Wheels brand to avoid?
 

Hey everyone, Trying to find out what wheel brand should be avoided, I do see that some Reps wheels are pretty good in quality, so I don't want to cross all of them out. I already search the wheels sticky and section and couldn't find an answer, along with Google. Shopping around for some wheels/tires in the 18" size while trying to get a flush fit with Coils.

So what wheel brand that should be avoided?

Thanks!

Any knockoffs and all ebay brands if you ask me lol.

:popcorn:

I think it depends on your expectations.

If you expect a gravity cast replica wheel to be as durable or as light as the authentic forged wheel that it's copying, then you're going to have a bad time.

That said, I wouldn't bother with replicas, since Enkeis are cheap and durable enough.

make sure to get circular wheels, the triangle/square designs are pretty rough rides :cry:

I don't like Focal wheels.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i1...s/IMG_0312.jpg

Anything that has been "repaired" I would run away from also. Though used can be the way to go. I have had several sets of good used wheels.

Just buy rays/enkei/gramlights/ssr, and others I'm forgetting off the top of my head, and call it a day.

Any brad that is misspelled, probably fake.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...35cb92682e.jpg

There's a huge stigma that Reps will crack or break under all circumstances. My buddy who's a vendor for Vordovon sent me pics of Forme 9's that hit a huge dip and they're F***ED UP, but no bending, cracking, or breaks. That being said, you still can't expect durability and quality from all reps and shouldn't get too comfortable on them. XXRs are popular because they're affordable which means more people will buy them, which in turn, means you'll see more negative posts about them, but my coworker runs XXRs on his Stang and he's never had issues. Then again, Ambit Wheels had a huge post on them all over FB about how they broke on some guy's first track run with them (For those wondering, Jonathan Hurley posted the story and it was shared around.)

People are gonna say "Real wheels get damaged too!" well, they get damaged in different ways and under different circumstances. The only things I've seen happen to real wheels are bends and that's due to driving at high speeds/track/drift events and it's a bend, not a crack or break that could be catastrophic (though it isn't to say bends can't be.)

If you're looking for affordable wheels with good quality, definitely look into the above-mentioned brands such as Enkei, Gramlights, and Cosmis even.
Buy used to save a couple of hundred bucks!

I say stay with Steel wheels...They will never fail you and MANY MANY choices in hub caps. :thumbsup:

http://img10.deviantart.net/6b08/i/2...me-d3ci4pe.jpg


XXR Duaa

Reps are fine IF you aren't racing. You will sacrifice community credibility if that's your thing and you will sacrifice strength and weight. They won't spontaneously explode and if you happen to break one you're only out a couple hundred bucks. For DD they work fine as there are many thousands of cheap wheels on the road today and we aren't hearing about the genocide Rota and XXR wheels caused. If you are doing any racing at all... buy good wheels, research any brand you find interesting. Enkei is a great start. Kosei makes a couple really light ones in good quality but I don't think they make 18s

A guy in our group tracks on Rota Titans and they seem to be holding up to his abuse. But Rota is a separate class of reps, in my opinion.

There are tons of wheels out there. If you don't want to downgrade your stocks, look for pressure cast / tilt cast flow formed rim manufacturing process, or forged if you can afford it. Tirerack allows you to filter for this, so it's pretty easy. But they don't carry every mfg. the cheapest is gravity cast, they literally pour liquid metal in a mold and call it a day. Try to find wheels under 20 lbs, since that is the weight of the stock ones.

Have you ever watched how they make ninja swords? They keep folding the metal upon itself and hammering away. It makes it much stronger.

Yes, forged are strongest. Yes, MAT formed cast are stronger then gravity cast .. but it's not all there is to it. Price also can make important 'property' of wheel. For example Kosei K4R given their low weight and simple casting process might be not that strong and easy to damage .. but at $199 for wheel you can buy 3-4 sets of four of them for price of forged set and replace if broken many times over.