sm1ke

iTrader: (5)

I agree 100% on buying quality wheels. If you feel that you need the extra piece of mind, if your roads are beat to crap, or if you're just not confident in your driving ability to avoid potholes and curbs, buy quality, high strength wheels like Volk, Work, SSR, etc. I've owned a set of SSR Werfen GT-03s, and while they were pretty heavy (3-piece welded barrel), I never had any issues with them and never encountered any issues with them online. Easily the best wheels I've owned so far, but they were heavy, and the comfort level with 19s paired with crappy tires wasn't the best. Also I needed an excuse to switch wheels because one tire had a patch in it.

After realizing that I didn't actually need that high strength (because I'm pretty careful with my car), I looked into Varrstoen ES2s and made the switch this year. They are a very light cast wheel (which means the wheel is more likely to crack/deform when hitting a pothole, compared to the forged originals they are replicating), but so far I haven't had any issues with them. I have a daily 40km commute to and from work on lower quality streets (a few potholes, lots of uneven road seams), and just yesterday I took the car for a 300km trip to the US border and back with no issues.

I make no claims to defend Varrstoen as a company or defend the quality of their wheels. I know they're crap compared to the real thing. But I will buy what makes sense for me, and as long as these hold up in day to day traffic and on the highway, I have no complaints.

NYKnick101

Purchase wheels depending on your use of it. If you are buying it just for style to make your car a show queen, you can pretty much purchase any type of wheels you want. Low use means less chance of becoming a victim of the many breaks, cracks, etc you see.

If you plan on taking your car to the track here and there, budget in for some stronger quality, but affordable rims. A lot of broken rims that you see in these pictures all have untold stories behind them. Some people take them drifting and run into walls/curbs and with enough force it can break almost any wheel but some easier than others. When I go to the track, I ONLY use OEM wheels so that never really was an issue. But I have seen my fair share of broken OEM wheels at the track so remember anything is possible.

Also larger rims with smaller profile tires can result in easier cracking and stress against a wheel. That's where Vossen gets its reputation because so many people put 20's+ on their car with a stretched 25 profile which is not a lot of rubber between the wheel and the ground. (a stretched 25 is more like a 15 profile depending on the width of the tire) Thats why Vossen is sticking with their "Quality" wheel branding. A pothole big enough with enough force can take out any wheels to be honest. I had a jersey pothole blow a brand new 45 profile tire with enough to bend my OEM rim

All in all Quality depends on what ever it means to you. Ive had XXR wheel and never had any bend/dent on me (although the lips are very soft), I had a set of enkei's that did once but never cracked on me, I had a set of Work wheels that the hub broke out on me and took out my entire fender of my car. (I bought the set used from a 240sx owner who claims he never drifted with them). it all depends on what you plan on doing with them.

scott1256c

The individual experience is nearly meaningless when it comes to finding a dependable part. Under enough duress even high quality parts give way. Statistics do mean something in this situation. However keep in mind that the less expensive wheels will sell more units, so expect more failures. I'd also factor in that someone paying $200/corner is probably more willing to risk damaging a wheel than someone who pays $1000/corner, so I'd expect to see a higher failure rate on cheap rims vs. expensive, even if the quality was the same. Determining where that cutover is can be tricky.

When I was looking for something lightweight but inexpensive, I wound up going with Enkei. I wasn't sure I trusted the brands with anything less expensive. Enkei has a pretty good rep for the price.

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

scott, i guess you mean there is higher failure "number" (in integer number) on cheap rims than the expensive rims due to the assumptions that there are many more cheap rims available. However, the failure "rate" (in %) which is number of failure divided by total availability should convey the quality of the products if the sample size is large enough. For example, if there are 10,000 rims out there and 1000 failed, that is 10% failure rate while if there are only 100 rims out there, and 10 of them failed, that is also 10% failure rate. You see that the even though the failure number 1000 is way bigger than 10 but the failure rate is the same. The failure rate (the proportional percentage) should convey the quality and not the raw number.

I speculate that the failure rate on the less quality rims should be higher than the quality rims.

NYKnick101

the failure rate on less quality rims should be higher but its near impossible to really quantify the failures depending on what caused the failure. To the average user (at least to me), a wheel failure should be a wheel bending/stressing/cracking/breaking under normal wear and tear conditions. Normal wear and tear does not consist of drifting, auto-x, track, drag, and any off-road use since the average user would not do any of these. Although I do understand people DO use it for off road use, these conditions aren't considered "Normal" since not everyone drifts, auto-x, track, drag, and other off-road use.

If you eliminate all these variables, I guarantee you that this "quality" conversation would be WAY different and people would be all over the cheaper brands.

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

NYKnick101, you make very valid points. I would expand my speculation a bit further.

I speculate that the failure rate on the less quality rims should be higher than the quality rims under normal day driving including bad roads excluding accidents and off-road drifting, auto-x, track.

Off-road drifting, auto-x, track, but NO accident, less quality rims will show failure rate even higher than the quality rims because now rims are put in real test where quality shows.

scott1256c

I am well aware of what failure rate is. But the absolute number of people posting about failures on rims will be skewed based on the number sold. So finding lots of people posting about failures of rim brand "X' but not brand "Y" doesn't mean X is less reliable than Y. Correctly, failure rate is important, but you can't judge that based on the number of postings you see unless you know sales numbers as well. Similarly asking people what wheels are unreliable will be skewed based on the number of owners of particular rims, or what they have heard/read ... and on and on.

And as I mentioned you have to factor in who owns them and what they do with them. I'd think people who buy crappy rims are more likely to abuse them than people who buy more expensive rims, although I'm well aware of the pitfalls of making that assumption. But if people do abuse cheap rimsmore, then the failure rate for the cheap rims would increase, even if they were the same quality as the expensive ones.

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

Yeah, that make sense. Very nicely put too and I pretty much agree with your saying.

Knowing the big picture, how should you address the common question of "Should I buy X wheel"? And how would you respond to common answer like "Buy legit wheels" where the term legit seems to be so loosely defined by different individuals.

Need4Speed

remember any wheel can break

HRE to Rotas

all it takes is the right speed and point of impact nothing is indestructible.

what matters is also the service and warranty behind the wheel

NYKnick101

I couldn't agree more with the both of you. And I also feel the term "Legit" wheels is mostly based on price of wheels since I guess you have to be a "Baller" and spend 1 grand per wheel to be considered legit. I agree with scotts quote on people who buy the cheaper rims are more likely to abuse them than people who buy the expensive wheels. If i buy $150 each wheels, I know if i bend or break one, I can replace them easily with out breaking the bank.

Also there are a lot of people who claim to say buy "legit wheels" who have never had any major incident to make the claim to NOT buy cheaper brand wheels. Its just pics on the internet with out knowing the story behind the picture. Any wheel can break at any speed or impact

This is why I say know the direction you want to go with your car and then you can choose a wheel budget regardless of this legit/fake/what ever wheel talk I don't track my car on aftermarket wheels so I would be fine with XXR wheels for daily driving. They don't have a style i currently like but if they did I would get em.

Andrew@SonicMS

iTrader: (1)

Very much correct...

Anything will crack or bend, just know what you're putting the car through.

WheelDude.com

iTrader: (5)

We have 5 year finish warranty on all Linea Corse wheels, if you have an issue considered to be a manufacture defect, its covered for the life of the wheel, as long as you don't smack a curb at a high speed or drive over a big pothole

We can't warranty against road hazards, but if you have a problem with the finish or something related to a defect in the wheel, it will be covered by the manufacture warranty.

Also, to anyone saying it's a Rota, that is incorrect, Linea Corse is it's own brand, Rota and Linea Corse are 2 totally different companies, sold by 2 different distributors.

scott1256c

I really don't know how to answer that. I had three paragraphs typed out and erased them
Soliciting opinions is a reasonable place to start your research, which the OP did. I guess then you filter the opinions based on who/how they are written. I also did some searches for reliable/durable wheels etc., top 10 lists of those and tried to find manufacturers on several lists. But that is partly because reliability was important to me since I was looking for wheels lighter than the avg alloy wheel, and "light" and "durable" and "inexpensive" don't go together too well.

Batistuta

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like if a wheel cracked, I'd be SOL but my main concern are reports that I would not be able to purchase a replacement wheel, is that true? You only sell them by the set?

Andrew@SonicMS

iTrader: (1)

Incorrect. Linea Corse will sell replacement wheels by single pieces. That is never an issue if the wheel is in stock at the time.

From what Wheeldude seems to state, cracked wheels under warranty can occur after their inspection the wheel. "if you have an issue considered to be a manufacture defect, its covered for the life of the wheel, as long as you don't smack a curb at a high speed or drive over a big pothole" .