I am just getting into the market for a new set of rims ... I am curious as to how the labels pan out, I know the popular brands like BBS, WORK and VOLK, but am curious of some more AFFORDABLE brands that do not compromise quality--AXIS comes to mind, are there any others ? I am just curious of the whole spectrum of brands that are out there!

THANKS!

If you have some 19s that you want to sell... let me know

 

Of the more affordable brand rims I think AXIS is one of the better lines, IMO.

 

i'd skip over Axis and go directly to Enkei, they are a quality wheel and very inexpensive.

 

posts like this basically mean that you need to do some more research to find out how all these different manufacturers produce their wheels and if you are going to be happy with the quality of wheels they make at the prices they sell them for...

I know for me, my priorities are 1) forged/quality construction; 2) somewhat lightweight; 3) somewhat affordable; 4) variety of widths/offsets; 5) name recognition (in that order)

I'll rank some popular wheels according to how they fit my prerequisites:

HRE - love the 540R - WAY out of my price range however - best fitment available regardless of application
BBS - awesome wheels with the most prestigious racing heritage - great combination of weight/strength - lots of choices of mesh wheels, but my favorite (RS-GT) is a little pricey
Work - Best wheels made in Japan - the VS-XX is one of my favorite wheels of all time - price through GB is reasonable
IForged - love the Swifts and the new finish they have - hyper anthracite - price through GB a steal for custom forged wheels
Volk/Rays - the SF-winnings are nice, but I'm having a hard time finding sizes I like (offset/width/lip size) without having to roll fenders (too aggresive or not aggresive enough)
SSR - hit or miss sometimes - easily found, somewhat pricey for what you get (ie mixed reviews) - love the professors, though - on par/slightly below Volks...
Enkei - really like the RPF-1's - superlight... durability is a question (have seen them crack in half before) - price is definitely right though
Axis - the Hiros/Reverb are nice, but not really what I'm looking for - really affordable however
ADR - heavy cheap wheels - M-sports look good, but that's about it...

I've pretty much decided that I'm going to go with hyper anthracite (new finish) IForged Swifts over the Work VS-XX and Volk SF-winnings - as you can see, I'm a mesh lover!

2003.5 BS coupe 5AT
Clear Corners, Alum. Pedals, Pro-1 Intake, Resonated Test Pipes, UR Pulley, CF Engine Cover, GReddy EVO II, Kinetix Plenum, Hotchkis Sways, Pro-1 Headers

 

whatever you do, dont go too cheap on wheels..
remember that your not driving a civic and you should
compliment the car with a good wheel that will be in the same luxury class as your "G". I would say that you will be looking at least 3000k for a good set of wheels. Your best bet is to get in with a group buy. Do a search for iforged, since I think they have one going on now.

 

I agree Enkei are decent as well.

If you choose Iforged be prepared to wait. Patience is key when dealing with IForged. They are known for missing deadlines and their customer service isn't top notch. If you do a search for IForged on this forum you will see a lot of threads with complaints about that company.

 

Bzabodyn, don't forget Kinesis and Fikse. Both cost a grip but are race proven. IMO, I would put them above HRE in terms of quality. Also, don't forget Blitz. I would put them around Volk level.

 

I could have put about 50 other wheel manufactures on the list, but I wanted to keep it simple for the guy and just give him something to base future opinions off of...

There's a lot of wheels out there that are low-volume, completely custom pieces, but the average-joe isn't going to think twice about them after they see the price (HRE, Kinesis = $1500/each on avg)

IForged customer service problems have now been minimized since they have basically stopped selling their own products direct and are instead going through various vendors (D2 Autosports, Vivid Racing, etc) to sell their wheels... the wait is going to be there, but right now it averages around 6 weeks, whereas if you are looking for custom Volk/Work/other japanese wheels, you better be prepared to wait around 3 months or more...

I've heard of people waiting 5 months whenever the Top Secret Gold LE's came out - that's just ridiculous!

2003.5 BS coupe 5AT
Clear Corners, Alum. Pedals, Pro-1 Intake, Resonated Test Pipes, UR Pulley, CF Engine Cover, GReddy EVO II, Kinetix Plenum, Hotchkis Sways, Pro-1 Headers

 

See my wheels are relatively "cheap".... But you would be so surprised on the quality/looks of these rims in person, when i got them int he boxes i was like wow, this is a steal, these rims look like they are easily over $2k, and people always are like "man hot rims, i want similar rims but nowhere near as expensive as yours" LOL...

I have been through messed up roads, to driving hard alot on them and everyday driving, not one bend, problem or anything wrong witht hem, i LOVE them but my problem is, i get sick of things too fast and easily, so i want more "expensive" wheels or it just so happens to be that the wheel i want are much more expensive. (Volk,HRE,iForged,DPE's) The only downside of my rims is that they are heavy, i cant wait to put stock rims back on to see the performance difference, but the grip and handling they gave me is sick! Good luck with your decision dennis, there's a lot of great info from these guys who posted! Martin


Martin
2003.5 BS G35
Nismo Aero/Sport Package
0-60 5.4 - 1/4 Mile 14.16 *GTech* and on 19's!!

 

Well, I thought about those bootlegs on ImportTuner magazines but my friend stopped me. He owns a 1998 Accord and he went through 3 sets of rims (appx $1000-1200 each set in 18") in 2 years because the damn things keep cracking and bending. He does not drive his car very aggressively, then again the roads in Boston are pretty bad. It doesn't take too much to figure out that wide lip on a cast wheels is disaster waiting to happen. Personally I would shop for some used quality wheels like Works or Volk.


CPV35 G35C Maliblue

 

You should be fine with the Axis.

 

Yea your right, i dotn fully know the specs of my wheels but i would love to know! I drove through NYC alot, Queens, and into Jersey and have hit some bad potholes by accident or on purpose too because of the narrow street, not one thing wrong with my rims and my lip is pretty big also, a little over 4 inches int he rear!


Martin
2003.5 BS G35
Nismo Aero/Sport Package
0-60 5.4 - 1/4 Mile 14.16 *GTech* and on 19's!!

 

Any issues w/ the AXIS? I think I will go that path because the Hiros look great to me in Anthracite (DG coupe)...

Are they built to last? I ask because they are considerably cheaper than the trust brands such as Volks, Work and so forth.

Thanks!

If you have some 19s that you want to sell... let me know