Well, I know I can, lol. All the rims we are discussing are of the highest quality in the industry. Went to a couple of local rim shops, and they have never even ORDERED forged rims for anyone cause of price and such. Matter of fact, they have asked for me to go by and see them when I get the wheels in so they could just look at them.

duck, half the price is relative of course, cause some will not be lucky enough to get in on the groupbuys. HREs are nice, but there is just no way I could afford them right now, absolutely no way, so they were not even in my thinking process. Volks are nice, really like the weights, and it came down to them or iforged for me. But the iforged just plain look better to me, the volks are a little on the bland side, for anyone outside of this board. I showed the volks to people(outside this board) to see the reaction, and almost every time it was, "You are going to pay $2000 for THAT??"

For the money I paid and what I wanted, the iforged were really my only choice.

 

I understand what you are saying, as we talked about it before. There is really no excuse for something like that to happen, even if it is the only time we have heard of it. If that happened while driving, it would be a disaster and I am sure a lawsuit would be aimed at iforged.

Many guys on this board have been running them with no problems. Now what happens 5 years from now is anybodys guess. Someone more familar with their history would be able to answer that question better than I. I just know for me, the HREs were not an option cause of price, and I wasn't going to spend 2 grand on any volks that I have seen. To be honest, I would rather save the 2 grand towards a supercharger than get the volks, but that is just my opinion.

 

volks, Particularly the TE37s are understated, not flashy, not attention grabbing, no one will look at the car and go wow, nice rims.

exactly what I wanted, apparently what a few others wanted too. I wanted a rim that is well known, a rim that a car enthusiast would recognize, I dont care if my mom likes them, I dont care if my friend has heard of them. but you bring it to a track, theyll all know who volk/rays are, but how many will know iforged? how many will know any of iforged past company names? will they know them cause there good rims, or because they heard a story like ZZtop just told?

I bought rims for 2 purposes, to improve the ride of my car, light weight, you cant find lighter forged rims in an 18" size, except maybe the gram lites, I dont even think from HRE youll get it. the other was to improve the appearance of my car, not to just draw attention to the rims, but to improve the package, you see my car, you dont see rims, you see a nice car(atleast I think so).

I see iforged, and some of their models do accomplish some of what I wanted. (just as some rays I think are too flashy, particularly the multiple spoke ones). but I had rays, and I had iforged, even if they were the same price(they werent unless I haggled him down to group buy prices) I had rays that Im sure of the quality, I could get what I wanted now(they were instock), and they were super light. or iforged, who I read all the stories about, good and bad, I knew more or less for certain that I was looking at 2-3months for delivery, and the rim was heavier. Even if I did like the iforged better astheticly(which I do love the style and finish of 2003Z's rims, no idea what they are) the shadyness of the business practice sent me to rays.

 

I think that you need to be as informed as possible to make the right purchase for your own needs. After doing as much research as I could, I eventually chose Volks. They're light, strong, they have flawless quality and reputation, and they look awesome (IMHO).....and the pressure sensors fit perfectly.

If you like iForged, that's great also....they sure do look good. I can't say that my research into them turned out the same high marks, but I hope your wheels are as good you hope them to be. $2000 is a lot of cash, and you should definitely be happy with whatever you purchase for that amount of money.

When I do put a FI system on my Z, I'll feel confident with the Volks wheels handling the 450 or so HP. I hope you'll feel the same way about your iForged wheels.

 

guys are putting iForged on 996 turbos, chipped S4s and Z06s, I don't think a FI Z will have a problem

 

Ok, back up a second. I got HRE 445's with the brush finish which is the more costly finish. I paid abut $3600 including tax. They are not 4 to 6K if you got them on the group buy. When I priced iforged out, basically it was going to be 1K less. I like the looks of both. for me, I was not willing to take the risk at that time (no one had them on a Z yet so all I read was bad posts from other forums thus that is wht I based my decision on). To me, I would rather go top of the line for 1K more than take a risk and those were my choices. I respect Rays and Volks but for me, I was not excited about their looks. Befor all of you talk about performance is more important than looks, you better do your research again if you have 19" wheels because if performance is your goal, get 17" or admit you care more about looks than performance.

 

not for nothing, but he said 450hp, I assume to the wheels, which none of those 3 cars have(atleast I dont think so... donno what a 996 has). tho for that price, why wouldnt you get HREs, the cars are big bucks to begin with, may as well keep up with the high ticket items.

I thought iforged were around 3grand or more without the group buy discount.

 

not for nothing, but he said 450hp, I assume to the wheels, which none of those 3 cars have(atleast I dont think so... donno what a 996 has). tho for that price, why wouldnt you get HREs, the cars are big bucks to begin with, may as well keep up with the high ticket items. not saying they cant hold the power, if they do break, and you manage to live, HELLO lawsuit, better hope they have insurance so you can get some cash out of them.

I thought iforged were around 3grand or more without the group buy discount.

 

Well, zland, the HRE group buy was over when I was looking to purchase rims. So the HREs would have been much much more cause they would have been at full price, while I could get the iforged at the second group rate. Obviously, we had different situations, which might have made a difference in our choices. If I remember right, you live very close to where the HREs are made, so you didn't have to pay shipping, is that right??? Little things like that make a difference.

In my current financial situation, if it wasn't for the group buy, I wouldn't have these or any other rim right now.

 

I remember figuring out the group buy prices for a set of 19" 445r's from HRE with a brushed finish, and comparing that to the 19" Iforged aero's with a brushed finish. If i remember correctly even with the group buys, the HRE's were about 1,500 more, and that was with the standard center cap. The 545r's were even more than that. Also to get a wheel without bolts you have to get the 8 series from HRE. I mean i'm not a rap star, there's no way i could afford or justify affording that. If i were driving a 100K car i would consider it, but then again if i were driving a 100K car i wouldn't be talking about group buys.

 

I care about looks AND performance, which is why I chose the 19" Volks over some other options. I will never track the car (so 17" wheels are unnecessary), but I will enjoy occasionally pushing the car to its limits when approriate and safe. In going from 18" to 19", the only difference I can feel is that the car rides and handles much better on the larger Toyos. I felt no loss of power from the slight increase in unsprung weight, and after the car gets blown, the only thing I'll be conerned about is whether or not the wheels and tires are up to the task of putting all that power to road in a consistent and safe manner.

As I said before, I like the looks of the iForged wheels better than the Volks, but after what I've read and heard, I would never put them on my car.