I wish this was true. Coming from working at one of these companies and having been with them as they changed manufacturer over manufacturer looking for a "balance" of cost and "quality", I know this isn't true. But your post was right about one thing... retail value does not always determine whether the wheels are good quality or not.

One piece wheels are more performance oriented than 2 or 3 piece wheels... made from the same material as the comparison, they'll be lighter. But what made 2 and 3 piece wheels popular was the fact that you could curb the rim, dent it, damage it and it's fine because you can just change the lip out. Now it just isn't cost effective anymore.

Two things come to mind when I think cheap wheels, finish....how they're forged. I had a set of 5Zigens on my Z that I thought were quality wheels but the centers were soft....junk wheels! Weight....the lighter the better that's only good for perfomance and what you're driving.
Gary

this video shows the difference between forged and cast

I put on a $500 set of Stern Hyper-Blacks 20's after I dropped on Teins just to see what offset Id like, how bad the camber was, would they dent in potholes, if 20's were too big, etc. Too tell you the truth I abused the hell out of them for 3 months, hit all kinds of holes, didnt take much care of them, and they were actually pretty damn good, still looked brand new. I got all kinds of compliments from people at the gas station, ect., people staring and that stuff G owners are used too if you keep yours nice. Last month I sold them to the kid down the street and bought PIAAs, but my point is if I didnt have the money or care what others thought those rims would have been fine and very few people would have known or cared that those werent high end rims. I could tell right out of the box that my Rozza's were made better and up close looked better, but from a ride stand point I cant tell any difference in performance. JMHO. By the way my PIAAs cost 3 time as much and I worry 10times more about the getting stolen dispite have 3 different sets of locks on them...

siggh

Too much cross talk about price, construction and materials.

The only thing I really agree (that wasn't really said specifically) is that it's very, very difficult to make a wheel light AND strong while selling it cheap. Somewhere, somehow a compromise has to be made.

Cheap wheels that are cast give up weight in order to be sold cheaper while being strong enough. Forged wheels give up cheap price in order to be made strong. A good exception is for those of us that have the oem forged Rays wheels.

this is to gary c: what 5zigen model did you have and how long did you keep them before they were too beat up to keep?

PHILIPINO ????

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radtech, was there a noticeable change in the quality of your ride after you went with the 20" rims? i have the 18" oem sport tires/wheels without the sports package but i'm really considering upgrading to 20's over 18's but i'd rather err with a comfortable ride over looks/performance. any advice anyone can give me would be greatly appriciated.

I would say ride quality is the same if not better. That could be due to the Teins also. But the only difference is when I hit a pot hole I feel it a whole lot more because the tires are thinner.

Just happened accross this thread and unless i missed it I am assuming that Konig's, Axis are in the same line as MRR's, etc

Where does Momo's fit?

If your like the rims just buy themIts about what you like.

i second that.

i think the majority of the time you should buy rims in your budget, cause even some of the cheap ones like rota are not bad rims, i know people who buy them and they lasted and didnt mess up on them at all. then again any rim can be damaged depends on how you drive i guess.

+ a hundred billion