Why are Champion wheels so expensive?
#46
10-30-2007, 05:47 PM
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#47
11-05-2007, 12:05 PM
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Champion wheels are priced well I think. They are all lightweight 1 piece aluminum wheels that are forged under 8,000 tons of pressure. The finished product is flawless and when you pick one up, it will amaze you how light they are.
#48
11-20-2011, 10:02 AM
Made in Japan.,don;t know the contractor thou.
I wonder where do Champion wheels come from exactly. At first I believed Champion wheels were what we used to know as Speedline wheels yet Speedline was purchased by Amcast and since then I haven't heard of the Speedline name yet there are some "Corse" versions for racing vehicles looks like mostly rally racing and other applications:
http://www.speedlinecorse.co.uk/
As far as Porsche specific wheels go there are many prices:
TSW/Victor equipment are realtively cheap. My bottom line as far as cheap wheels go is TSW, well built in South Africa with virgin aluminum and euro designs:
http://tsw.com/
http://www.victorequipmentwheels.com/
not very agressive offsets though
BBS also offers what I would call the classic design and unquestionable quality, yes I know some VW BBS wheels were claimed to fail, yet I still have my doubts. I wish the offer their race line for the strret I love the ones Manthay use, yet not available in the USA, I could be wrong:
http://www.bbs-usa.com/
BBS also makes the TechArt Formula using a special forging process.
OZ wheels, named after their creators Silavo Aselladore and Pietro Zen are built in Italy from their own mill.
http://www.ozracing.com/
strong, light, with respectful designs, plus, they build many tuner wheels.
RH wheels an unused brand in the states makes reasonable wheels with applications for Porsche. Gemaballa re-brands RH wheels as their own in some cases, but they also use an Italian manufacturer, Mille Miglia I believe, could be wrong. Anyway RH here:
http://www.rh-alurad.de/
CEC announced a new Antera for Porsche. Antera wheels used to be built in Italy but I believe the moved to Geramany. Nice wheels, revolutionary designs in the 90's
http://www.antera.de/
Some wheels I love for Porsche are Sportec, here
http://www.sportec.ch/
Cargraphics are nice too...
http://www.cargraphic.de/
and many others like the American made Fikse and HRE offer tremendous performance.
But why are Champions so expensive? Must be marketing channel becuse at the rate these guys build 'em they well amortize the molds and forging process which are the two most expensive parts of the process, everything else, like design, packing and shipping are an ongoing thing in the industry for large wheel factories or mills. Smaller companies, that do forged and size/offset specific wheels have more of a problem in the fabrication and distribution sector thus more expensive.
Don't worry you have choices, look after the sponsors at the side bar...
www.wheelsexperts.com are an option, Peter knows his wheels well and even can come up with something special...
like the Rinspeed http://www.rinspeed.ch/
or phletora of custom forged wheels in a myriad of finishes,
right Peter
absolutely no affiliation to Peter or wheelexperts, just mentioning a reliable source for me, ok.
More on wheels? PM
http://www.speedlinecorse.co.uk/
As far as Porsche specific wheels go there are many prices:
TSW/Victor equipment are realtively cheap. My bottom line as far as cheap wheels go is TSW, well built in South Africa with virgin aluminum and euro designs:
http://tsw.com/
http://www.victorequipmentwheels.com/
not very agressive offsets though
BBS also offers what I would call the classic design and unquestionable quality, yes I know some VW BBS wheels were claimed to fail, yet I still have my doubts. I wish the offer their race line for the strret I love the ones Manthay use, yet not available in the USA, I could be wrong:
http://www.bbs-usa.com/
BBS also makes the TechArt Formula using a special forging process.
OZ wheels, named after their creators Silavo Aselladore and Pietro Zen are built in Italy from their own mill.
http://www.ozracing.com/
strong, light, with respectful designs, plus, they build many tuner wheels.
RH wheels an unused brand in the states makes reasonable wheels with applications for Porsche. Gemaballa re-brands RH wheels as their own in some cases, but they also use an Italian manufacturer, Mille Miglia I believe, could be wrong. Anyway RH here:
http://www.rh-alurad.de/
CEC announced a new Antera for Porsche. Antera wheels used to be built in Italy but I believe the moved to Geramany. Nice wheels, revolutionary designs in the 90's
http://www.antera.de/
Some wheels I love for Porsche are Sportec, here
http://www.sportec.ch/
Cargraphics are nice too...
http://www.cargraphic.de/
and many others like the American made Fikse and HRE offer tremendous performance.
But why are Champions so expensive? Must be marketing channel becuse at the rate these guys build 'em they well amortize the molds and forging process which are the two most expensive parts of the process, everything else, like design, packing and shipping are an ongoing thing in the industry for large wheel factories or mills. Smaller companies, that do forged and size/offset specific wheels have more of a problem in the fabrication and distribution sector thus more expensive.
Don't worry you have choices, look after the sponsors at the side bar...
www.wheelsexperts.com are an option, Peter knows his wheels well and even can come up with something special...
like the Rinspeed http://www.rinspeed.ch/
or phletora of custom forged wheels in a myriad of finishes,
right Peter
absolutely no affiliation to Peter or wheelexperts, just mentioning a reliable source for me, ok.
More on wheels? PM
#49
11-20-2011, 10:15 AM
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#51
11-20-2011, 10:50 AM
You're right that they are indeed forged in Japan. In the early 2000s when JPY was weak and the dollar was strong, the price was not as prohibitive as they are now. With the exchange currently in the 1 USD to 7X JPY range, these wheels have gotten substantially more expensive.
The Champion Wheels are forged by Tan-Ei-Sya 鍛栄社. You can tell by the distinct sticker design on the wheel box. You can see the same stickers on Neez and RAC wheels. I had a chance to visit their factory ca. 2004-5 and it was an impressive facility. They also forged rims for F1 and all the BBS forged rims except for FI.
The Champion Wheels are forged by Tan-Ei-Sya 鍛栄社. You can tell by the distinct sticker design on the wheel box. You can see the same stickers on Neez and RAC wheels. I had a chance to visit their factory ca. 2004-5 and it was an impressive facility. They also forged rims for F1 and all the BBS forged rims except for FI.
Last edited by K-E-V; 11-20-2011 at 10:56 AM.
#52
11-20-2011, 12:16 PM
Great to know who actually make my wheels (RS184's),thanks much for the info.,cheers.
You're right that they are indeed forged in Japan. In the early 2000s when JPY was weak and the dollar was strong, the price was not as prohibitive as they are now. With the exchange currently in the 1 USD to 7X JPY range, these wheels have gotten substantially more expensive.
The Champion Wheels are forged by Tan-Ei-Sya 鍛栄社. You can tell by the distinct sticker design on the wheel box. You can see the same stickers on Neez and RAC wheels. I had a chance to visit their factory ca. 2004-5 and it was an impressive facility. They also forged rims for F1 and all the BBS forged rims except for FI.
The Champion Wheels are forged by Tan-Ei-Sya 鍛栄社. You can tell by the distinct sticker design on the wheel box. You can see the same stickers on Neez and RAC wheels. I had a chance to visit their factory ca. 2004-5 and it was an impressive facility. They also forged rims for F1 and all the BBS forged rims except for FI.
#54
11-20-2011, 12:40 PM
I just saw these on a GMG WC 996 GT2. I think I must have these.
#55
11-20-2011, 01:44 PM
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Sorry guys. It just seemed a little unusual at first, but have probably done something similar myself in the past. And yes, if the topic is still relevant, there is no problem.
#57
11-21-2011, 06:40 PM
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#58
11-22-2011, 07:51 AM
Former Vendor
The Champion Wheels are forged by Tan-Ei-Sya 鍛栄社. You can tell by the distinct sticker design on the wheel box. You can see the same stickers on Neez and RAC wheels. I had a chance to visit their factory ca. 2004-5 and it was an impressive facility. They also forged rims for F1 and all the BBS forged rims except for FI.
Why do we do this? Simply put, because no other company out there has the forgings to accomplish what we can with our wheels. For example, 1 piece fully forged 19 pound wheels with a polished 3 inch lip. Reverse drop-centers to eliminate standing water issues. Our incredible relationship with TanEiSya has been long standing because they are unlike any wheel manufacturer in the world.
When you compare our wheels to other wheels that I consider of equal quality and finish (such as HRE, BBS), the pricing is pretty much the same. Shoot nowadays, there are companies out there selling heavy 3 piece wheels for $8000 per set. Compared to that our wheels are a bargain!
Hopefully that cleared some things up
#60
11-22-2011, 11:40 AM
Former Vendor