Work Vs. Drag wheels
 

So I was looking at these two wheels and I can barely tell the difference between the two wheels except the color and one is concave than the other. The Drag wheels are about $300 less though. I saw them on discounttires.com. Anyone here heard of the brand? They weigh about the same.
http://www.elementwheels.com/prodimages/drag-dr31bz.jpghttp://easybid.files.wordpress.com/2.../workcrkai.jpg

Looks like a pretty good replica of the emotion wheels. I've heard of them but not that specific wheel. Probably similar to the rota torques. But that's just my guess...

heard of Drag Wheels before as a cheap cheap brand for wheels.

Look pretty nice but close up they don't have the nicest finish IMO.

Heard and seen the same. But seen others with better luck so it may have just been a run that was bad. If you order them through a shop be sure to check all of them in the shop and see if you can exchange any that aren't to your liking.

Yeah I was thinking about it. They were on discounttires.com.Might check at the local retail outlet to see if they have it stock. Wish they were tad lighter though. But for $150 a piece it just seems too good to be true.

Daily driving probably wont matter but if you plan on taking it to the track I would assume the Drags wont be able to handle the stresses put on them.

WORK wheels = JWL, VIA standard compliance

ROTA, DRAG, = non

BIG BIG differences, could mean ur life.

Of course nothing beat rocking the real thing vs a replica.

Mark.

WORK > DRAG

You're wrong, get you facts right. :laughabove:

ROTA is JWL, VIA and ISO9001 standard. Rota has been making wheels since 1976, and also sub-contracted for Enkei, and now OWNS Enkei.

Rota Torques (and any Rota for that matter) are the same manufacturing specs as the CR kai or any cast processed Work wheels. Don't bring your real thing vs. replica ignorance here. Keep it in Honda-Tech.

I own some DR-17's on my 3000GT and i autocross with them from time to time. About 2-3 events a year. Had em for maybe 4-5 years? They look almost identical to the FN01RC's. But MUCH cheaper.

https://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._5601123_n.jpg

This is very true. Also, they're heavier and potentially weaker than the Works. On top of that, they're a rip-off of Works hard work. Someone at work came up with that design, then Work Wheels had to engineer that design and test it to make sure it was safe. All Drag did was buy 1 Work wheel and copy it.

My friend has the exact same Drag wheels on her eclipse and shes had it for 4 years and she never had any issues with it but she only DD her car.

1st off, JWL certs mean nothing to me, since it's a self certification. I could make a wheel out of Play Doh and stamp it with JWL and it's JWL certified. ISO9001 doesn't mean much to me either, since the ISO folks just do an inspection of the manufacturing facilities, not the product. All this means is that on their best day, that factory does it right. These certifications have to be taken with a grain of salt, and I always look at them while also keeping in mind the type of culture that the manufacturer has.

VIA certs hold a lot more weight, and the fact that Rota has those does mean that they've been deemed safe for road use by the Japanese gov't. This thread isn't about Rotas though, it's about Drag wheels.

Would you mind sharing your info/source on the rota owning Enkei thing? I've never heard that.

I think its time to bust a cap in another rota!

Also iso just means they can trace the materials back to the source in case there is a problem.

Bingo. ISO certs are certifications for the manufacturing process, NOT the end result.

are the certifications done per product or per company?

i googled it looking to find some info and it returned a few product pages for drag wheels that say they are both JWL and VIA certified. Are these retailers incorrect?

http://www.ks-customs.com/products/D...2d26-15X7.html

http://www.ks-customs.com/products/D...2d16-16x7.html

http://www.hondawerkz.com/products.php?product=Drag-Wheels-DR%252d19-15%2C16%2C17%2C18%22--Black-{47}-Gunmetal-{47}-Silver-Rim

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...tion_standards

All the info right here.

For JWL/VIA, each wheel has to be tested in order to receive the stamp. In a related but slightly different topic, JWL stamps are similar to the DOT stamps on motorcycle helmets. DOT is a self-certification on helmets for the US market. Take a look here for info straight for the horses mouth http://www.jwtc.jp/open/html/e/index.html

Certification
ISO does not itself certify organizations. Numerous certification bodies exist, which audit organizations and, upon success, issue ISO 9001 compliance certificates. Although commonly referred to as 'ISO 9000' certification, the actual standard to which an organization's quality management system can be certified is ISO 9001:2008. Many countries have formed accreditation bodies to authorize ("accredit") the certification bodies. Both the accreditation bodies and the certification bodies charge fees for their services. The various accreditation bodies have mutual agreements with each other to ensure that certificates issued by one of the Accredited Certification Bodies (CB) are accepted worldwide. Certification bodies themselves operate under another quality standard, ISO/IEC 17021,[28] while accreditation bodies operate under ISO/IEC 17011.[29]
An organization applying for ISO 9001 certification is audited based on an extensive sample of its sites, functions, products, services and processes. The auditor presents a list of problems (defined as "nonconformities", "observations" or "opportunities for improvement") to management. If there are no major nonconformities, the certification body will issue a certificate. Where major nonconformities are identified, the organization will present an improvement plan to the certification body (e.g. corrective action reports showing how the problems will be resolved); once the certification body is satisfied that the organisation has carried out sufficent corrective action, it will issue a certificate. The certificate is limited by a certain scope (e.g. production of golf balls) and will display the addresses to which the certificate refers.
An ISO 9001 certificate is not a once-and-for-all award, but must be renewed at regular intervals recommended by the certification body, usually once every three years. There are no grades of competence within ISO 9001: either a company is certified (meaning that it is committed to the method and model of quality management described in the standard) or it is not. In this respect, ISO 9001 certification contrasts with measurement-based quality systems such as the Capability Maturity Model.

This is what I do not understand. You might save a few $$ buying the wheels. But when the wheel breaks, You will end up with x4 the amount saved in damages to the car. And if people freak out about some random vandalism or a shopping cart hitting their car. But yet still try and save a buck on wheels.
When the car breaks down you pull over to the side of the road. When your rim breaks, That is a whole other problem. If it happens on a busy freeway, This could put you and other drivers at risk.

No wheel is perfect. But I do like to put the odds in my favor when I can make a choice.

This doesn't answer my question though? So some wheels can be but others maybe not?

get the works.

Can anyone actually provide me with links or sources showing that Drags fail more than other wheels, are poor quality, or even are not JWL or VIA certified? I cant find anything. I've owned mine for a while and love them.

vividracing, you makes it sound like I'm in danger having them on my car right now. Can you elaborate on what makes them dangerous, you seem to know what your talking about.

this pretty much applies to drag and rota too...

https://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos...83075936_n.jpg

It's easy to do a Google search and find broken wheels though. Now go find the picture of the BMW with Varrstoen wheels that fell off the cliff and all four were intact. I know I've posted it here somewhere. All sorts of OEM wheels break as well. Does that mean they're all terrible and anyone who buys a car should immediately swap out for something different?

People should just buy what they want, what fits their budget, and be happy with the purchase. There will always be someone out there to tell you that you're wrong. Very often it becomes extremely elitist, almost in a "nyah nyah I have them but you don't" sense.

There's two kind of people who does this Rota hate thing, someone with low self esteem and trying to fit in and people that are trying to sell you some overpriced wheels.

I'd rather buy a new set of Rotas than spend a lot of money on some overpriced used rims "just to fit in".

... don't forget the people who saw a mate's R32 twist the centres out of its Rotas, I have never seen stock alloys fail like those did, with the exception of some seriously old and corroded Personals from an Alfa.

EDIT; Keep in mind, I'm not saying that they're better or worse or that they weren't just a bad batch, but I saw those Grids fail hardcore. Left rear failed on one spoke, right just failed twisted out of shape.

Wow. Jumping to name calling now? There is a lot of good points in this thread. Lots of good information as well. Then you come in here all mighty defender of all things Rota.
You really do need to chill out bud.

Rotas are very popular in Japan and I personally never saw Rotas broken in 2. Also look at MB Wheels at Discount Tire, they are pretty much "FinalSpeed" wheels from Japan. Unless you are doing actual Track duty or trying to win trophies, Volk, Works, Advan arent worht it.....I've learned that over the years.....

Pretty much. Although, usually if a company is certifying one wheel they'll do them all. The initial cost is the hurdle. Once they're set up to certify 1 wheel, it's not a huge expense to do the rest of their product line.

Basically, the company has to buy/lease the testing equipment and then VIA comes in and certifies the equipment. The manufacturer has to pay almost 300k JPY (Japanese Yen) for this if they make their wheels outside of Japan. It's like 150k if they're in Japan. Then, they can test their wheels and if they pass, they stamp them JWL. Or they could be shady and just stamp them.

Then, in order to sell them in Japan they have to give the wheels to VIA who does their own testing. If it passes, the wheels can wear the VIA stamp and be sold in Japan.

If the wheels are never being sold in Japan, they could theoretically just stamp them without testing. I haven't seen any evidence of anyone doing this yet, though/

Maybe I was unclear. I didn't mean to imply that Drags are unsafe 100%. I meant that they could be. That's why I said "potentially weaker." I'll admit, that's an assumption on my part. I've only had personal experience w/ a Rota cracking. No other wheels. The one thing I can say for sure about Drags is that the finish isn't as nice as higher end wheels, and they're a bit heavier. Also, for the designs that are based on a forged wheel, the cast version from Drag will be weaker. Cast wheels are fine though as long as the manufacturer has good quality control.

I've done some research and from what it looks like, Drag wheels are made in Taiwan. Based on the fact that I haven't seen any Drags fail unexpectedly, I'd consider them safe. Don't worry about driving your Mitsu :)

chill out man, or you'll have mods applying infractions to your account in no time.

VR - Thanks for the info. Easy to get duped on wheels if you don't have your facts.

Wow this thread spiraled out of control didn't it?

I've run Works, Drags, and Rotas. If you can afford the real deal, do it. They hold resale value better when you get bored of them.

I've tracked and autoX'd on all of them and they are all quality. I personally find the price premium tough to take when buying real Works since they are cast just like the Drags and Rotas. If they were forged it would be worth the extra cash.

You cant go wrong with any of those brands honestly. The wheel design plays more into the wheel strength than anything when comparing same-process wheels. I've never cracked any of them but it's possible with any obviously.

Google is a BAD comparison. Their slogan is a joke considering how much of peoples information they steal. Hopefully everyone got your point though.

I'd like to see this as well.


I don't feel like vivid needed this hostility though, that's a little uncalled for...



On the topic at hand, to each his own. Rota sells TONS of wheels to the WRX community, they are okay wheels. I think the "ROTAS ARE WEAK AND BREAK" argument needs to just die already. This is 2012, not 2002. ROTA is a very different company now, and wouldn't be so successful if they had so many issues. The ethics are what vivid is talking about at this point, and I understand the copying being sucky. I think once something is successful in ANY industry someone tries to hop on the bandwagon.

Look at smartphones and PCs. Everyone is trying to figure out how Apple has so much success, and at this point even HP as stooped to copying the design of the Macbook Air in an attempt to get some more users looking for simply that aesthetic design, and not necessarily concerned with the rest of the computer.

The thing is, at the end of the day, real Volks, Rays, Weds, Advans, etc are very apparent. The copies never look as good, and never hold up as well. However, they are an investment. When spending that kind of money you want to make sure your choice makes sense. I'm personally considering a set of grids to roll around on until I decide on my final set of "big boy" wheels. I think the grids would look good on the car, and I'm not afraid to accidentally rub them against a curb.

Weds are likely going to be getting my money in the next 6 months once I finally decide on the setup I want to do. Rota and Enkei are also likely going to get my money since Enkei makes some of the best track wheels you can get, and I can get the Rota's next week instead of in 60+ days. If I'm dropping 2k for a set of wheels I won't settle on anything other than exactly what I want, and so far no-one has that yet.

watch out for Weds: the finish on their wheels scratches easy and aren't easy to touch up to match the original finish.

Here's an example of a cracked legit Work Emotion. See? It can happen even to premium brands.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...rackedwork.jpg

But they look so good!

Ask Vivid, Enjuku, RavSpec, Evasive. I've been PMing all of them to get prices and dates to understand how much I'd need to spend, and when I'd get to have the wheels while I research. All of them have been super helpful, and I appreciate them taking the time to talk to someone to just help me understand what to expect.


Also this thread is all about the ROTAs:
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=298289

Hmmm. ok.


Ya, my wheels weigh just about the same as the comparative FN01RC's. And they were much cheaper and i love how they look on my car.



Thanks for your help.

Thanks for mentioning us :)

We're always here to help.

You're welcome. With cast wheels, you'll probably find that the Drags are close in weight. The difference becomes apparent when you start comparing Drag (or any other cast replica) to the higher end forged motorsports wheels.

Definitely. The major difference is how drastic the failure is, and what caused it.

Like I said in the Rota thread... I had a Rota crack under normal use; but I've got several friends that beat the crap out of Rotas on the track and have no problems.

Do you have a photo of the whole wheel? As of right now we have no idea how it broke.



Rotas do have thier place. Personal budget and taste. It lets the guy without a budget get into some wheels for his car. As for this thread. Id take the works. They are less weight. And i think they take more pride in their work.

I really dont like these vs threads. They dont do much but turn into a mess. We are all enthusiasts we should all keep that in mind. We are joined here because we all have the same sickness.

Budget doesn't always matter. I have owned Volks, forged 5Zigens and Rota's at the same exact time. I still run Rota's, but the 5Zigens and Volks have been sold, I got no additional benefit from them that I could tell. That's not to say that they are bad, they just didn't do anything for me and I instead spent the money from selling them on parts that did :)

I agree on needing a full pic of that work wheel, that's the same strategy many rota haters use, just post the cracked/broken spoke and ignore the massive damage to the rim from the car slamming into a curb at 80mph..