Interesting read on "cheap" wheels.
 

http://custompinoyrides.com/2012/03/...f-rota-wheels/


Not stating any personal opinions one way or the other. I admit Im a bit of a "wheel snob", and have owned CCWs, enkei, volk, AME, etc.. and spent a ton of money in the process. But, I was never one to think there were any inherent safety issues with a "lesser" wheel.

good article... cheap wheels have their place, and so do high end wheels.... but their safety and performance are a lot closer than most people think.

my XXRs on my RX7 have been bashed around the dragon at DGRR with no issues, but my friends new ADVs he put on his lambo were defective... and cost 10-15x more.

$ does not always equal quality

I may have missed it, but, does he list any sources for his facts?

I am mainly interested to see where he got the info that rota is a major OEM supplier.

You might be able to look it up under PAWI, the actually company. I know that they have been making wheels for nissan, toyota, izuzu, ford for a while. Im pretty sure their president said that oem comprises 20-25% of their business at one time.

just don't slide sideways into a curb and you probably will be alright..

They only supply OEM to their own market. OEM wheels need to be EXTREMELY Cheap and cheerful.

Rota will always catch flak because their designs have ridden on the backs of other manufacturers. Nothing they have done is considered "original".

and what would be original these days? hubless wheels?

Original these days is not so much on design, but actual wheel technology. FEM, Wheel deflection, tire holding capacity/methods.

I understand it is hard to be original on design and look (not that certain brands that are doing it are really even hiding it). A good bit of it also has to do with how you create your target market as well.

Factory Racing program internal homologation as a customer team/program is always a better indication of a manufacturers' total capacity versus what a handful of drift cars and time attackers run. Especially if you want to prove your technology as running with the best (Not claiming ROTA is trying to do this either). I can go out and see a BBS, Rays, OZ or even a Motegi Racing wheel be homologated for a factory racing program.

and they're doing their job with their target market, aiming at the people who aren't out to spend $3k+ just for a set of wheels to roll on.

my previous statement while meant to be somewhat funny also meant to be somewhat true. i've never personally seen even cheap wheels fail for no good reason but i have seen some poor manufacturing issues like my old eagle alloys with porous castings that would bleed air off very slowly.

we've had the race car on Rota's since 2005, and the only time we've broken a wheel is when we hit something, or something hits us... we run enduro's also, so we're talking about 20 wheels at a time, and since we've done a couple different sizes/offsets maybe we've run thru 8-10 sets of wheels total.

the cliff notes is that, they are inexpensive, so WHEN they get damaged/hit its not a big deal.

I never said there was anything wrong with what their market plan is. It's just amusing when fans of the product get hurt (seem to always want to justify their purchase) that not everyone holds the cheaper wheels to a high regard of feel like they "do not receive credit".

The reasons I stated above are exactly why many people do not hold the brand to such regard as some others. You have to put in the work and have the technology if you want the brand image and recognition (ROTA probably does not care as they are happy where they are). That is all my point was.

I never said one side was right or one side was wrong. I personally am not interested by ROTA products.

good article. I Ordered my Rota's 3 weeks ago =-)