I got RPF1s as winter wheels (i'm from canada), and I got around to putting them back on this weekend. I have a wheel balancer and to my surprise 3 out of 4 wheels are bent! 2 of them only lightly but one of them is noticeable rotating it by hand...

They're all bent in the inner part of the wheel (so opposite to the face), anyone else had such problems with them? Sure Montreal winters are pretty brutal but this never happened to be before with other wheels...

 

My experience with Enkei RPF1's is pretty similar. I know a few local Time Attack teams who used to run RPF1's and they would bend quite a few of the wheels after a seasons use due to various berms or track off's. A bend on the inner barrel like you are describing is due to a pothole/uneven road surface.

With that being said, I wouldn't consider them a "weak" wheel though. They are designed to be extremely light while retaining enough strength for safe street/track use. They are one of the lightest cast aluminum wheels on the market. If the roads are that bad in your area I would look at a more robust wheel and a tire with a larger sidewall.

 

Light ... strong ... cheap. Pick two (at most).

 

They're cast wheels, not forged. All things considered, I'd say the RPF1 is a pretty good wheel. Yeah, an expensive forged Volk or Work wheel would hold up better but you can buy multiple seats of RPF1s for the price of a set of RAYS. Any time a customer comes to me looking for wheels on a tight budget, I recommend the RPF1.

 

i heard most recommend the nt03 for this very reason.. and someone maybe enkei lol, did testing of strength and heaviness vs weaker and lighter.. heavier ones actually performed better

 

They aren't cast they are flow formed aka rotary forged which is process which BBS has been using for ages.
This specialized process begins with a low pressure type of casting and uses a special machine that spins the initial casting, heats the outer portion of the casting and then uses steel rollers pressed against the rim area to pull the rim to its final width and shape. The combination of the heat, pressure and spinning create a rim area with the strength similar to a forged wheel without the high cost of the forging. Some of the special wheels produced for the O.E.M. high performance or limited production vehicles utilize this type of technology resulting in a light and strong wheel at a reasonable cost.

With that being said depending on the tire pressure, roads, and driving style anyone could bend a wheel if you hit it right and I know a lot of Canadian drivers experience this even with all aftermarket wheels cheap and expensive.

 

i have a few bends on the inner wheel as well from bumper burms..

 

Yeah it's actually the first time I bent a wheel in the winter...sure the road isn't smooth but really 3 wheels out of 4 in 3 months?...I kind of expected them to be tougher with all the good reviews and stuff...compared to the cheap cast crap I usually buy for winter wheels...

Anyone has a recommendation for a good cheap winter wheel that fits the brembo's? The choices are pretty limited...I'm obviously not looking to buy a set of volks...and I don't think it's necessary either...

Edit: I do agree it's a great track wheel though...and I would be running these for track days if they had better offsets available

 

Seems like a set of used OEM Enkeis would be a good winter wheel. Not light, but everything else is right.

 

i've 2 sets of these one for street the other track. i've come off, hit curbs, bumps and whatnot. only ever slightly bent one and that wasn't the one that hit the curb either!

 

Great idea, don't know why I didn't think of that one...thanks!

 

I bought a cheap set of the XXR 522's for winter DD'ing. YMMV, but for $120 each and no worry about track duty on them (save for rare drenching wet downpours when I run my ASRs) it was impossible for me to justify something else. I use the Stocker Enkeis ("Steinke's") for track time.

 

Problem is with XXR wheels is that they dont tend to bend but crack. Every XXR wheel ive seen damaged was cracked. I think there was even a thread recently where a wheel cracked on someone while normal driving.

I would pay double for the RPF1s any day over the XXR for safety reassurance alone.

 

The wheel in that thread did not crack like that from normal driving. It be stupid to think so after looking at those pictures

 

The nt03 is prone to the same failure mode as the RPF1 mentioned.