There was a recent autocross near Houston TX in which this happened:

http://home.att.net/~blairphoto/scca.html

And here is a thread on the Miata forums discussing the occurence:

http://www.miataforum.com/ubb/ultima...c;f=3;t=006321

Now this doesn't mean you should automatically hate Rota wheels and think their quality sucks. This just one freak occurence, but you should still probably inspect your wheels. That thread above discusses ways to inspect the wheels. I am posting this in other forums that might have many users running Rota wheels.

 

Oh ****. I wonder if they are going to warranty that.

 

well depends on the circumstances, whether it was caused by owner neglect or from an actual manufacturing defect.

 

whoa...

 

damn that is scary...

i would imagine the spoon knock offs might be alittle stronger since the "spokes" are wider...but still, scary.

 

Those of you with Authentic forged wheels (e.g. SW388's), have you heard of this type of incident happening with the real versions of this wheel?

 

 

You get what you pay for, IMHO.

Forged race wheels are NOT cheap. Period.

 

You call that a fucked up wheel? LOL

I've done a lot worse to 3 te37's...

 

Nope.
My set has many track miles on them (not using R compunds) and I plan to put many more on them.

Like Cossy said... you get what you pay for. I paid a lot... and I expect a lot

 

LMAO!!....the guy was so scared of the wheel chasing his *** down, he ran up the tree!!!!!!

 

Seems like the rim in question is the Rota Attack. I did not see any other Rota wheels mentioned (with this problem) in the thread linked above.

So, to compare the quality of the Spoons/Desmonds and Racing Harts to the Rota Attack, that makes little to no sense. Compare the Attack to the more expensive, forged counterpart.


[Modified by Chris N, 9:28 AM 1/10/2003]

 

This is typical of a light weight cast rim. A lightweight cast rim will be exponentially weaker than a light weight forged rim which is lighter due to manufacturing process. This does not mean that you should get forged rims and forget it. You should ALWAYS inspect them to look for cracks or wear. So if you are using Rotas or something similar on track, just be more vigilant.

 

I wasn't necessarily pointing the finger at you or anyone, just making an observation.

The attack has noticeably thinner spokes than the sw388/slipstream, and no other similar 'blowout' has been documented (as far as we know) for other Rota wheels. Hopefully this is an isolated incident with only Attacks and not all Rota wheels.....

 

I'll go ahead and check my wheels to be safe, but this is the first time i've heard of a rota doing that.. and it sounds like they're giving the guy excellent customer service..

i've got a set of slipstreams on my R, and I'm not worried.. not to mention i'm very satisfied with them..

time to sit back and wait for all the desmond designed wheel owners to come out and trash rota again..

Edit: thanks for the info, either way, PatrickGSR94.. good looking out..


[Modified by mstewar, 10:36 AM 1/10/2003]

 

Let's hope so. Also, consider the fact that Rotas are relatively new to the market as well - little over a year or so. If you have them, just inspect them.

 

i've seen at least one picture of mugen replica where the spokes separated, but nothing as far as slipstreams.

 

Rota's MF-8 copies have had problems before. The spokes broke off just like the above picture.

 

Thinking of taking off slipstreams and putting on OEM wheels for the expo

 

 

thanks george.. i didn't mean anyone specifically.. it just seems a lot of the spoon/desmond owners really dislike the rotas for one reason or another.. i've been around long enough to see the epic rota vs. spoon arguments..

 

does it make them even more mad that I didn't buy my rotas for the looks either? hehe.. I must admit though, I do like the look of my black rotas on my CW R..

 

You are correct on all 3 accounts.

I was being facetious and post-whoring at the same time... forgot to add the


-the r0cker, who didn't show pics of the REALLY BAD wheel...

 

Have any of these failed on NON-subaru's? that seems to be the common trend..

I need to check with Mr. Chin but I seem to recall him telling me that a WRX sheared a wheel at one of his events.. and that was a *stock* WRX wheel.

Rota does have good customer service and I'm sure those will get replaced.

-Dave, who has curbed his rotas at over 30mph, curbed at 10-15mph and hit lots of pot holes with no issues so far.


[Modified by FyrStarter, 11:29 AM 1/10/2003]

 

I run older Volk GNR wheels on my hatch....still look very good after two snowy winters and many drag passes.

I recently purchased a pair of slipstreams to mount my drag radials on for the track.....I dont see them failing at the strip but I think I would feel safer running my Volks on a road course.

My Volks arent super light (5KG) but I think its construction is worth the small price (relative) I paid for them used.

I have seen many forged wheels going for 800-1200 a set, thats not too much more than a new set of Rota's on decent tires...so maybe buying a "new" forged wheel is too spendy but if I was concerned about my safety on a roadcourse whats another 2-300 bucks?

I will keep my current Rota's but will be searching for a low cost forged wheel ie like the new Center line 5 spoke (15 X 7, 10.7 or so lbs and FORGED).....listed at $164 a piece.....even if that was a misprint and they are $264 a piece brand new I think that is a very decent price for a new forged wheel.