I went to a local car accessory store today to ask about ordering Rota GT3 wheels? The guy said that even tho their lightweight, Rotas would be hopelessĀ on Welsh roads withĀ the potholes and speed bumpsā¦ He said their more Track based wheels andĀ that their lightweight because their made with a softer alloy this resulting in buckles and dentsā¦
I could see where hes coming from coz iāve got no intention of going track driving, I only go back and fore to work and the odd b-road spin on the weekendā¦
Ā He suggested I go forĀ somthing like Team Dynamics, BK, Dare or something similarā¦
Ā
Whats your opinion guysā¦ is he talking poop?? lol
There may be a nugget of truth hidden in there.Ā Moderately priced wheels are cast, rather than forged, so theyāre not as tough as really expensive wheels.Ā And the less they weigh, the less metal they contain so the weaker you can expect them to be. (I donāt think the āsofter alloyā claim is true, just the amount of metal used in the design is less.)Ā Ā Ā I seem to recall OZ superleggeras gained a bit of a rep for being easy to bend.Ā Donāt know how well-deserved it was.Ā You can bend any wheel if you hit a pothole hard enough, but if Rota GT3s were really more fragile than others, Iām sure oneĀ or other of theĀ wheelĀ suppliers who post here will have heard about it.
Yeah could have a ābitā of a point, but I reckon youād have to be doing some seriously bad driving and slamming into everything in sight to really āMullerā them up. I donāt have them ones, but I run Rotaās on a daily basis, cover 10-15k a year and donāt exactly āhang aboutā and iāve had no problems.
Lightwieght magnesium wheels maybe, butĀ perhaps he wanted to sell you something other than what you wereĀ asking for?
More likely to buckle are bigger wheels with lower profiles. If you hit a sharp bump or pothole theĀ lower the profile, the more force is transfered directly to the rim rather than just being absorbed by the sidewall flexing. Standard mk1 14" wheels have a tall sidewall compared to say 16" ones with very low profile tyres.
A modicom of truthā¦ mainly crap though. I too have Rota wheels. 15" with 195/50 Toyoās and I have had the misfortune of dropping one into a big poy hole with no damage at all.Ā If the tyre is a high enough profile then no issues, unless your pressures are off.Ā My Partners A4 has 19" with 35 profile tyres, sheās wrecked 2 tyres recently on the same pothole [:@] but not the rim - theyāve been checked - send Jibberingloon a PM he sells Rotaās with discount to Club members.
dear fellow welshman, some element of truth, yes, i work as a ripspeed supervisor for halfords and youāll be ok iāve been assured by almost all of our suppliers that every wheel they sell will be ok, i live in north wales (bangor) and iāve never seen any really badly dented wheels, from our local roadsā¦ seen a few after they had the mis-fortune with a pavement, lol, go for them.
Surely a ātrack biasedā wheel would be designed for the track - ie repeated banging over saw-tooth curbing at high G loads. If anything being ādesigned for the trackā would make them stonger.
All wheels have to pass the BS standard for road wheels, which includes specifications of the rigerous testing they must withstand. People posting on forums, or indeed selling wheels, donāt have to pass any kind of testing and can therefore be talking rubbish.
The two regulation wheels used in the Ma5da race series are both by Team Dynamics.Ā see here: http://ma5daracing.com/parts02.php
If you then look at the TD web site at the competition wheels the test parameters are given: http://www.teamdynamicsracing.com/wheel_testing_facilities.htm
These are typical of a competition wheel - which far exceed the performance specs for general road-going alloy wheels.
Ā Also, since the wheels are heat treated and stress relieved as part of the manufacturing process (http://www.teamdynamicsracing.com/pro-forged/stamp-forging-process.htm) the competion wheel is far more able to take the knocks and general abuse that it would experience in ānormalā road use. Kerbing excepted.
I presume the same is true of the ROTA wheels, but I can gleen no specific information on them.