How a wheel is constructed was always important whether you're just cruising down the street or catching the weekend's track event. Many of us wanted really protect our biggest investment, our car, so consumers always sought out forged wheels or multi-piece wheels with forged rims/barrels. To others, we've bit the bullet and went with a cast wheel just to add some styling queues to our daily driver. To others, we had the option of going with couple brands like Enkei or WedsSport with wheels made with a flow forged process for our weekend track car with some sort of race inspired design. Today, many brands have utilized this process to bring you not just sporty and race inspired designs but to bring some luxury queues of the timeless multi-piece wheels with today's sharper edged designs.
Photo Courtesy: Avant Garde Wheels
As the title states, these type of cast forging process is a very unique method combining cost effective casting process with mass production. A typical gravity or low pressure cast wheel just stops here at casting the wheel but weight factors play a major roll with face design and size. Left with a lump of cast aluminum around the wheel rim, the cast wheel is then taken over to it's final construction step to have the wheel rim forged out. Placed on a mandrel, the wheel is spun and combining steel rollers with high heat treatment, the wheel rim is rolled out creating a flow formed, or insert of one of title combinations, structure of the wheel rim that of similar to a forged wheel. This process creates a wheel with majority of the wheel's weight being only on the face with a stronger and lightened wheel rim structure to greatly reduce overall weight of the wheels.
Photo Courtesy: Vorsteiner Wheels
However, as the more intricate the designs become, overall weight savings turns into saving couple pounds compared to a similar cast wheel with a similar design as more material would be needed to create a wheel (more spokes, more material). But at the end, you get a much more durable wheel rim to absorb impacts from those accidental trips over those pesky potholes or steel road construction plates. Wheel rim forging also has a slight disadvantage over the traditional casting method with a higher cost due to the multi-process construction.
Photo Courtesy: WedsSport
Today, many wheel companies take advantage of this process to create larger wheels to help save weight for consumer's today with automobile companies, like Honda, turning to factory 20" wheels just like the new Civic Type-R. Check out some of the newest designs out available in today's market and let us know if you have any questions for your car's next upgrade.
Forgestar CF10 in Gloss Brushed Clear
Avant Garde M652 in Silver Machined
Rohana RFX10 in Brushed Titanium
Stance SF01 in Brushed Silver
Vorsteiner V-FF 103 in Brushed Gunmetal
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