Track Report: Rota Rims And P-cup Slicks..

[Martin Donnon]

LSX-438, dont be hard on yourself. Running fast times at track days is exciting, exploding rim potential just adds to that!

Seriously, you have done the community an important service by posting this information. Hats off to you for taking a bit of heat to do the right thing by others in the scene. You should be applauded for it!

[Duncan]

Indeed, and a lot of the posts in here are just people passing on rubbish second hand.

As for racing on cast rims, I have used only 2 styles of rims on my car (about 200kg) lighter than Duncan's. Both are cast. Neither style have broken in 7 years of abuse, no sign of cracks. It is rubbish to suggest any cast rim is a death trap and any forged rim will never have an issue.

We have broken 2 wheels but both were in big accidents so no complaint.

As pointed out earlier you only get to choose 2 of out cheap, light and strong. I go for cheap and strong, the wheels are damn heavy with the extra material.

[nisskid]

Dude - without people like you most of us wouldn't know shit from shovel. Go ahead and test as many new things as you see fit, some will appreciate feedback, some will bag anything since they are sad, stuff them. You know, how would you like to be the first guy to try Volk's, I'm sure his mates told him he is an idiot too, and look at Volks now.

Wolrd needs pioneers.

for the record, many people have been before him testing ROTA's, that's how they got their bad reputation. Volk (Rays) got quite a good reputation for constantly proving itself in racing applications by private owners and racing teams, eg. NISMO.

[nisskid]

wow, seems as though the same arguments are being spewed up time after time. even though they have nothing to do with the main opposing argument.

a few points of the argument:

- no one said ALL cast wheels are weak, good cast wheels are good, forged are more often stronger, but not always. Cast vs Forged is more related to weight:strength, rather than absolute strength. Some wheels are designed to be stupidly lightweight, and although take advantage of an expensive manufacturing process like forging, are still relatively weak due to how little metal they use to achieve super-lightweight wheels, some are the opposite, it all varies.

- ROTA's are not good quality cast wheels, besides having a poor reputation of breaking easily, ultimately they are a cheap chinese/taiwanese wheel no different to your cheap junk that you buy from bob jane to put on ur festiva, just use different designs and are marketed differently.

- The above fact is fine, for most applications, but for the application of a big heavy supercar, doing track work, putting huge stress on the wheels, it's just not suited to it.

- as a side argument, not so much relevant here but worth adding, personally i wouldnt support ROTA for the simple fact that they are ripping off the intellectual property of the manufacturers who actually bring the car scene new fresh ideas and new technology, and in turn slowly kill them. Buying ROTA instead of the genuine item is killing wheel innovation. as Roy touched on, this blatant replication without any real idea what's going on leads to poor copies with the cosmetic design ok, but the mechanical design different.

[Beer Baron]

yes it is a bit sad. looking at the rota website I cannot see any original designs. I can see enkei copies, volk copies weds copies and the list goes on. actually I think maybe the "bolognia" is original. lol. http://www.rotawheels.com/wheels.asp?wheelid=5 set of bolognia's for your race car anyone?

also, I think for wheels that have next to zero cost in design (they are 'inspired' by others work) they are actually not that cheap. at $1500 a set or more for a set of 18s you are not far off the price of some good quality genuine volks on the used market. and for double your $1500 you can just about get a brand new set of TE37s which will certainly last a long long time. i've seen sets getting around over 15 years old that were still in great shape.

[hrd-hr30]

but number 1 of the 6 great reasons to buy from ROTA Aus is you won't find copies!!!

http://www.rotaaustralia.com.au/

[LSX-438]

yes it is a bit sad. looking at the rota website I cannot see any original designs. I can see enkei copies, volk copies weds copies and the list goes on. actually I think maybe the "bolognia" is original. lol. http://www.rotawheels.com/wheels.asp?wheelid=5 set of bolognia's for your race car anyone?

also, I think for wheels that have next to zero cost in design (they are 'inspired' by others work) they are actually not that cheap. at $1500 a set or more for a set of 18s you are not far off the price of some good quality genuine volks on the used market. and for double your $1500 you can just about get a brand new set of TE37s which will certainly last a long long time. i've seen sets getting around over 15 years old that were still in great shape.

an you suggest somewhere in sydney i can go look at some genuine te37's?

(i'm not importing these to find they have 1mm brake clearance like i think they will)

Edited June 10, 2010 by LSX-438

[CaBS]

The Zero Plus ones look pretty unique?

Not sure they'd be a hot seller though...

[2lazy]

The Zero Plus ones look pretty unique?

Not sure they'd be a hot seller though...

They look like SSR

[Beer Baron]

The Zero Plus ones look pretty unique?

Not sure they'd be a hot seller though...

sadly even they are copies. of ssr longchamp or similar...

[Beer Baron]

an you suggest somewhere in sydney i can go look at some genuine te37's?

(i'm not importing these to find they have 1mm brake clearance like i think they will)

let me ask around. there are bound to be some around. what size/offset do you want? I'm guessing you want to stick with 18s due to tyre availability right? we used the 19s on giants car and they were fine but not much help when you want RE55s/DZ01s or 18inch mich slicks.

[nisskid]

The Zero Plus ones look pretty unique?

Not sure they'd be a hot seller though...

they are work equip 01 copies, a hugely popular nostalgia rim

[LSX-438]

let me ask around. there are bound to be some around. what size/offset do you want? I'm guessing you want to stick with 18s due to tyre availability right? we used the 19s on giants car and they were fine but not much help when you want RE55s/DZ01s or 18inch mich slicks.

Yes i need to stick with 18's

i believe the closest match for te37's is:

- 18x10 (or 10.5) x 15 for the back (or close to that)

- 18x9.5 (or 10.0) x 22~27 for the front (or close to that)

Depending ont he offset the caliper clearance will be a mm or two, so i really want to do a trial fit. I shopped around for several days before but i couldnt find anyone in sydney stocking these, which is why i went with the enkei's and rotas. Whenever i visit a tyre/wheel shop i usually try any 18's they think may fit (did this last week at talebs) as i am sure there may be some others out there that fit. I dont like the idea of importing a set (esecially $$$ ones) before i can see they fit myself though.

Edited June 10, 2010 by LSX-438

[conan7772]

Never the less, after all that's been said, I still intend to get a set of Rota P-45R, which are similar to the Grid Drifts but with only 5 spokes, which means they'll be weaker.

I'm only running an R33 GTS-T , with sports suspension and street tyres.

I'm not interested in super fast lap times, just a bit of adrenaline every now and then.

So in my case with 350 kg less, less speed, heat, inertia and traction, I'd expect the Rotas to hold together.

Last but not least, there's no way in hell my wife will let me spend $3k on rims alone. I'd get kicked in the nuts so hard I wouldn't be able to drive anymore anyway.

[dori34]

Believe it or not but the rotas have very good feedback in the us and uk. i'm thinking of getting a set of grids as well

[conan7772]

Believe it or not but the rotas have very good feedback in the us and uk. i'm thinking of getting a set of grids as well

The Grids were advertised to me as one of the stronger rims. Popular on drift cars.

Probably less strain on them drifting as opposed to a GTR cornering hard on fast track times.

Awesome looking rim, love the concave on them.

[02stagea]

Last but not least, there's no way in hell my wife will let me spend $3k on rims alone. I'd get kicked in the nuts so hard I wouldn't be able to drive anymore anyway.

Quoted for the lulz. I think I might sig that!!

OT. Everything is built to a price. There were guys like Duncan doing research on clutches, tyres, turbos etc when skylines first hit our shores (and whenever a new car type comes out). The reason so many people know what is good or bad now is someone tried it and it was not up to the task that they used it for. All he is trying to do is get a set of wheels that clear his brakes and let other track uses know what happened in his experience.

I'm not sure why people are attacking him for buying ROTA wheels. I gurantee all the people crapping on have some form of rip-off or copy item on their car or in their house. Grow up and see what the man was trying to do. I bet many of you would not say 'hey look, I bought something and it failed, but please learn from my experience and let's discuss the cause'.

Keep up the trial and error work mate. I have found your write-ups to be a great read and am using your experiences on my own track car (no not a skyline).

[lidz]

Depending ont he offset the caliper clearance will be a mm or two, so i really want to do a trial fit.

would it be possible to just chuck a request in the nsw section to test fit somebody's wheels? As you've said not to many shops are going to have a set just sitting there waiting (unless one of the importers have brought some used ones in?)

Never the less, after all that's been said, I still intend to get a set of Rota P-45R, which are similar to the Grid Drifts but with only 5 spokes, which means they'll be weaker.

The p-45r's are copies of the nismo lmgt4's, also i'm confused, yes there's only 5 spokes but they're thicker so why would they be weaker than the grid drifts???

Also for a couple hundred extra you could have a used set of real lmgt4's instead of rotas, just a thought...

[conan7772]

would it be possible to just chuck a request in the nsw section to test fit somebody's wheels? As you've said not to many shops are going to have a set just sitting there waiting (unless one of the importers have brought some used ones in?)

The p-45r's are copies of the nismo lmgt4's, also i'm confused, yes there's only 5 spokes but they're thicker so why would they be weaker than the grid drifts???

Also for a couple hundred extra you could have a used set of real lmgt4's instead of rotas, just a thought...

I'm just going off photos, but the spokes look the same dimensions where they join the rim.

Also I've seen more photos of broken 5 spokers.

As for the Nismos, they're HEAPS dearer, even used. Never mind trying to get GTS-T offsets.

Also they don't have the same deep concave the Rotas do in 9.5 inch.

[hrd-hr30]

I'm not sure why people are attacking him for buying ROTA wheels. I gurantee all the people crapping on have some form of rip-off or copy item on their car or in their house.

Volk GT7 on the Aristo, Rays Cerumo Sports on the 180SX for road use and Desmond Regamasters for track work.

I guess you could call the Dynamic steelies on my Patrol a 'copy', but there is no question they are fit-for-purpose.

I did buy a set of cheap knock offs once - drift teks and one broke with a very minor hit to a rock on the edge of the road. Since then I refuse to buy cheapies.

Grow up and see what the man was trying to do. I bet many of you would not say 'hey look, I bought something and it failed, but please learn from my experience and let's discuss the cause'.

we have. you can't make a gravity cast wheel almost as light as a similar forged wheel and not expect fatigue failure. as for learning from experience, this is hardly the first set of busted ROTAs anyone has seen.