+1 Car looks Nice! Anyone can contact for Rennen Forged Wheels similar to Fly 996! One Piece forged monoblocks which weigh from 19-23 lbs. Phenomenal option for dropping unsprung weight for better performance.

 

HRE - I sell
BBS - I sell
OZ - I sell
CCW
Fikse
Champion

If I was looking at forged wheels, these would all I would be looking at. OZ and BBS have been doing it longest and still do a great job. Take a walk down pit row at an F1 or Indy race. All you see is BBS and OZ. The "other" companies listed do great as well because they not only keep in mind the appearance of course, but they are mindful of how they are designed and who they buy their forgings from. There's OK suppliers, and then there is military-quality suppliers. Few are. I don't know who Fikse, CCW, and Champion buy forgings from, but HRE's supplier is the best there is. You combine that with Guy's technical knowledge and his attention to function first and form second when designing, THEN you get a great wheel. Fikse, CCW, and Champion I have rarely heard bad things about as well. Just do your homework. Ask them what the material is. Ask them what the load rating is. Ask them what the approvals are. What's the structural warranty? Finish warranty? Lots of wheel makers throw blanks in a mill. Few do it right and then STAND BEHIND THEM.

 

Damon, very good points indeed.

However, even BBS & OZ outsource/purchase their forgings for F1 wheels and I can tell you they don't come from HRE's forging supplier. Don’t forget RAYS and Enkei wheels. Both have produced F1 wheels recently and RAYS know supplies Porsche Cup cars and the ALMS BMW cars.

From my experience, in this industry, you can have the latest in wheel design & technology, but if you can't deliver in a timely manner and follow through with great customer service it doesn't do anyone a bit of good.


Karmavore:

When I hear of folks waiting over 6-weeks for wheels to be built and even longer, I fear that the wheel company is using their deposit for everything but building your wheels, like: paying vendors for work already completed, buying material, payroll, etc. I would suggest getting your money back and if you have trouble contact your credit card company.

We've seen a few wheel manufacturers, both very big and small, hit very hard economic times over the last several years and probably will see a few more. Please use caution and ask enough questions until you feel comfortable making the purchase.

Good Luck!

 

You're missing a few on your list....Forgeline makes very high quality wheels and so does OZ. Forgeline are priced very good right now.

 

I forgot about Rays. They are produced by Mackin Industries. BBS, OZ, and Mackin from what I know are about the only three that hold all of their manufacturing in-house. BBS may use other vendors for race wheels, but for street wheels the forging and flow/forming production is still done in either their German or Japanese facilities. Obviously a 3-story, 5000-8000 ton forge press is not a small investment and BBS, OZ, and Mackin still own their own. The important thing to keep in mind here is this: You don't HAVE to own your own press to produce a great forged wheel. But you DO have to know where to find top quality forgings and you DO have to have the knowledge to mill those forgings into a high quality, safe and strong finished product. The companies I listed above do.

 

The REAL problem is that there are no standards for wheels in the US like there are in other counties (TUV, etc). The libertarian in me is OK with this, but as a guy that drives on the highways I think it might be a good idea....

Anyway, I'm not at all happy with what I'm going through getting my wheels, but I really like the style and I think in the end they will be plenty high quality for what I'm doing with them.

 

I agree, this is a big issue. What's worse is we know this and we keep spending thousands on these wheels. They bend or break and we just replace them. Out of our own pocket....because these companies say it's not their fault they sold you a wheel with no standards that can't hold up to daily wear and tear. Would we accept an oem wheel that couldn't handle daily wear? Nope.
Well, let me stop my rant because I could go on and on with issues I've had over the years.
It's funny, the cheaper one piece cast that we used back in the day never had problems....but we rag on people who buy them. claiming they inhibit performance when very few people ever see a track.
When I find the 1 piece cast that has the look I want, I'm going back where I started.

 

There are some manufactures that TUV some of their wheels so they can legally be used in Germany. I know Rotiform's very popular cast BLQ is TuV approved.

 

+1. I was about to say the same thing.

 

When it comes to testing, the impact test is the one that makes the difference. Most companies don't any testing, especially impact testing. The test sheets some companies are publishing is showing a rotary test which is a cornering test, where the load applied, is the load of the machine, not the wheel load. The wheel load is calculated by the rolling radius which has to include the tire profile size. A wheel that sees a 2500lb machine load may only translate to a 1500lbs wheel load depending on the tire profile. See if can get ANY wheel company to share impact test data with you and you can determine if you have a high quality wheel. This is for you guys in the north-east, the streets over are like 4X'ing compared to Cali roads. I've driven fast in many places and I feel fa ya...The best thing is to drop down your wheel diameter in exchange for a taller tire profile and the wheel will last longer. Sad truth!

 

Memnon, all of our test reports are located on our website under the wheel section. We also performed two impact tests. (1) is the standard hit to the outer rim with a tire on it and (2) an additional impact which hits the outer most part of the inner rim with a tire on it. This test is required in Europe, but not in N. America. The test lab measured less than 1mm of deflection with over a 1200lb hit to our RAD10 18" Club Sport wheel.

When we submit a wheel for testing, to an independent test lab, we perform a total of four tests. Radial and Cornering fatigue, Lateral and Inner Rim Impact test. To pass this testing we can submit a new "Fresh" wheel for each test. We submit one wheel to endure all four tests.

I have a set of 9.0X19 RAD10 wheels on my VW CC here in the Detroit area. Our roads are the worst I've ever seen and I'm originally from Seattle. After 4-months the wheels are still good, except for some curb rash, thanks to my lovely wife...

 

Travis, thanks for the reply. The post should help you sell more wheels. Sounds like you're trying to set yourself apart from the rest of the wheel companies. I'm not your salesman but

" Who's making quality forged wheels these days?" Formula 43

 

HRE Wheels felt that the TUV certification was very important to the manufacturing of quality wheels. Not only do we have some of our most popular wheels TUV certificated, we had our facility TUV certificated. This guarantees every wheel that leaves our facility is manufactured to the same high standard. This is a very intensive certification and we are proud of it.



You can look up our certification number and read more about TUV at their website. http://www.tuv.com/global/en/tuev_rh...de.html?auto=1

 

Hre & Ccw. i think they have the best wheels on the market. They both have amazing and VERY good QUALITY wheel. my first choice would be HRE!