Do Price of Wheels & Rims Matter?

[me&stinger]

As the title states, do wheel & rim prices matter on the quality?

I believe in the "You get what you paid for". I also know that some brands (like BBS) will be more expensive than others. However, what is a good starting point (in USD)? What are things I should look out for and things I should avoid? Good experiences with certain brands?

Your suggestions are appreciated!

 

[celwin]

It does matter. Not to say you can't get affordable quality wheels at a reasonable price, but comparing say Volk wheels to take your pick of any cast wheel manufacturer; the difference in quality and strength of wheel will be night and day. So yes typically the more expensive a wheel is, the better it is in terms of quality; Having said that, some people cannot justify paying for those "expensive" prices Volk and other high price wheel manufacturers charge. I can't give you a good starting point because affordable wheel choices are all over the place; And what may be affordable to me may be too expensive for someone else or vice versa. So in the end, buy what you can afford and justify.

 

[Hapa88]

There are three basic types of whee construction out there that go up in terms of pricing. The cheapest is casting with gravity casting being the cheapest. Low pressure casting is better and only slightly more expensive. Most OEM wheels are cast wheels. Prices for these are around $150 per wheel for 19”. Cast wheels are usually the heaviest and weakest, though if properly certified, they are perfectly fine and safe to run.

The best value aftermarket wheels, IMO, are those that are Flow Formed. Flow formed wheels have a bunch of different marking names such as Enkei’s MAT process, TSW’s Rotary Forged, Flow Forged, Spun Forged, etc. Flow formed wheels start as a cast wheel and the barrel is further formed out with high pressure, giving the barrel a forged like structure. They are generally lighter than cast wheels, the barrel part is stronger and they’re significantly cheaper than fully forged wheels. You can find these in the $200-$400 per wheel for 19”.

The last is full forged wheels which are generally lightweight (though not always), strong and very expensive. There’s a few forging techniques used in wheels from CNC milling of billet aluminum, to the high pressure molding methods used by Rays/Volk. These wheels usually run around $700 per wheel and up for 19”.

To ensure quality, make sure the wheel has TUV, VIA and/or JWL certifications. You can find that certification on wheels from cast all the way through fully forged.

 

[YOWStinger]

I'm in agreement with @Hapa88 here, but also want to say that no, I don't think you "get what you pay for" either. I think an enormous amount of what you pay for is aesthetics and name. I would suggest that at minimum, if you're not just buying winter steelies, that you buy something flow formed.

Lets use this one for an example because it was a couple of wheels that I was comparing when they came up because they have a similar look and feel. TSW I think has a decent name for a bulk manufacturer, and I think American Racing has a bit of a reputation for something you'd buy at Canadian Tire.

TSW Tabac vs American Racing AR924

The TSW Tabac is a Cast wheel with a modern Y spoke design, MSRP is about $385 for a 35lb 20x10
Tabac Alloy Wheels by TSW


For a similar look and feel, you can get the American Racing AR924 in 20x10 (I would go with 20x10.5+45, but x10 here for comparison with the above) which is flow formed, and $252 for a 23.38lb 20x10
AR924 CROSSFIRE - American Racing




So no, I don't think you get what you pay for, there are companies out there selling forged wheels that are in the 27-28lb range at $600-$800 a pop, there are companies selling over priced cast wheels, and there are companies that are selling good value for the money flow formed wheels. You can find examples out there pretty easily where you're simply paying for exclusivity.

edit: Also FWIW, I was a little skeptical of the AR924, it's weight, and it's price, so I did some searching for people with bent rims and didn't come up with anything, so assuming it's probably just fine. Lots of videos of muscle cars out there doing burnouts with em though.

 

[YOWStinger]

It does matter. Not to say you can't get affordable quality wheels at a reasonable price, but comparing say Volk wheels to take your pick of any cast wheel manufacturer; the difference in quality and strength of wheel will be night and day. So yes typically the more expensive a wheel is, the better it is in terms of quality; Having said that, some people cannot justify paying for those "expensive" prices Volk and other high price wheel manufacturers charge. I can't give you a good starting point because affordable wheel choices are all over the place; And what may be affordable to me may be too expensive for someone else or vice versa. So in the end, buy what you can afford and justify.

I'm not sure that Volk necessarily sets the bar though either, they just ended up with an iconic wheel and now they offer 100 variants of the same wheel and people are willing to pay for that classic look. That doesn't necessarily mean that their wheels are any better than anyone elses, or that (in my post above) that the AR924's are any less "effective" than TE37's, they both move the car, they're both decently light.

This is interesting too: Wheel Weight Comparison Lots of decently light wheels here, would be interesting to get some comparison of prices.

I'll drop this here just because.

 

[MerlintheMad]

You get the KIA name if you replace OE GT wheels with the same: but you have to pay $630 each. (I don't suppose that is what you meant by asking if you get what you pay for! How does Kia sell any wheels at all with that ridiculous price for "boat anchors"?)

My TSW "Watkins" are probably c. twice what I could have paid for a lighter wheel than the OE GT wheel. But I went with them because they most closely fulfilled what I wanted: a black rim that was going to augment my summer tire performance. So, "my" wheel guys looked at width, offset and weight and out of the two final choices I picked the TSW: I don't remember what the other wheel was, it wasn't a TSW, and I liked the looks of this one better.

 

[me&stinger]

Thank you everyone for your most helpful replies and suggestions! What a GREAT forum!

I already told myself "NO!!!" (just like that ) to cast wheels. I've been tossing between fully and rotary forged wheels. So it sounds like I'm moving in the right direction.

Like @MerlintheMad, I want black wheels. That's the only thing I know at this point.

I'd like a wheel that is strong, such that if I have a flat the wheel will not fail on me. Safety first! I didn't realize that light wheels are the go-to so I'll look for those. I came across a video about carbon fiber wheels. First time hearing about it. What do you guys think?

 

[mhal8876]

I got ESR RF2 Rotary Forged 19's. Got it curbed and gave it a new look Powder Coated Satin Black.

 

[me&stinger]

I got ESR RF2 Rotary Forged 19's. Got it curbed and gave it a new look Powder Coated Satin Black.
View attachment 35138

Looking good! I've been looking at ESR wheels too!

I thought about powder coating the Stinger OEM wheels but that idea lasted short.

 

[YOWStinger]

Reality is, get whatever you want, I tried to balance all things. I have a black car, but everything I liked was either black or gunmetal. I felt like it would be a miss if I didn't get something light, but didn't care if it was the lightest I could get.

 

[oddball]

I came across a video about carbon fiber wheels. First time hearing about it. What do you guys think?

Clearly you haven't seen any pricing for carbon fiber wheels.

I spent two or three months combing through wheels to find what I wanted. Ended up with the gray TSW Nurburgring. These are wheels, so aesthetics come first. Once you have some options that you like you can narrow down based on fitment, price and attributes. Getting the right offset for the width you want is the trickiest part, but like most things, that depends on what kind of look you want (I'm used to muscle cars with huge wheel well overhangs) and if you're lowered.

I used Tire Rack, Get Your Wheels and some other 3rd party as my aggregate search tools. Start by filtering on the bolt circle and diameter. Then you have to make sure the wheel is available in both widths if you're doing staggered. And both offsets are usable.

That approach will get you through all the off-the-shelf options. There's also custom built wheels, but you're usually looking at $800-$1000/wheel. But sometimes you can get precisely what you want from that (yeah, I'm missing a center cap in this pic....) :

 

[oddball]

Oh, and light wheels help quarter mile times (lowers unsprung weight) and slightly helps race/lap times. A little easier on the back when taking wheels off and on. Otherwise not that big of a deal.
If you want a truly light wheel:

[MEDIA]

 

[me&stinger]

Reality is, get whatever you want

Without a doubt! In the end I'll get something I'll be happy with. My main dilemma is that there are so many nice looking wheels. My heart is set on black but gunmetal is nice too. Aside from that it's the size (width) of the wheels. OEM or a little wider.

Clearly you haven't seen any pricing for carbon fiber wheels.

I spent two or three months combing through wheels to find what I wanted. Ended up with the gray TSW Nurburgring. These are wheels, so aesthetics come first. Once you have some options that you like you can narrow down based on fitment, price and attributes. Getting the right offset for the width you want is the trickiest part, but like most things, that depends on what kind of look you want (I'm used to muscle cars with huge wheel well overhangs) and if you're lowered.

I used Tire Rack, Get Your Wheels and some other 3rd party as my aggregate search tools. Start by filtering on the bolt circle and diameter. Then you have to make sure the wheel is available in both widths if you're doing staggered. And both offsets are usable.

That approach will get you through all the off-the-shelf options. There's also custom built wheels, but you're usually looking at $800-$1000/wheel. But sometimes you can get precisely what you want from that (yeah, I'm missing a center cap in this pic....)View attachment 35140 :

I didn't notice the missing center cap until you mentioned it.

When I search for wheels I try to find the option that allows me to choose my vehicle for compatibility. I'm looking for something safe. Nothing too aggressive nor way out there.

I quick checked on Carbon Fiber wheel prices. Tempting isn't it?

Oh, and light wheels help quarter mile times (lowers unsprung weight) and slightly helps race/lap times. A little easier on the back when taking wheels off and on. Otherwise not that big of a deal.
If you want a truly light wheel:

[MEDIA]

I'll focus on lighter wheels. Thanks!

 

[oddball]

There's not a whole lot of compatibility info for the stinger, so that's not much help.
Generally anything with a +20 to +45 offset will work. Less offset with narrower wheels, more offset with wider.

 

[me&stinger]

There's not a whole lot of compatibility info for the stinger, so that's not much help.
Generally anything with a +20 to +45 offset will work. Less offset with narrower wheels, more offset with wider.

Thanks for the tip!

I don't want to drop my car so at the widest I'll go is flush. I'm almost positive I'll stick with the 19"s. That's all I have at this point.

 

[oddball]

right, 19" is the diameter.
For an 8" wide, you want a somewhat shallow offset, like +20. For a 10" wide, you want as deep as you can get - at least +40.
So you need to figure out what size tires you want and if you want staggered or square. A rim width of 7.5" to 9" is OK on the front, and the rear can go up to 10" wide with off-the-shelf stuff.
Finding staggered setups is more complicated since now you have to make sure the wheel is made in both sizes/offsets and with our bolt circle.

 

[YOWStinger]

There's not a whole lot of compatibility info for the stinger, so that's not much help.
Generally anything with a +20 to +45 offset will work. Less offset with narrower wheels, more offset with wider.

The magic numbers in the front are 8.5+30, 9+35, and in the rear it's 9.5+35, 10+40, 10.5+45, 11+50. Be careful about going wider than 245 (255 should be fine) in the front, and 285 in the back (especially with that 11+50). 295 will fit but will be very close to the suspension, but if you drop to 10.5+40 (you're probably not going to find this unless you order custom) you can probably fit a 295 and maybe a 305 but it's getting really close, YMMV, but those magic numbers above have been tested just that that 11+50 will be snug, just go with a 10.5+45, there are tons of off the shelf options because that's a Mustang fitment.

You'll get a little poke if you go down to +20, which might be alright if that's what you're going for but I don't think we have the right shape of fender for that to look good.

 

[oddball]

The magic numbers in the front are 8.5+30, 9+35, and in the rear it's 9.5+35, 10+40, 10.5+45, 11+50. Be careful about going wider than 245 (255 should be fine) in the front, and 285 in the back (especially with that 11+50). 295 will fit but will be very close to the suspension, but if you drop to 10.5+40 (you're probably not going to find this unless you order custom) you can probably fit a 295 and maybe a 305 but it's getting really close, YMMV, but those magic numbers above have been tested just that that 11+50 will be snug, just go with a 10.5+45, there are tons of off the shelf options because that's a Mustang fitment.

You'll get a little poke if you go down to +20, which might be alright if that's what you're going for but I don't think we have the right shape of fender for that to look good.

Listen to this guy.

 

[YOWStinger]

Listen to this guy.

I've uhh, been spending a lot of time on this.

 

[P22Tyler]

It also depends on what you need the wheels for. For example, I bought some cheaper wheels, they're Konig Oversteers. I like the look of them and I just got them to throw a set of wet traction tires on for the winter. It was difficult to find the stagger and everything, and I didn't want to have the tires pulled off the rim every time it changed seasons, nor could I stomach putting some ugly steels on so this was a good alternative. It does the job for what I need.