Budget conscious wheels... are they worth it?

M

Michael Miller

Well-Known Member
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I'm sure this is a question we have all asked at one time or another. But in today's world of technology and improved machining methods, is it still a valid one?

I see that there are A LOT of wheels to choose from nowadays, from many companies and they range in price greatly. I also notice the Company A might have a wheel for say $100 that looks mighty close to Company B's wheel that costs $200. So my question becomes, what is the big difference? I assume weight would be one. But how much different could it be unless one was aluminum? I'm not racer but good gas mileage is always a good thing. Does a few pounds on each wheel going to be that detrimental in normal users daily driver? is the paint, chroming, powder coating, or what ever is on the wheel less of quality? Or do none of those things matter and you will just stand to get made fun of for running the "cheap" ones (K-mart kickers anyone?)?

Thanks for your thoughts!
 
some things you're paying for a brand name, while some wheels are manufactured differently. Take a look at how Volk/Rays Engineering wheels are made below -


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEq8C5ZIezY


companies that often "copy" designs of brand X will be priced cheaper. You usually find this the case with replica volk wheels. Rota makes replica volks in quite a few designs. You'll get the "look" of volks for a lot cheaper, but you can rest assured it's not produced the same way as the video above.

You will normally be paying for the materials / how light the wheels are. The lighter the wheels, the easier your engine can spin them. Less rotational mass is a good thing for people looking to improve performance.
 
Some companies are great in terms of doing quality assurance to their products. With quality assurance, errors can be checked by doing various 'attention to detail' types of inspections. It can be checked chemically, inspection for cracks or defects, x-ray inspection to see if the material was properly processed (inside and out), etc.

There are wheel companies that are big with quality inspection (Ray's Engineering, Enkei, BBS, etc). You'll just have to do research on them, I suppose. Lol.
 
Nice video. Reminded me of watching How It's Made on the Science Channel. lol.

I guess I was asking more about the "cheaper" wheels that are closer to each other. The Rays are surely to outdo the other (especially in price).

I was thinking more along the lines of wheels no more than 300$ each. BBS, Motegi, Enkei, Tenzo, etc. are few that come to mind. But those themselves are all "brand" name. I wonder if there quality is any matched by "knock off" brands. For instance, there is a lot of these brands on WheelsNext as well as the bigger names.
 
To cut cost, it will most likely be made out of different materials, not as much quality control, and produced in countries with lower labor costs.

Bbs vid if you liked the other

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq1YyzWS5bw



Motegi and bbs reportedly make a number of rims in Germany. Enkei & tenzo - reportedly Japan.

Compare labor costs in those countries to china/phillippines
 
Strength/weight seems to be a big part of it. A lighter wheel is always better. It is weight you will notice more than anything else you change on your car. Especially for mileage but that can suffer if you pick a bad tire more than a few lbs of wheel weight. Super cheap lightweight wheels probably aren't very strong. That said there are a lot of decently strong, lighter than stock, good looking, affordable wheels.

I think if you don't buy them from wal-mart you will probably be fine.
 
It depends on what you want out of wheels. If you're just looking to upgrade the fitment and style, but are not looking to necessarily get lighter wheels for improved efficiency and performance (which, if you really think about it, efficiency=performance in a lot of cases), then a cheaper "name brand" wheel company like Enkei has some decent wheels at reasonable prices, and some "off brand" like XXR or the like would be a great value as well. However, getting wheels that, to you, may look cooler than the stock wheels, and may possibly even fit better, but are heavier than the stock wheel/tire combo, is not really spending your money wisely.

I see a lot of people just going online or to a tire shop and having one thing made up in their minds about the wheels they want to buy: the diameter. People think, "I want a 17" wheel," and think absolutely nothing else of it. They have this number in their head, for whatever reason, and they just end up getting a compromise between the "coolest looking" wheel and what they believe is the best value. When the most expensive wheel in the line-up they may be looking at is around $800/wheel, and the cheapest is $450 for a set of 4, it's easy to see how people will end up making a decision to buy a terrible product; the lack of information in that equation is the culprit. A person who has only a limited knowledge of what goes into selecting the proper wheel/tire combo may look at that gap in price and think, "why would I pay that much for ONE WHEEL when I could get all four wheels for half the price of one of those expensive ones?" This is logical when you're working with a limited knowledge base. It is logical to preserve your money rather than spend it on something you see as completely useless. However, if you were to know the reason why that one wheel cost $800 and those four wheels are half that price, your logic may change. Or it may not, it depends on what is important to you.

We have to look at more information than wheel diameter, aesthetics, and cost. That 17" wheel that's $800 is probably made by someone like BBS; a company that, in my personal opinion, is entirely too expensive for what they are. But that's just how much those wheels cost, and if you want great quality and a sense of exclusivity then that is what you'll pay. However, if you don't know anything about wheels, you'll probably just assume that getting ANY aftermarket wheel will somehow make you feel fairly exclusive. If that's what you're looking for, then more power to you. However, if you were to be exposed to all the other factors that could go into selecting a wheel that is proper for your particular application, you may end up finding out that spending $500/wheel is really not that bad of a deal for what you're getting where there are $800 wheels that perform exactly the same but have more exclusivity: these wheels can be compared to each other, but should not be compared to the wheels that are $450/set. It's all about perspective and comparing apples to apples. It also helps to see wheels on a car; preferably on your car, but at the very least, a car that would accept/require similar wheel fitment.

The first step in figuring out what wheels you want to put on your car is figuring out what you want in your wheel/tire combination and how that relates to what you want out of your car. I'll give what I want out of my car as an example; I want a fun daily driver that handles better than stock, is more efficient than stock, and looks better than stock without doing any major body modifications (actually, for this car I don't want to do ANY body modifications at all). I actually have a name for this styling/modifying theme...I call it OEM+ (totally irrelevant to this rant, but hey, it is a rant). That being said, what I want out of my wheel/tire combo is a light weight, high performance, attractive, flush fitment setup. I ended up choosing WedsSport TC105N in 17x8.5 +32. Notice I am not just telling you I'm getting 17" TC105N's. The width and offset are just as (if not more) important as the diameter. Figuring out your budget for this will be the LAST STEP in the process. The easiest thing to figure out first is how you want it to look. That being said, the second step is to figure out the fitment of the wheels you're looking for.

Finding a wheel that fits properly takes a lot of time and research. The easiest way to shop for wheels would be to just look at a few pictures, get a general idea of what you wanted, and just buy wheels and tires in various offsets and sizes, and put them on your car until you found the right setup. Unfortunately, for most of us, this isn't an option as we are not millionaires. If we were, we'd probably be driving something nicer than a Civic (regardless of what Civic fanboys may say to the contrary). So, using online forums and other resources, such as www.rimtuck.com and www.tyrestretch.com etc. we can get a pretty good picture of how a wheel will fit and what it will take to make wheels fit that wouldn't without some modification.

Once your fitment is decided upon, you should then start looking for wheels that closely match the diameter, width, and offset that you have found looks the best for what you have in mind; whether that look be just a little cooler than stock, or as close to a track car as you can look on the street, or a super stanced out Canibeat feature car, or maybe some compromise of everything. The look you're going for may be limited by the overall picture you're looking to achieve, so keep that in mind. You may not want to roll your fenders, so this will affect how much width and what offset your wheel can have, how wide of a tire you can use, and how much negative camber you'll have to run in order to make everything fit without rubbing and/or damaging components.

After you have decided what style of wheel you want, you will then need to figure out what tire to use. This is just as important as you are putting together a package. One does not work properly without the other. The size of the tire and how it relates to the look, fitment and ride height (stance) of your wheel/tire/drop combo may be the most important thing to you, or maybe it's the handling performance, or you could be like me and you want the best possible compromise between comfort, road noise, tire life, stance and handling. As you look into what you want out of the overall setup, your decision may change in tire size and wheel width/offset while you compromise with yourself trying to figure out what is the best all-around option for everything.

Now that you've decided on what you want out of the look and performance of your wheel/tire combination, it's time to look at cost. For me, I found that $1500-$2000 (the wheels I ordered are ~$1780) is pretty reasonable for the wheels I want (if buying brand new. Used, knock a couple or three hundred dollars off), and decent tires cost anywhere between $500 and $700 for a set for the size I want (I'm getting Michelin Pilot Super Sports because they are AWESOME tires and they're worth every penny of their $700 price tag). I could spend a lot more or a lot less on stuff that may look a little cooler, may be a little more exclusive, or perform better in some areas and worse in others, but for what I want that is how much I would have to pay. That amount isn't too much, it's just how much it costs. I realize that, to some people, especially younger folks, that seems like an inordinate amount of money, especially I'm not saying, necessarily, that $2k is not a lot of money, but it's all about perspective. If what you want costs that much, don't settle for what you don't want for $500 just because you got to have it now rather than waiting a year and saving your money for what you really want. The feeling of having exactly what you want in a year is a million times more rewarding than having what you don't want right now.

Got a little carried away on that one.
 
^^^amazing post.

I would say buying "knock-off" or "cost conscious" wheels is like buying shoes at wal-Mart. Will they cover your feet? Yup, will anyone say, hey nice shoes... Probably not. But if that makes you happy, then go for it. It's your car, your money, use it how you like. I myself used to have a set of (extremely) rare blue fox wheels that retail for about $1500for a set. I rocked my si's until I could afford them (on my last civic). Now that I got this one I know I want work vs-xx (a little more than I have available to spend ATM) so I got some rsx type s wheels to hold me over until I can afford what I want. I personally would rather rock oem wheels that a cheap brand. Not because I hate rota or anything, I just don't think they do a good job of replicating the look of the higher quality brands.
 
The last set of Volk wheels I bought (CE28N) cost me over $3700 + $150 for the limited edition CF caps. They were amazingly light... I think they were about 14-1/2 lb for 18x8.
 
before he got his center caps - just installed

KennyGS said:
These pics totally suck, but here you go.

DSCN6375.jpg

DSCN6376.jpg

DSCN6377.jpg

DSCN6378.jpg
Click to expand...
 
1 piece forged wheel.. super light. Volk wheels are costly, but are highly desired. You can easily find someone looking to buy them used when you want to sell them.
 
It's just that it's double what I paid for my one piece forged wheels. Then again, mine are like 15.7lbs for 17x8.5 and those are apparently 14.5lbs in 18x8. That's pretty damn light for an 18" wheel.
 
lots of great points ! WHITEFG4 made an excellent comparison on RIMS & SHOES..

when i see cars with rota or ebay rims..... what i see is a guy wearing a walmart or target sneakers

volk racing or any rays rims = nike

rims are the most visible mod to the car, cheap rims makes the car cheap... plain & simple...
 
my daily driver....
2006 vw jetta..... paid $16,000.00 brand new.....
with just lower & 19" oz 2pc rims (paid $2800 for the set + $500 on tires)
it automatic make this cheap car look very expensive...

no one believes me when i tell them this car is cheaper than a honda fit

but when it's stock... it looks like a corolla....


jetta s.jpgcivic 049.jpg
 
team3d said:
lots of great points ! WHITEFG4 made an excellent comparison on RIMS & SHOES..

when i see cars with rota or ebay rims..... what i see is a guy wearing a walmart or target sneakers

volk racing or any rays rims = nike

rims are the most visible mod to the car, cheap rims makes the car cheap... plain & simple...
Click to expand...


while i agree to some i must also point out if you are spending 3-4k on rims i hope you don't cheap out on tires....
 
iluvmycsx said:
while i agree to some i must also point out if you are spending 3-4k on rims i hope you don't cheap out on tires....
Click to expand...

i used to live in bc for 4 years.... i have to say, Canadians are very picky on tires & when they decide to buy aftermarket rims, they usually match it with top of the line tires...

i'm talking about $200-400.00 each for a 17"
 
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