Question about Rota
Surge
Wagonist
Are Rota(s) bad rims or something. Im asking because I hear alot of bad things like they chip and paint peels off , also that they make bootleg spoons sw388 , and alot of things that just turn me off. But everytime im on a wheel hunt I always find my self looking at rotas I really like the way they look but what i wanna know is do that perform and if it even worth spending my hard earned money on.
Comments
4wd wagons never drive "normal"
2cts
their time will come
It seems that the rotas with the thin spokes are prone to failure. Granted they are cheap wheels and cheap to replace if broke but I wouldn't want them to fail at high speeds. If you do get them I would check them every once in awhile for metal fatigue. One spoke cracks, then another, then complete rim failure.
Another option is to just get Rotas with large thick spokes.
The second pic posted of the Rota was here in Boise (the black rim w/a red stripe). Any rim would have failed like that. He slid (snowcovered road) into a curb at 25 mph at a 45 degree angle in a Integra sedan (easily 3000lbs with two passengers, and he had 3). Take what you read on the internet with a grain of salt.
Ive been racing autox for 11 years and running Rota wheels for a good portion of that (along with any other wheel I could get my hands on). The g forces that are had at an standard autox will exceed anything that will ever happen during a comute other than huge potholes. Ive never had any wheel fail on me like that. Id chalk up 95% of these pix to driver error.
However, I do tech and safty for the local SCCA chapter and we get bullitens about stuff like this every once and a while. Around 2002 we got a bulliten about the Rota Attack that was on a WRX at an autox that failed. He was railing around a corner and the wheel broke away from the hub just around the lug stud holes. The wheel broke loose and they found it 100' away 25' up in a tree. Upon closer inspection of the car, some of the other wheels had stress cracks in the same area. Needless to say, we check ALL wheels for signs of ftigue during our techs now.
That being said, most of the people on here that like the styling of Rotas (yes I know they are all knockoffs, but there hasnt been an original wheel in a long time. Most wheels are knockoffs anymore) should not be afraid to purchase Rota wheels. tey ahve been made a target cause they have sold millions of wheels. Truth is, all wheels have the posibility of failure. Sure the forged ones (Volk SSR etc) will have less a chance, but we cant afford wheels of that caliber, and why if all you do is daily drive your car.
Wheel failures vs wheels sold
I have heard of a lot of wheels break, cheap and expensive.
Hey Shenrie haven't the HRE's been banned from the SCCA?
Here is a good example. I hit a ditch at 100mph then slammed into a tree. The tires on the Right side were blown because the wheels took a lot of the impact. Bent one very badly and sent it in to have it repaired. To replace one rim was going to cost me 600 dollars plus having it shipped from Japan. Having it repaired took 300 dollars. It took the tech two weeks to finally get it straight.
One rim 600 bucks or a whole set for 600 bucks? My wheels are discontinued whereas you can get the knockoffs anywhere.
Ask yourself if it is worth running expensive wheels?
I just called our RE about that as I have never heard of any specific wheels banned from SCCA competitions. He said the only wheel that has ever been specifically named was the Rota Attacks AND any wheel with the area around the lug studs removed for weight savings. See inbetween the lug holes on this picture:
But yes the HRE wheels do seem to be softer than others I have seen damaged, BUT then again, all the damaged wheels I have seen in person were damged due to driver error, not wheel fatigue under normal use. Normal use being the daily. Autox and lapping days are most definatly not defined as "normal use".
Other really soft wheels are the older BBS wheels that came stock on BMWs and VW in the late 80's early 90's. Those things seem to bend if you look at them wrong....if you can even find some that reant allready bent, lol.
a perfect balanced factory rim, here it is called a zero-rim ...
nothing to do with strenght ...
2cts and expensive
: )
hehe
I think you will be fine if you buy the Rotas.
In my accident I think if it was a Rota the rim would have been destroyed but then again for the 250 bucks it took to repair one good rim I could have bought a couple of Rotas.
Exactly. Personally, I think its stupid to spend 3 times what you spent on the car for wheels. Are they badass? yes. Would I like some? yes. Would I spend that kinda cash? Hell no.
Rota is one of the few wheel companies that even offer a 15x8 in a 4x100. Cant even get a wheel that size from the bigger names, Volk being one of them.
Not a Rota whore specifically. Ill whore any 15x7 or wider. Even if thier ugly. Size overrules looks when you actually race your car, lol. Plus Im a cheapskate, hahhaa.
Anyways this is an age-old debate, and I remember back in 2000-2001 or so when my shop became a Rota dealer and I personally rocked a set of Circuit 8s on my 1992 Civic. My wife (then fiancee') also rocked Circuit 8s on her 1992 Civic as well. Literally 5-6 personal friends of mine and countless numbers of my customers also ran various Rotas.
Through all of my auto Xes and daily driving on crap-ass ATL area roads I never had a single problem with Roa wheels. I never had a single customer with a single instance of breakage, etc. either.
The pics and horror stories are exxagerated. You see the pic and think "OMG what a crap wheel" but once you find out the actual story behind the pic it's like "well no shit the wheel broke!"
As far as quality goes:
Finish - IMO the worst of all finishes is their flat black. It's cheezy, and is most likely to flake off. when compared to real Spoon SW388 wheels the finish is far to shiny/glossy to pass for the Spoon finish. Flat black BBQ grille paint, or Krylon ultra Flat camo black is much closer.
The second worst finish was what they used to call "sports bronze" which was a flat bronze/brown color. If you could get a set that was finished properly it looked amazing, but the issue was many wheels we got had an inconsistent finish to them where it's like they failed to lay it on thick enough, resulting in a greenish hue that was pretty crappy looking.
Out of 16 wheels you could possibly make a set of four matching wheels.
Other than that I see no issues with all of their other finishes. I actually think their finishes are very nice and durable based on my having owned a set for 3-4 years with zero cracking/fading/chipping. the key is always using car wash or dish soap and a wash mitt - never spraying degreasers and/or using brushes.
As far as breaking goes hell yes they will break if you smash into a curb. If you live in a cold climate they'll be even more likely to break if you smash a curb (like the first pic) because the cold makes them more brittle.
This is NOT to say that a Spoon wheel would not be damaged beyond repair in the same collision, because IMO they'd be 100% ruined as well. They are forged which makes them stronger, but also they'd probably bend like crazy rather than break since cast (Rota) wheels are porous and more proned to breakage rather than bending.
The biggest difference also if you hit a crub with a Spoon wheel you're SOL - they are sold in boxes of TWO and are hard to find in singles, and even *if* you can find one it'll surely cost you - expect to pay 3-4 times as much per wheel, which means 1 Spoon wheel = entire set of Rotas.
Same goes for curb rash - minor cosmetic prolem like curb rash on a Spoon means you'll be hard pressed to find ANYONE willing to try and repair/refinish them because of their alloycontent and unique finish.
A Rota wheel can be replaced for less than it'd cost to have a wheel shop repair it.
Same again goes for theft, etc. etc. I can pick up the phone or long onto one of 50 online sites that will sell me 1 or 13 Rota wheels, etc. If someone is savvy enough to spot your real wheels then they'll also be more likely to steal them, or the entire car just to get them.
I am in no way saying that there isn't something "special" about owning authentic wheels. I personally own a set of (now) very rare 15x6.5 +45 offset Spoon SW388 wheels for my 1992 Civic. While it feels nice to have "real" wheels it's also not comforting to consider those problems listed above when it comes to finding replacements if needed.
Oh lastly for any people claiming some huge performance advantage by having "real" wheels rather than knock-offs:
I did not notice any difference when driving or auto crossing my 1992 Civic when I went from 12lb. rotas to 8.5lb. Spoons. for the "well forged wheels are better for racing" people I offer that race teams can afford to replace wheels as wear items. Between rumble strips, wrecks, etc. I'd rather have "disposable" cast wheels than 3-4 times as costly forged wheels for a dedicated track car.
On the street?
Sad to say it's really nothing more than "respect" that "real" forged wheels get you.