibui approach: a simple, subtle, and unobtrusive beauty that unfolds over time. Or, if you’re not someone who documents every paint to sample Porsche on Instagram, that basically means tweaking a car to look a bit different using jazzy parts that only other likeminded car geeks will appreciate. So, to further back this ideology up, I’ve now got a set of Japanese wheels to go on a very German car.

You’re looking at a very honourable set of Advan GT wheels in Porsche 991 GT3 RS specific fitment. These are anything but new and have been a firm favourite on Skylines and Supras for well over a decade, but since 2017 Yokohama Wheel Design – the company behind Advan Wheels – has made them in Porsche sizes too. In fact, back in 2017 while visiting the SEMA show in Las Vegas, its display car was a 991 GT3 RS in Ultraviolet paint with Racing Brass gold wheels – a car that’s been my inspiration ever since. A massive thanks to Joan (@jo34200 on Instagram) who specialises in rare JDM wheels and handled getting them to me in the UK.

The stock 991 GT3 RS wheel is easily one of the best designs in recent years, and I don’t think there’s much else that suits them better. But the Advan GT isn’t a million miles away either – it’s another big, simple and chunky spoke design flow forged for strength and in the OEM sizes for a perfect fitment. I’ve always loved Japanese car culture and adore many of the wheel designs produced over the years, so fitting a set of Advan GTs is a cool little nod to this obsession without it looking too different from stock. Unfortunately I didn’t actually research how much Porsche TPMS sensors and track tyres cost in these sizes, so if anyone needs me I’ll be adopting the Feng shui lifestyle now, also known as selling all of my belongings on eBay to fund this horrid obsession.