its official...rota wheels are for suicidal people

[Daheavyking]

Rotas are knock off and they do break but my Konigs broke on me while I was drifting in my 240sx. But all wheels break. But on the street, launching at lights, racing, I don't feel bad at all. Leave it for the track

[Xsjado]

used wheels are so cheap from japan i don't know why anybody would bother. thats if you want to save money because 5k may seem silly on old cars.
have heard nothing but bad things about rota.

rims potentially can get ridiculously hot when driving spirited.
to the stage where they fall off nuts heat up wheels go flying.

[gloryaccordy]

The Engrish from that Weds Sport vid killed me

But he made good + valid points.

[Dobermann]

The Engrish from that Weds Sport vid killed me

But he made good + valid points.

It's okay, he's JDMASFCK.

[tm123]

Def. Not the first time I seen this happen or second or third...

[JoshM]

Also lookin for proof that these were Rotas. Not that I'm some Rota fan but I don't see any evidence that their wheels break any more often than other brands

I would say that Rotas are common for breaking, just because they're probably the most common "brand" for tuners. They're inexpensive and they have the look of $2000+ wheels.

Think of it like the Motorola RAZR V3. The phone itself was great for its time. It had all the "new" features at an inexpensive price, and was available on nearly all carriers (contract and prepay).
It still has a "bad reputation" because of the number of issues people had with them. But if you look at the big picture, it'd be safe to say that only 10% of the phones had issues (not included user error). It only seemed like they were messing up left and right because everyone and their momma had one.

[ibr_adam09]

When something breaks, the whole world will hear about it, no matter the brand.

Not many people are going to say "Hey, I bought these and it's holding up great". If they did, all the hate complaints would looked cellular in size.

Besides everything has it's limits. I agree with Type G, something looks fishy with picture. I bet that driver hit a curb dead on doing something stupid, but probably put the blame on the wheel to avoid embarrassment.

[darkfusion42]

something looks fishy about this. why does the rear wheel of the civic have a curb inpact on it. looks like some BS to me. later.

I was thinking the same lol.


Look, i have Rotas, and in fact one was hit HEAD ON by a truck going like 70...whick totalled my prelude. The wheel it hit? maybe a slight dent in the lip and a small chunk missing on the inside of the rim from when it hit the median. I'd say from my PERSONAL experience that they held up pretty damn well. So I'm not sure how one of ANY brand can just fall apart from some moron street racer speeding down public roads, unless they are the type to fly at 60 over jersey sized potholes...in which case any brand will break.

Sorry, these are Hondas. In most cases, 20 year old Hondas...at best maybe a new one worth what...20,000 at the most? I'm not going to spend $3000 on wheels for a maybe $1000 car. You call me cheap, I call you stupid.

[gloryaccordy]

I would say that Rotas are common for breaking, just because they're probably the most common "brand" for tuners. They're inexpensive and they have the look of $2000+ wheels.

Think of it like the Motorola RAZR V3. The phone itself was great for its time. It had all the "new" features at an inexpensive price, and was available on nearly all carriers (contract and prepay).
It still has a "bad reputation" because of the number of issues people had with them. But if you look at the big picture, it'd be safe to say that only 10% of the phones had issues (not included user error). It only seemed like they were messing up left and right because everyone and their momma had one.

Yea its a matter of statistics, not really quality. Add to the fact that there's a ton of Rota hate and it's clear why they have such a bad rep. If they were really that deadly they'd have been out of business long ago from lawsuits and a legitimately bad rep.

Not to say their wheels are Volk quality or w/e, but I don't think they're "suicidal".

[peteypete]

T-belts snap, transmissions fail, motors grind, these are just some of the things that can fail at anytime. Even wheels can break either from negligence or a defect. Rota shouldn't be blamed, every other manufacture isn't perfect and there products could fail as well. No one is perfect. It's just shit happens.

[rexload]

I am pretty sure that is not an EK civic.
EK is a hatch, that doesn't look like a hatch.

And proof please that the broken wheel is Rota.

[deevergote]

This is the first time I have ever seen a firsthand account of a wheel breaking. Everything else, like the pictures above, could have been due to just about anything. 1000hp, smacking a wall, driving on insane negative camber (which puts the wheel under strain that it was not designed for...), hard racing with turns (a 3000lb car putting all its weight sideways on a wheel puts that center part under a TON of stress...)

Yes, it was being raced. No, it did not break due directly to a curb impact (though if the rear wheel shows a curb impact, the wheel may have been damaged beforehand, which led to the failure while racing.) We do also know that the driver was clearly not a very responsible human being... so the car was probably abused all the time.




Are Rotas dangerous? Probably moreso than their superior counterparts. However, for the number of Rotas on the road compared to the number that failed... they're most likely perfectly fine. I'd get Rotas for a street car, making modest power. If I'm going to make crazy power, or take my car racing... my wheels, as well as all my other components, are going to be suited to my needs.

[JaberCB7]

something looks fishy about this. why does the rear wheel of the civic have a curb inpact on it. looks like some BS to me. later.

When something breaks, the whole world will hear about it, no matter the brand.

Not many people are going to say "Hey, I bought these and it's holding up great". If they did, all the hate complaints would looked cellular in size.

Besides everything has it's limits. I agree with Type G, something looks fishy with picture. I bet that driver hit a curb dead on doing something stupid, but probably put the blame on the wheel to avoid embarrassment.

The rear wheel had primer on that grey patch you see there so I assume he probably beats on them, i don't know the guy and no I did not take these pics off the web, I'm also not 100% sure they were Rota but he did say and I quote " POS rotas "

Wheels break no matter the brand especially if they are being abused and I am witness to that.

[deevergote]

The only difference in this situation compared to the other internet rumors is that you SAW it happen. You saw the wheel snap while the car was accelerating, not smacking into a curb. That's something, IMO.



Still, I wouldn't really say it shows how bad the wheels are. As said, anything will break with enough abuse. Rotas are NOT made to the same standard as the better brands, such as BBS, Volk, etc... Therefore, they should not be subject to the same level of abuse!
Saying an abused Rota is a sign of the brand's poor quality is like saying the F22A is garbage because it can't handle 20psi in stock form.
Still, there are reasons why certain brands are 3-4 times more expensive than Rota, and similar knockoff brands. 1) They put the R&D into the original design. A wheel doesn't just have to look good, but the design has to be strong and balanced, while performing to the company's standard. 2) they often use superior manufacturing processes... mainly, forging. Rotas are all cast aluminum, while the better brands are very often forged. They use better materials, and better (more costly) processes to make stronger wheels.

[JaberCB7]

I personally never took into account what and how wheels are made... I'm sure I don't speak for myself when I say I go for looks and possibly weight when selecting a set of wheels but this shows you have to look into more than just wheels weight, weight being top reason why a lot of tunes rs go for rota.