Hello,

I am looking for some new shoes for the MINI and want to go the forged route. I like the kinesis, hre, iforged, dpe wheels but haven't really found one that just jumps out and says, "yeah, that is exactly what I am looking for."

So, I figured I would enlist the members of the board to share their forged wheel experience and maybe some potential manufacturers.

I have been looking all over the net and each time I do I come across a new forged wheel manufacturer. Does anyone have a manfuacturer of forged wheels that aren't widely known or any experience with some of the more well known manufacturers to stay away from?

As always, I appreciate the help.

Thank you,
JBravoMC

 

I have some Racing Hart CP-035's for my Subaru, in "Winning Gold", they are forged and light, 13 lbs. for 17x7.5. Of all my forged wheels the Hart's are my favorite on looks, they are also available in white. Both have red aluminum valve stems. The Gold is more like a gold mist over aluminum. I know of no Mini owner with these wheels. If you want really light their 15" ones go down to 8-8.5 lbs.

Kodiak's, I think they have forged centers, availabe in several diameters, custom widths, offsets and colors. The centers can be a different color than the rest of the wheel as well. This is a 3 piece wheel, probably a little heaiver than, the lighter, 1 piece wheels on the market, doable on the street but considered a Racing wheel.

Volks, Lots of them out there, but they do come in several styles, I have te-37's and ce28n's and they are available in custom colors at extra $. Expect to wait at LEAST 60 days for a custom color, if it's a popular size and probably 90 but don't be surprised if it takes longer and it will if it's also a less popular size/fitment like my 16x8 ce28n's for the Mini, which took 9 months. You will also be expected to pay at least 50% up front. I consider the te-37's to be the strongest of the light wheels, followed in strenght by the ce28n's which are lighter. Both wheels are stronger than SSR's and the CP-035's which cost more.

 

When I was shopping for my wheels, I shopped here:

http://wheelexperts.com/
http://www.carrozzeriadesign.com/
http://supremepowerparts.com/

They pretty much know everything when it comes to custom wheels.

When it comes to which companies to stay away from, as far customer service is concerned, I would stay away from IForged and DPE. I would rather not get into the issues I personally have with them, but that is my $.02

If you are willing to pay the $$$ stick with Kinesis or HRE, can't beat those two. For the more $$$ conscience person, like me, it was a toss-up between Volk and JLine. I chose JLine because of the wheel style, and I am not disappointed in one bit. The build quality is outstanding...the same company that cuts IForged wheels cuts JLine wheels too.

 

Why are you looking for a forged wheel exclusively? Not every forged wheel is light if you're specifically looking for lightweight wheels

 

Fikse also makes quality forged wheels

 

I was mainly looking for a somewhat light forged wheel. I guess I should have specified that I am going 18" and like the looks of the hard edges on the spokes that most forged wheels have like the HRE's and Kinesis wheels.

I am just hoping to not go over the ~24lbs that my 17" R90's are but still go with some nice 18". Also, I am looking for something a bit unique similar to maybe something like 2perCooper has. Love those JLine's BTW. They are my favorite at the moment.

Thank you,
JBravoMC

 

Any luck?

 

if you want light, get Volks. I hardly see anyone here with a set a Volks.

like this:

Volk GTM


Volk GTU


Just don't get my wheels