Rota Grids

[nisskid]

So is the same level of quality expected from Drifteks, Lenso D1R's etc???

id say it would be similar, most cheap manufacturers (well, manufacturers that these companies outsource too) use the same low pressure casting to keep costs low, so u can only expect so much strength from the metal that comes out. they either use a lot more metal to make them strong, which in turn makes them heavy, or they use just enough metal to pass JWL, VIA etc to keep weight down, but ultimately create a wheel that isnt designed be used for anything but driving around day to day on the streets.

a lot of people swear by drift teks and lenso's too, but once again plenty of examples of them failing under mild stress, albeit not as many horror stories as ROTA

and with drift teks and lenso's i have seen a few break personally, not on my car of course, they wouldnt last a practice day the way my wheels get abused not as many people run ROTA's over here compared to the US, so most of the examples are over there, so the internet is the best we can get.

[Dean_HR31]

hmmm

Well ive now spoken to 2 dealers (one that i know personally) who have sold thousands of these sets and say they havnt had one complaint or rim sent back. Apparently they have been used on heaps of drift cars, hill climbs, targa rallies etc and have been fine?

These guys have heard/seen the stories of these rims cracking and say the same thing Fatz - any rim will also break if smashed into a gutter.

I dont know, i might give them a go. I can order them in the exact offset/width i need, they look se* and apparently work fine according to people who have actually used them and sold them.

[nisskid]

look, chances are u wont have a problem, but it's not like ur trying out cheap knock-off guages or something, if they fail they fail, you buy some new ones. your wheels fail and you can run into some serious shit.

btw, cheap wheel failure is a lot more common than reported, firstly because a lot of the time they go on street cars that dont cop a lot of abuse straight away, the wheels arent targetted at people involved in motorsport so most of their customers are street drivers who give their car the biggest work out on a saturday night driving through the city revving their engines. 2ndly most people who do use these for motorsport consider these wheels consumables. some people take the attitude that it's more cost effective to replace cheap wheels constantly, than replacing expensive wheels occasionally. 3rdly and probably most commonly because often it's after the wheel has been sold 2nd hand that it fails, so they have to retailer to go back to.

and just so we are aware, hitting stuff doesnt automatically = wheel failure. i have hit the curb on the inside of turn 1 at mallala more times than i can remember at probably 80+k's sideways, hard enough that im getting air off it. not to mention constant ripple strip love (sideways), constant dirt dropping sidways, hell even caught the edge of the ripple strip sideways pinching the tyre on the edge and ripping out my subframe. only a few weeks ago i went off the track sideways through a bunch of tyres at about 80k's, direct hits to both wheels on that side, as well as the wheels catching in the dirt and throwing the car up on 2 wheels. oh yeh and there was that time when i popped a tyre mid corner drifting, it came off the bead and then i drifted through the ditch on the transition between turn 1 and 2 at lala directly onto bare rim (the ditch is big enough to make some cars get air when they come out of it). they also took a direct hit into a metal guard rail at 50k's an hour. and that's only my current rims, i could go on all day with different impacts they have to put up with like the brutal curb on the transition between 8 and 9 at mallala, and the stuff my other wheels have had to deal with, but i cbf. they have survived every hit fine. not only have they not failed, they havent even bent or buckled.

for reference a mate broke his drift teks first time he hit a curb at mallala.

for the record my current rims cost me $600 on my door from japan.

and btw i dont have the stories for all those pics of ROTA's, but i know at least a few are purely from hard cornering.

in fairness ROTA apparently have a great customer service and are quick to replace shit, at least in the states. they blame all the failures on "bad batches". but honestly, at the risk of ur car falling the pieces onto the track at high speeds, id want more than a replacement.

[TZH]

this was caused by hard cornering at Infineon Raceway

Looks like a fire hydrant

[scathing]

So any first hand proof/evidence like Pete has provided?

Or are you just going to produce the same internet pictures everyone has seen before?

Pete provided his "first hand experience" on the Internet, which is how the majority of us know him, which makes his opinions about as valid as the posted internet pictures.

You can't rule out the experiences some people have had just because they shared them online, without ruling out everyone's.

[R31Nismoid]

Pete provided his "first hand experience" on the Internet, which is how the majority of us know him, which makes his opinions about as valid as the posted internet pictures.

You can't rule out the experiences some people have had just because they shared them online, without ruling out everyone's.

3rd/4th hand regurgitated rubbish from forum rumour and dribble to the next forum... vs's pete's 1st hand you mean.

[nisskid]

sorry but how do u know it's 3rd/4th hand? both the bent spokes one and the fire hydrant one were first hand afaik, id find the threads but i cbf.

unfortunately some of the threads from the original posters of the real bad examples are deleted (dead links)

[R324DR]

these wheels are made in the Philippines and are obviously made to a price. that being said, they wont give you a problem unless that are subjected to forces that they are not designed for (heavy side impact from a gutter). The damage pictures look pretty dramatic, but with out knowing the circumstances leading up to the wheel failing, it shouldn't be concluded that Rota wheels are any worse that a lot of other brands in the same price range.

From memory Rotas in a 18x9.5 size cost about $1200 for a set shipped to your door direct from the factory in the Philippines.

[nisskid]

ive mentioned that at least 2 of those examples were from simply hard cornering, not hitting anything. suspected more but like i said, a lot of dead links where the original threads were.

[bigmikespec]

nisskid you are trying too hard... let the tight asses go buy there cheap rims and have an epic accident. It is called natural selection.

[nisskid]

nisskid you are trying too hard... let the tight asses go buy there cheap rims and have an epic accident. It is called natural selection.

yeh true.

[fatz]

well cant say ive had any dramas

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff9/fat...20island/20.jpg

semis not as much power at the above civic but i recon my gtr have a f**k load more torque

either way jenna just stuck the tyre up a massive gutter at the shops as well and all seems fine

i have a few set of r34 gtr rims and the rotars are lighter thus why i use them at the track

i drift/drag and generally thrash the kunt out of my cars

either way ive smashed enkins at the track buckled a shit load of simmons( they are really weak as piss)

[fatz]

and if i do smash one ill be the first on here to tell everyone

as opposed to posting a pick of someone elses shit understeering honda that plowed up a gutter

lol

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

dean, you have meisters atm.... sell them and buy a second hand set of TE37's

[Dean_HR31]

dean, you have meisters atm.... sell them and buy a second hand set of TE37's

My meisters are sold mate... atleast i got what they are worth.

But ummm yeah, f*** these rota's im not risking it. They may be fine, but still not risking it.

As its mainly a drift car, i dont think wheels as beautiful as the S1s i had are required... think i might just get some D1r's in the exact widths and offsets i want/need, throw some new tires on and spend the left over money for a few more suspension bits... how can you go wrong for $1400 for D1R's in 18x10 +22 & 18x9 +15.....??

About the TE37s or any other Jap wheels ive spent day and night on ALL forums looking for something in the required widths and offsets for my car but just have no luck. Its a night mare.

Edited August 15, 2009 by Dean_HR31

[R31Nismoid]

and if i do smash one ill be the first on here to tell everyone

as opposed to posting a pick of someone elses shit understeering honda that plowed up a gutter

lol

[nisskid]

and if i do smash one ill be the first on here to tell everyone

as opposed to posting a pick of someone elses shit understeering honda that plowed up a gutter

lol

u forgot to mention "picks" of wheels that broke purely from hard cornering.

[nisskid]

My meisters are sold mate... atleast i got what they are worth.

But ummm yeah, f*** these rota's im not risking it. They may be fine, but still not risking it.

As its mainly a drift car, i dont think wheels as beautiful as the S1s i had are required... think i might just get some D1r's in the exact widths and offsets i want/need, throw some new tires on and spend the left over money for a few more suspension bits... how can you go wrong for $1400 for D1R's in 18x10 +22 & 18x9 +15.....??

About the TE37s or any other Jap wheels ive spent day and night on ALL forums looking for something in the required widths and offsets for my car but just have no luck. Its a night mare.

jap auctions mate, remember cheap new wheels dont have anywhere near the same resale as more expensive 2nd hand wheels. u may think ur getting a better deal to begin with, but really if you buy TE's for $2k, and sell them for $1.8k, that's cheaper than spending 1.4k on new wheels, and selling them for $700.

[scathing]

3rd/4th hand regurgitated rubbish from forum rumour and dribble to the next forum... vs's pete's 1st hand you mean.

The one where the spokes warped and the disk pushed out was posted by the owner of the wheels (not a rehash of a rehash of a link) and I'm pretty sure I've seen one or two others posted first hand. I don't personally know the guy who owned those warped wheels, but then I don't personally know Pete either.

Pete's experiences are interesting, but not exactly definitive. I know people who've never had issues with ROTA, Lenso, etc even under sustained hard use but the ratio of success:failures compared to the wheels ROTA models theirs on seems to be a lot worse.

If some engineering testing firm grabs a dozen sets (to avoid a one-off manufacturing fault) and stress tests them against RAYS/Enkei etc and finds them just as strong and publishes a detailed report on their methodology etc then fair enough I'll take that as definitive despite it being from only 1 organisation.

[Dean_HR31]

I need new wheels before winton though (5th september).... im sure i wont have anything by then through jap auctions?