I'm loving my second gen GR86... except... the old curmudgeon in me doesn't like the black 18" factory wheels. I'm looking to brighten things up. So, I started web shopping. And I see a huge range in prices. I know it has to do with construction method, cast. forged, etc. I'm used to buying race wheels from BBS, OZ, Compomotive, but have no experience in the last 40 years buying street wheels. (I last bought Fittipaldis for a '91 CRX)
I am wondering if the Enkei /Sparco wheels that seem budget priced at Tirerack are at least the same quality of the factory wheels I'm used to. I understand I'll lose street cred with the folks running Rays, Advan, and such. I'm not racing, but I do want safety at least as good as stock. Not fond of breaking, cracking, bending wheels.
Any thoughts?
As an aside there are shops locally that will powercoat the stock wheels for about the same price as a new set of Enkeis from Tirerack. Pluses or minuses of that idea?
Looking forward to info.
Look for a flow formed wheel with a load rating higher than what you need. That'll pretty much give you the safety you want. And check the weight - don't get anchors, but the very lightest will likely also be the weakest given a certain production process.
The upper range of powdercoating temperatures crosses over into the lower range of aging temps for 6060 T6, so powdercoating wheels may make them weaker and may also void the warranty. It's unlikely to be a problem with a set of stock wheels, but the right choice is always to just paint them. That's what all new wheels get.
Chances are most of the wheels you're looking at are coming out of the same factory. There's one manufacturer who white-labels for a large proportion of the industry.
Good to learn about possible side effects of powdercoating. I'll take that off the list of possibilities.
I'm not crossing off paint.... but, damn that's a lot of work; especially on 10 spoke wheels. 
I'm not asking you to do anything I haven't done myself ;)
Keith, I'm sort of laughing. If I just work at my business for the amount of hours it will take me to paint my wheels I would make enough to buy 2 new sets of Advans. LOL
Remove wheels. dismount tires. Clean. Clean even more. Scuff. Build jig to hold them. Paint. Mount and balance tires. Install wheels.
I'm starting to understand buying wheels with mounted tires shipped from Tirerack. LOL
So that means I'll probably paint them. 
Wise decision right there.
I've had the Enkei RPF1 18 x 8.5 on my BMW 135i for about 4 years and am very happy with them. They're bright silver; almost a platinum color. I'm not sure if they are painted or powdercoated, but the finish proven really durable and they still look great. Brake dust has not burned into the finish at all.
I don't recall what they weigh, but they are a lot lighter than the (bent) factory alloys that they replaced. You definitely notice the reduced unsprung weight.
I managed to hit a curb head-on at about 25mph in the fog a year or so ago and incredibly, no damage at all...to the car or the wheels. 
Only problem with the RPF1 is that they don't offer a lot of clearance for brake calipers with those deep spokes.
