I thought OZ "had" one of the best reputations for wheels...at least they did over here in europe!
Ok, so if OZ are out and so is HRE, Iforged, and the latest I heard was that BBS had filed for bankruptcy, what reputable manufacturers are left?
BBS did not file for bankruptcy, it was "financial restructuring" and it doesn't affect product or manufactoring. They mix their own alloys from scratch and raw prices of materials has had a huge impact on their not raising prices in a while. in 2 more months it will be business as usual.
Fikse isn't BAD, it's just not the best option. Ok for the street but not your best performer and sometimes less performance than the OE (80% off BBS business is OE).
HRE is borderline dangerous, especially on the track.
OZ is a recent change, I think it was just about 2 years ago now that Tire Rack took a controlling interest. I really can't comment much on their quality, except that most of their product is no longer made to the same standards as it was in Italy.
I know alot on this list have bought iForged but just look at some of the basic problems they've had installing them (wrong offsets sent, etc), does that speak quality? I don't mean to pick on this company specifically, it's just that recently I've seen more problems with them and uneducated consumers buying them than HRE's. Like I said before, talking to a reputable and educated shop locally who can sit down and listen to what you want to accomplish and then advise you on how that can be done is the step most people skip. They tend to read these forums as work, and just like me, anyone can claim to be an expert and post their "expert opinion". This is why I offer to talk to anyone over the phone and if you're in the US somewhere (me in the NE area, other colleagues across the country), I can arrange to meet you at a reputable shop and go over this in person. This past month I've spent every saturday presenting to car clubs about the wheel industry in general: Audi of Virginia, Porsche North Jersey, Porsche SE PA, Audi PA, BMW VA next weekend.
If you're going to replace the wheels on your car, you have to ask yourself
1. Why?
-To increase performance on the street? Hands down, you want a BBS die-forged, let's say that these are 100% of available performance. In the greater than 75% to 90% you have Dymag composites, Speedline, Fikse, OZ (*keep in mind this means they have a product or two, not their entire product line!)
-To increase performance on the track/for competition? You want a BBS motorsports wheel. There's no such thing as an all purpose wheel, just like there's no such thing as an all season high performance tire. It's the typical triangle with lateral strength, weight and impact strength at the three corners. You can't have all three. If the car isn't going to be on the street then you want a motorsports wheel. There's a reason BBS wheels had 100% of the field at 12Hours of Sebring and they're not a spec wheel, which means everyone chose them over the competition. Also, BBS NEVER gives away their product to race teams, everyone purchases everything at full price. Schumaker paid full price for each of his 7.8lb forged magnessium wheels and there's no better marketing than Ferrari as far as race products go. Even working for the company, my race team pays full price for our wheels (no employess discounts). Why can they do this, because they're the best
-To change the overall look of the car?
-If you're considering chrome, it doesn't matter what you put on the car, you shouldn't be driving the Maserati in the first place. I don't think there's a quality chrome wheel out there in the marketplace, the chroming process would destroy a quality wheel so no one respectable does it.
-If you want something larger or a different than OE style, it's a tough call.
-BBS are made for performance, design is dictated by FEM analysis on which is the most efficient and lightweight design, not by shaping the spokes to look cool. It's a "race look" as this is the companies heritage. Mos tof the product line looks very similar.
-A "deep dish" look is going to require a low offset where italian cars typically have a high offset. This means you're wheels are going to sit outside your fenders. They're also going to be very prone to bending the outer lip.
-If you want black centers, a polished lip or something else for the look of the car, you have to realize you're decreasing the performance on your vehicle to get that look and then drive accordingly. You'll have to be extra careful to avoid potholes, hard cornering and forget about highspeed driving.
Again, if anyone wants more detail or particulars that I can't post on a public forum, please feel free to PM me your number and I'd be more than happy to explain over the phone or in person. I'm in Boston, Philly, NY, DC, Hartford areas all about once a month presenting at shops.
