amanda776

I don't know if this topic has been brought up already, I did a search and didn't find much other than bits and pieces.

First off, I'll admit I am a noob at wheel buying as are many Scion owners since most of us are generally young and inexperienced. It has been recently brought to my attention that a lot of the wheels in which I was under the impression were of good quality - are actually cheap knockoffs. So I have an idea for us noobs to get an idea of what wheels are top of the line and what wheels are knockoffs. It would be easy for anyone who doesn't know to go out and buy something they think is a really good wheel but it turns out to be a knockoff. I want to know everyones opinions on what wheel brands are the best, worst, whatever.

;)

semaJames

let me first say that this is only MY opinion. some may agree some may not

High quality - about $300-600 each
1. Volk (rays)
2. Advan
3. Work
4. Gramlights (rays)
5. Axis - some models

good - about $150-300 each
1. Enkei
2. Racing Hart & RH Evo
3. 5zigen
4. Konig

cheap wheels
1. Drag
2. motegi
3. r1 racing or g racing not sure
4. rota (cheap price) - popular in the Honda world. makes tons of replicas of discontinued wheels

enkei makes a good wheel. a lot of Japanese touring cars use enkei wheels. they are excellent wheels. i just didnt put it in category 1 because they come in reall reasonable prices. not all the prices maybe correct, its just an estimate. the list could go on and on. this is just off the top of my head. good luck man.

scionofPCFL

The reason you see a lot of Enkei's is because they use hub-centric wheels. Meaning, the center hole is designed perfectly to fit on the hub of a Scion without using any shims. Most of the wheels you see out there are of the lug-centric design. Meaning, they are only concerned with the bolt pattern, and then make a center hole big enough to fit any hub, and then the wheels have to be shimmed to fit. This can compromise ride quality significantly.

As for who else uses the hub-centric, I have no idea, but I'm sure someone else here can help you out on that.

toCa

iTrader: (-1)

Ive eben searchign for rims that I CANNOT FIND! at all. Ive seen very few on the street, none on a scion. They are 5 spoke chrome rims, they are thick, not even spokes really and the rim itself from the center spreads outward to the ends of the rim. If you know where i can get these please let me know!

krdshrk

Price really isn't a good meter on how good a wheel is. You gotta shop around.

summerofsam44

Just shop for what you like... Find a rim you really like and run with it

kungpaosamuraiii

How do you know what wheels are hubcentric and what wheels aren't?

agmech

Price should not dictate quality in this case. I found Axis rims $100 cheaper than most sites and I would consider them just like semaJames said. Lower side of the high quality class.

MJVsTC

What's Kazera's quality like??

krdshrk

Kazera is good

kanundrum

I guess what we can be looking for is what wheels are built good and can handle normal every driving with out being bent or chipps in the actual wheel. I know for a fact that excel wheels have problems with being bent with just minor pot holes and such which are pure garbage. I think a good wheel is not determined by price but the quality. I say we list from quality to cheapo bend on you crap.

HKSpeed

only wheels specifically made for a specific car are hubcentric.
example:
those Enkei's for the RS1 are hubcentric for 5x100 Toyotas (5x114.3 Toyotas have a different centerbore size). Other generic Enkei's are not hubcentric. OEM wheels are hubcentric.

aftermarket wheels come with a large centerbore so they can fit on any car (with the correct bolt pattern). you need a hubcentric ring between the wheel and hub to fill in the gap. hub rings are perfectly safe and should be used if you want to minimize vibrations.
for example:
5x100 Toyotas are 54.1mm, while 5x100 VW's are 57.1mm. SSR makes their 5x100 wheels at 65mm, so they will fit on Toyotas and VW's. So you buy hub rings that are specially made to fit the vehicle and wheel.
A Toyota wheel will not fit on a VW because the centorbore is 3mm too small.

Anything forged is strong, lightweight, and expensive.
Every good wheel maker will post information about their manufacturing process on their site (pictures of process, factory pictures, locations, detailed techinical descriptions, etc). Wheels used in professional motorsport are also indications of quality wheels.

aznbread

speaking of the emx super 7. i got them on my car. i love the way they look even though a lot more ppl will have them. but that's besides the point. i'm wondering if anyone knows the quality of the wheels. what is quality when it comes to wheels? as someone said above, is it rated on how easily it dents or scratches, or how smoothly it drives on roads?

what about the weight of the wheel?

a little off topic but i believe the super 7 wheels have some sort of clear coat on it. how do you clean them? i seen products that are just spray on and wipe off but i heard those chemicals are harsh on the wheel. i don't mind using some elbow grease on my car if it means i can extend it's beauty/shine. i heard it's a good idea to just wash and wipe the wheels with car wash soap but that seems to just smear the brake dust. so what i've been doing now is just wiping the brake dust off with a dry cloth. and do we use the same wax on the wheels as we use on the car's paint?

thanks
john

MJVsTC

Use Woolite. I know it sounds stange, but spray some on your wheel and wipe it off with a papertowel. The brake dust will come right off with little or no smearing.

TATTOO

yay i have expensive wheels

TATTOO

I had that set of the black ones on my last car...they are cheap but i never had a problem....

Kilo6_one

woolite.......that is a good tip, ill have to try that.

amanda776

bump?

ICrazyChrisI

Under high quality, I would add HRE, iFORGED, BBS, Maya, JLine, Lowenhart, SSR

Under good I would add buddyclub, roja

And theres wayy too many cheap wheels available. Just look through your local penny saver

Garage1217

iTrader: (5)

I usually complain and laugh at people when they post there opinion of what is good and what is crap or even ok... but your list hit it right on the head quality wise. Good job....

All except Axis... that should be below Konig, but the bling factor and bang for the buck of an axis wheel should be a 10.