The truth about Rota wheels

[Greasemonkey2000]

Yes I have my flame retardant suit on! In all seriousness the subject of 'knock off' wheels is a common subject on car forums. Said subject was recently brought up on another forum when someone asked about Rota wheels and why people told him to get 'real wheels'. Of course one of the very first responses was typical and went something like this:

Simply put, Rota is the Chinese knock off brand of the wheel world. They copy good quality, expensive wheels, and make them heavy, weak, and cheap.

The reason they're popular and well known is the same reason Raceland products are: they're cheap.

Kids who work at McDonald's and live with their parents can afford to buy them and put them on the car mom and dad bought them.

So they do, and they have no idea how bad they are, so they write on their forum how "great" they are. Soon, there are a ton of "resources" available online that say that Rota wheels or Raceland performance products are "just fine, don't let the naysayers get you down".

Simply put, they're Cheap Chinese Junk that was made to be sold to "Rinky Racers", "Ricers", and "Stance Bros". (to use the terms from my father's generation, my generation, and the current generation, respectively).

They just got big and famous because "broke high schooler wanting a cool car" is a huge market.

Now that we have a typical response lacking any facts I think it is time for actual facts and less opinion/'internet gossip'.

Here are some actual facts:
https://www.autoindustriya.com/featu...-are-made.html

http://custompinoyrides.com/2012/03/...f-rota-wheels/

Here is probably one of the most important facts from the above article:
"Fact 2: ROTA Wheels meet all JWL and VIA standards. Because they’re supposed to!

Would you be surprised if I told you that ROTA is probably the one who manufactured the OEM wheels for that car sitting in your garage? Yes, the ROTA plant is one of the biggest manufacturers of OEM wheels for various brands like Mitsubishi, Isuzu, Ford, Nissan, Toyota, and Mazda.

Who else is in this type of business, you might ask? Well, in terms of large-scale OEM wheel manufacturing, ROTA’s biggest competitor is Enkei.

So before we*proceed*any further, let’s*define both JWL and VIA:

“JWL” (Japan Light Wheel Alloy) is a compilation of standards defined by the Japanese Government to ensure the vehicle’s safety for aluminum road wheels. Every wheel put to market must be tested to meet JWL standards before a wheel can be put out to market in Japan.

These standards are generally accepted worldwide as acceptable for most road conditions. That is why you will see these marks on European and other Asian country wheels.

“VIA” (Vehicle Inspection Association Registration System). VIA marking can only be engraved on the wheel if registered by Japan Light Alloy Automotive Wheel Testing Council after strict quality tests by the authorized testing facility on the adaptability of JWL or JWL-T (Japan Light*Alloy Wheel*Truck & Bus) technical standard.

While other brands advertise that they have their own “additional” test standards that they say are higher than that of JWL and VIA (e.g. JWL+R for Rays Engineering, Spec-E for Enkei), ROTA Wheels also does their own additional tests like Rays and Enkei, although they just don’t advertise it (maybe they should). Why do you think the OEMs trust ROTA to manufacture their OEM wheels? To stay competitive in the OEM Wheel Manufacturing business, they must show the OEMs that ROTA’s standards are better than others, and even better than what has been set by JWL and VIA.

To sum it all up, the JWL and VIA standards have been set and are accepted worldwide for*aluminum road wheels*for*most road conditions. Putting these wheels, or any other wheels for that matter (meeting JWL and VIA standards), under anything outside of most road conditions, will test the limits of the wheels.

But hey, isn’t it the same with any other part of your car that you put to the test in rigorous motorsports conditions? Remember, a chain is no stronger than its weakest link. So I urge you to go and ask the motorsports teams who use ROTA wheels what is usually the first part of their cars that fail. With the big fat budgets of motorsports teams, would you think they would be using ROTA wheels if it were their weakest link?"

If you don't like reading....
https://youtu.be/FnjwtO5nTPA

How Rota wheels are tested:
https://youtu.be/s4O0iBAGffY

How Rays Engineering wheels are tested:
https://youtu.be/PNbHWHVax7c

Hope the information helps! Undoubtedly some will spew acid in my face for not accepting internet conjecture but forums are supposed to be about education/facts and not just opinion.

Are there better wheels in terms of durability, absolutely as these are cast wheels and not forged or similar but said forged or similar wheels will cost x2-x3 more typically so as the consumer it is up to you to consider ALL THE FACTS and then make an educated decision....or just keep drinking the koolaid.