Rota wheels

[ApexHunter]

Yes, __it happens, but it seems to happen more with Rotas.

I'm glad your wheels are still intact. I had a buddy with some black subzeros on an '04 wrx wagon, and he never had any problems.

The other side of the coin is that i have heard/seen too many times of Rotas failing. I agree, any wheel could fail, but i hear about Rotas failing more than any other make.

Granted, there are probably more sets of Rota Boosts (wheel pictured) out there due to price/availability but i'm sure there are enough sets of the Advan RG2's Rota copied that if they were plagued with the same weaknesses that we would have heard about it by know, especially considering what they cost.

Like others have said, I suspect it is due to replicating a design that uses a superior manufacturing technique, without replicating that manufacturing technique.

It's just not worth the risk IMHO.

 

[HHIVR4]

I can understand the pof when it comes to thin spoked wheels..Obviously a copy of a 12 spoke forged wheel vs a 12 spoke cast wheel of the same design is going to have its downfalls.

 

[ApexHunter]

^Not sure if you were talking about the Advan RG2/Rota Boost but FWIW those Advans are also cast. I think it just comes down to quality control and manufacturing process.

 

[HHIVR4]

I was refering to Rota.Arent they made in Malaysia?

 

[ApexHunter]

^Philippines.

 

[ApexHunter]

Quoting boostforfun:
I dunno, but I have drag raced, auto-X'ed, and street driven my subzero's and have had no problems whatsoever. Not sure if you had a fluke wheel or what. Here is a pic of a broken factory wheel, which are designed to take a beating. one pic of a failed wheel does not constitute a bad company.




Any wheel is subject to break given the right conditions. I just hear/see Rotas breaking more than others. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

Just for the record, the pics were not mine. I found them on the link at the top of this thread. click

 

Ok, if I go to buy another set of wheels, which should I be buying to get the strongest for dollar amount.
Not being a smart-arse here, I really want to know.

Just incase the Rota's do crap out, although I doubt they will.

 

[ApexHunter]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif
I honestly couldn't tell you what wheels would get you the most strenth for your dollar. Rally wheels?
Best bet when buying any wheel would be to get something from a reputable manufacturer.

 

and the reputable manufacturers would be???

 

Enkei (they make Advans and AME wheels amongst others)Work, SSR, Rays (Volks, ROJA, Gram Lights), BBS, OZ Racing, 5Zigen, Racing Hart, HRE, American Racing, Fikse, ROH and Dymag to name a few.

The primary difference between the brands I listed and Rota is that some of the wheels listed are OE suppliers, F1 suppliers etc. and have quality standards that they have to adhere to, Rota doesn't. Yes there are lots of people with them that have no issues, but there is a big difference between a cast wheel made by Enkei and one made by Rota. I'm not saying that you shouldn't buy Rota's because they do have their place in the market, just so long as you're aware that there is a difference.

Daryl

 

[ApexHunter]

First i want to say that i hope i didn't offend anyone with anything i posted in this thread. That was not my intention. If i did, i apologize. I only wanted to share my opinion, with the intention of helping people.

In response to your last post boostforfun, there are a lot of manufacturers out there who make high quality wheels. It would take some time to compile a thorough list. I'll name some, but what i would recommend doing is find some wheels that fit your needs and do some research on the web and use other people's experience as a screening process.

Some manufacturers who make high quality wheels:

CCW; Technomagnesio; Dymag; I-Forged; Forgeline; HRE; Rays Engineering; Yokohama; BBS; Blitz (although i'm not sure if they make manufacture their own wheel or if they have someone else make it for them); Team Dynamics; Racing Hart; AME; Weds; SSR; Desmond; Bridgestone; Work; Enkei; RS Watanabe; Speedline; GAB; Riken; Ronal; Racing Sparco; ATS; Dunlop; Prodrive; Panasport; PIAA; Kosei; Veilside; Kinesis; Borbet; 5-Zigen; Longchamp; Black Racing; Impul; Kakimoto

I made this list partly by memory, and largely from a few websites who consistently carry wheels i consider to be of high quality. I can't help looking at these sites from time to time as they usually have a lot of nice stuff, even though i can't really afford any of it right now. Although someday i will make my gvr4 very happy with some sweet shoes..... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
click RB Wheels
click Panda Garage
click ICB Motorsport

Hope that helps.

EDIT: Darn it looks like Daryl beat me to it, as i spent a while on this post. But our lists are a little different. He has a few i don't have and vice versa.

 

[JSchleim18]

My take on buying Rotas:

Wheel companies are going to manufacturer their products up to the price they want to spend. Keeping wheels up to a certain quality standard requires money. Rota will cut down on some of those extra costs to keep the price down. I respect them as a company because they are making a lot of money. It's a cheap wheel that seems to do very well. And to be honest, I'm sure there are A LOT more Rotas out there than the other brands. I'd rather see a percentage of wheels used that have failed versus ones that have not failed.

It's all in the risk you take as a consumer. You get what you pay for. Some people are just luckier than others.

I will personally never buy a set because there are far more choices out there IMO.

 

[iLLeffeKt vr-4]

Quoting vr4underboost:
Enkei (they make Advans and AME wheels amongst others)Work, SSR, Rays (Volks, ROJA, Gram Lights), BBS, OZ Racing, 5Zigen, Racing Hart, HRE, American Racing, Fikse, ROH and Dymag to name a few.



The problem with the wheel manufacturers you listed is that some are very expensive. In some cases a set of those rims will cost more than most cars on this and other boards. Everyone wants light weight, strong rims made by a reputable manufacturer but no one wants to pay for them.

 

[Sr71sss]

I remember that pic, it was on the subaru board a few years ago and from what I remember rota rep decided to help the guy every which way so as not suffer anymore bad PR, yes they are made in the philippines and for the record I'm filipino and I don't even trust what comes from the motherland as I have seen many things they were not up to standards, ok others flips let the bashing begin /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif

Lets just say some standards just don't measure up and I'm use to that since I have seen many things that i would not trust but on the other hand there are some great craftsmen there also working for peanutes /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bawling.gif

There have been more failures with rotas than any other wheel manufacturer here and it comes to no surprise-just be aware of the problems and make a educated purchase /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[streetmasters]

When rotas first came out their biggest hit were thw spoon sports copy. Ricers couldn't spend the 3000 to get these wheels from japan so they bought these cheap 500 wheels to look like they had spoon wheels.

I made a lot of money selling these rice wheels..

My opinion: rota = rice 100%
U take the center cap off and u feel good...

Stay with stock until u can afford to get the real deal or buy used on ebay...

These wheels are cheap ass chinese imitation and are made to look good, not for the serious tuner.

Like I said, I made a lot of money selling this rice sh*t to people.. The real tuners bought rays, spoon, etc. Top quality. If u just want the look then buy "rota" and do this dance next to them /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banana

 

Wow... im glad you graced us with your holy wheel presence... There have been a ton of people that have had great luck with Rota's, so get off your high horse. Just because something costs 6 times the money doesn't mean its 6 times the quality.

If that were the case, we would all be driving 30k cars instead of GVR-4s because they have to be better (since they are more expensive.)

Whatever happened to finding the best deal at a reasonable price, and turning our underdog cars into something that will walk a 30k evo or STi anytime.

 

[Andy_S]

Everyone who bought rotas died.

 

Cool, i kinda always had that 6th sense kinda thing goin on... I though I was dead, but didn't know it for sure.... and it all happened when I got my Rota's....

Stupid wheels killed me... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[streetmasters]

^^^ we are driving 30,000 cars!! A subie will cost 4k in ten years..will they be calling themselves underdog's



Its just that I have seen and compared great quality to "ok" quality

Our cars are not underdog cars.. They cost 26k brand new in 1992.. With inflation and purchasing power of the dollar back then this car would have cost well over 30k today! So if u were to buy this car brand new in 1991 or 92 would you put on a fresh set of rotas?? Just me personally I would rather wait to get something with better quality that is used then get rotas... Not tryin to knock the way they look or anything... Just my prefrence and choice from experience with cars since I started in 96

Sry to offend /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[H05TYL]

Quoting Aspod:
Everyone who bought rotas will die.



edited for truth