mr. sparco

iTrader: (13)

Oh good, not yet.

Bama J

Thanks man. Got a set of em in Hyper Black on the way!

Waiz

iTrader: (57)

Car look great OP, haven't seen you posting your car in a long time

I think it goes without saying that I would be very very wary of running a wheel with no reputation or build history

I hope everything works out for you

99amgc43

Every new wheel company has to start off somewhere. Look at Rota and Varrstoen. When these companies first came out was there a problem with their quality? Varrstoen is known to be a decent quality replica wheel.

Aspec wheels is the largest Distributor of all these brands and each company including Vordoven passes VIA and JWL Standards. I do not do any autocrossing and I believe that any of these brands will hold up to everyday spirited driving...

True you may see many threads with pics of Rota rims snapping, but I can show you HRE's and volks doing the same thing. If one slides their car into a curb and the rim cracks, please do not blame it on the wheel. That's just my thoughts

Waiz

iTrader: (57)

You of course are welcome to run any wheel on your car. Me personally I would not run any of the wheels you mentioned.

I have been around this industry for a very long time and have seen tons of fly-by-night companies make wheels, promote them to death, then dissappear when there are problems. I just hope this doesn't happen to you.

Smacking a curb with a quality wheel means still being able to drive home and repair it versus being stranded on the side of the road when the wheel disintegrates. You know these things, you shouldn't use other replica wheel manufacturer reputation for this brand...

Bama J

FYI just got a call from Unleashed Wheels, who I placed the order from last night. The Forme1's in Hyper Black are backordered until March/April. Nobody has them, even called Vordoven directly. I cancelled my order. Bummer.

As a side note, the Vordoven guy did say they will be coming out with the Forme9s in 19" soon though.

99amgc43

Did you try calling Aspec wheels and see if they have it. They are the main distributor.

CJM

iTrader: (3)

Bama J

Yep, I called every dealer listed on their website. Nobody has em. Aspec guy said he's gotten several calls about them. Guess I'll wait.

RENFRO

iTrader: (1)

I'm with you, Waiz. My main concern has always been what happens when I do get a blowout at highway speeds and/or an accident. With a wheel that won't disintegrate , I could hope to maintain some sort of control instead of making things worse for me, my wife, and everyone else on the road. I had a friend that had a blowout on a very narrow two-lane bridge in Pensacola, FL. They had to drive it over a mile on the rim. Thankfully it was a volk and they were able to drive it all the way off the bridge. Really sucks that it happened, but they walked away with nothing but a few scuffs on the inner part of the rim vs. possibly having catastrophic wheel failure and smashing into a vehicle in the other lane.

I always think worst case scenario, which is not just "oh I destroyed a wheel and had to replace it." It's more like, "my unproven wheel disintegrated at highway speed after a blowout and made me slide across three lanes of traffic."

Just scary stuff to think about. I'd rather pay the extra dough.

99amgc43

Personally I have never seen a wheel disintegrate, whether OEM, Cheap knock offs or High end Volks...

Phenom

iTrader: (4)

I don't know any true enthusiast that respects Varrstoen, either for their product quality or for their business model.

99amgc43

Can we please just stick to why I made this thread. Just to showcase some rims that are at a decent price for other members to choose or not choose to use.

This is getting out of hand. People claiming that cheaper rims will disintegrate? Volks are preferred by true enthusiasts just in case one gets a blow out in the middle of nowhere, they want to be able to drive the car on just the rim and after miles of driving the barrel is undamaged?

I am sorry, but if my tire blows I am going to pull over right away and call AAA for a tow since that is what I pay a premium for.

Has anyone had any personal real life experience with a replica wheels disintegrating on them?

My personal first hand experience with higher end rims. I had a set of both Work VSXX's and Volk Gtu's, both of which got bent barrels. I believe these real 3 piece rims must have softer metal then cast rims. True, the metal is stronger, but must be softer and more acceptable to bending from pot holes. I have a set of Volk GTU's sitting in my garage as I type, which I had on my old NSX which I built from the ground up. One of the barrels on the inner side got bent and now has a slow leak. (this claim may or may not be true, but I tend to go by life experiences and not what I read online)

I am sorry that I am not a TRUE enthusiast, just because I choose not to spend $900+ per rim on my cars.

sofa king

iTrader: (25)

you have to seriously consider how much these cost to manufacture if they're selling them for a profit @ $700 shipped.

RUNWDVL

iTrader: (10)

There are a few thread where the rims shattered on track and a quick google showing XXR shattered. Call due diligence.

Spike100

I agree with 99amgc43 when he suggests we stay on topic and not present a bunch of unsubstantiated claims condemning replica wheels.

Personally during the last 6 years I’ve run some inexpensive wheels (<$100 apiece) in the winter that have taken a lot of abuse (e.g., big hits when going into deep potholes, sliding on ice into curbs, etc.). They didn’t crack or bend, and in fact look and perform like new.

The Vordoven wheels on 99amgc43’s car look great. Of course the superior photography and 99amgc43’s car’s great appearance help make the wheels look even better.

--Spike

Phenom

iTrader: (4)

I didn't take this thread off course. I simply pointed out your flawed reasoning since you seem to be under the impression that varrstoen has earned some respect in the car world for their quality.

Spike100

Phenom, Please forgive me if there is a misunderstanding. It wasn’t my intention to flame you (or anyone else) with my comments.

I was simply pointing out that people comment about replica wheels without supporting the assertions with data. For example, if someone asserts that Varrstoen wheels exhibit a known problem, I would like to see the data supporting this statement.

--Spike

Phenom

iTrader: (4)

The data you need in order to be convinced does not exist for two reasons.

1) No one is going to take the time or spend the money to conduct an experiment in a controlled environment to show what basic materials science already suggests. The demand for the data simply isn't enough to justify the effort

2) We can never gather data from real world crashes/failures because there are too many uncontrolled variables for a legitimate comparison

That means we just have to rely on the basics to form our conclusions. Forged metal is stronger than cast metal. Low production costs are indicative of cutting corners, poor quality control, and poorly made products.

And if that's not enough, put all the science stuff aside, it's hard for an enthusiast to support or respect a company that comes in, copies designs and undercuts the reputable producers who have earned their respect from the community.

Spike100

Yikes! Your statement is nearly gibberish. There is never a good reason to ignore statistical analysis. If you really believe you cannot do an analysis, there is no way to solve a problem or define a parameter.

Unfortunately, we have distracted/damaged the OP's thread. I'll accept the blame for this one and beg forgiveness.