Rotiform wheels on the track?
 

Looking at a set of cast Rotiform's for the FRS, can't find much if they are "safe" on the track, all i read are really rumors. Some say don't track them, other say they are okay to track.

Views? Concerns? Opinions?

I don't see any mention of the trackability of their wheels from their website:

The ultimate do-it-all road wheel. Built for everything from driving down Main Street, cruising the In-N-Out drive through, or crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, Rotiform cast one piece wheels will get you there and back every day of the year. Cast for affordable style, aggressive fitment and amazing looks.

They're only unsafe if you hit something and they break.

I'd rather not chance it, especially if im going high speed.

Are they VIA/JWL/TUV certified?

they are JWL/ VIA certified.

Emailed them and their response was.

"Our wheels are cast wheels, basically the same composition as a factory or OEM wheel on a car form the dealer."

Some OEM wheels are forged... most are not. :(

That is true but i'm sure he was just referencing that how they make their wheels are like other OEM wheels.

I think i'll go for it, I've seen pictures of guys tracking these wheels. Worse case you'll see a topic with "Rotiforms failed at track!" :lol: Maybe then will have clear proof not to track these cast wheels.

Edit: And they did say they were JWL/ VIA certificated.

Do it. Because at the end of the day, its you who has to like the style of the wheels. To a certain point, weight of wheels should still come secondary to how it looks on your car. It's not like you are going to weight the wheels everytime to convince yourself its a style you like;). No point in going to a light wheel that is not to your taste;)

I had some friends use rota wheels on the track, they spun out on grass and kept on going.

Personally, I wouldn't risk my car by getting uncertified wheels. It's not like JWL/VIA certifications are difficult to get; they're "self test" certifications.

Imagine if you hit a berm and your wheel shattered... (and yes, I've seen wheels crack and shatter)


If it was a street only car for hard parking, sure, get whatever looks good. For track? No bueno. We've bent Enkeis. So have other local shops that track their cars. Imagine if we used no-name wheels...

No different than a rota I guess. I have friends that do drift events on them and as far as I know, no issues.

its rotiforms... not rotas...;) As to one cast wheel over another... there are plenty of threads stressing the importance of the quality of aluminum used and not the particular brand. Enkei or any other wheel touting to be mat or flow formed are still cast wheels... the only difference being that the barrel is heated, and essentially pulled or spun out to shape. The face is still cast which if hit on the face which most impacts occur, given the hypothesis that a cast wheel breaks, flow formed or any other hybrid cast wheel will still break...

You do have a point, guess i'll keep on looking.

The brand is widely known for the hard park scene as well, not so much the track guys.

Check it out and see the standard if you are worried despite having jwl and via standards. http://www.jwtc.jp/open/html/e/situmon1.html#a01

Fwiw, we implemented a batch of our "normal" casted wheels tested as part of falken's drift program under another brand name for the past 5 years... Zero cracks zero breakage... Zero shatter... These all under drifting conditions that involve wall scraping, chassis hitting scenarios... No mat, no flow forming, just a good ol gravity casted aluminum wheels... The very same wheels from 5 years ago were used on Darren McNamara's s15 last year... Zero problems... So while its entirely possible there are some cast wheels out there with inferior casting, don't be scared of cast wheels because its been used for the best part of the past 40 years. Picture source courtesy speed hunters.

Lets subject these wheels to the berms at Laguna Seca and see if they survive.

Last I checked, drift cars rarely have full-on side impacts, or have the wheels go over potholes/berms.

Hell, weight doesn't even matter anymore since everyone uses big horsepower cars; the weight is a plus since it keeps the wheels turning longer, even off throttle. They're acting as a peudo flywheel.

Have you physically inspected and checked out the wall in jersey? Hard step like a curb at the track where wheels get demolished all the time... Forged and cast wheels alike... On another note, high Hp cars =high speed= high impact force... As to side impact, its not side impact but more angled impact. As to weight... not super light but on par with 3 or 2 piece forged wheels...

idk if this helps, but a few friends have cracked their rotiform barrels several times. I Heard rotiform even stopped making barrels/lips for BBS RS because of the issues

Edit* and this is not during track use, this is normal driving of "hard parked" cars

Which wheels? Cast? Forged monoblock? Three piece?

the two that i can think of off the top of my head, they were BBS RS barrels made by Rotiform

-and im talking multiple cracks needing to be welded on multiple wheels on the car

Either 3 or 2 piece wheels... those barrels are likely spun barrels locally sourced that usually arent heat treated. We tried the barrels made locally for Dai's s13 and they bent easily.... Rotiform never made barrels for bbs but either replaced with local barrels, refurbished them or fixed them.. which any barrels refurbished or fixed are not recommended for the track... structure already changed...

@yoshiharadesign i know guys who got their BBS RS custom converted from 16" or 17" up to 18" with custom barrel widths and lip widths , youre saying they found those laying around somewhere? As far as i know, BBS RS were made up to 17" , not including the "Super RS" which is a different center anyway.

There are manufacturer locally that does barrels that they source from.

gotcha

Even forged wheels crack. I think the catastrophic failure horror stories you hear about can be due to installation error. Some tips:

1. 25ish miles after you install new wheels, try re-torquing them back to 89 ft-lb spec. If you torque them to spec right when you install the wheels initially, the lug nuts can sometimes seat into the metal of the wheel compressing the metal at the lug holes and bringing the torque out of spec. After the lug holes are "broken in" from a few miles (25ish) of use, you're torque wrench might be able to get a few more turns til it clicks back to 89 ft-lbs. If you don't check for this, your wheels have a chance of eventually not being rigidly mated to the hub. Instead of impacts being absorbed where they should (at the wheel bearing, shocks, and chassis), impacts will transmit to the weak links first: lug holes where the lug nuts have loosened. This can cause hairline cracks and eventual catastrophic failure.

2. Use hubcentric centering rings. If the lug nuts loosen out of torque spec as described above, the wheel can slip off center then wobble into catastrophic failure. Centering rings might help keep the wheel centered to an extent. I say to an extent because the purpose of the centering ring is to aid in keeping the wheel centered during and for installation, not to hold the wheel centered after it's been installed and is already moving (that's the lug nuts' job).

You should question the validity of the above because I'm hypothesizing. But it's almost common sense and my 2 cents.