¶ Wheel Manufacturing Methods Explained
Why pay the extra money for genuine wheels when there are cheaper alternatives out there that look almost the same ? To shed some light on this , we're going to talk to Kasumi from Raise Japan .
Welcome to High Performance Academy's tuned in Field Report podcast series . In these special midweek episodes , we look back through our archives to find the best conversations we've had through years worth of attending the best automotive events across the globe .
We've pulled the audio from these tech-filled interviews with some of the industry's most well-known figures and presented it in podcast format for you to enjoy as a quick hit of insider knowledge .
OK . So looking around at all these wheels , there's no denying they all look amazing and that's one of the key things for people putting these wheels on their cars , like the aesthetic cues . But on a lot of the wheels around we see casting or flow forming and forging as well .
Would you be able to talk us through the differences in those manufacturing methods and what that means for the wheel design as well ?
Well , one of the things that helps us stand out is that we do everything in-house . So whether it's casting or forging , flow form , we design everything , manufacture everything , produce everything and distribute in-house . So that kind of helps us separate from our competitors when we launch anything from our lineup .
Can you just explain basically that process of casting a wheel ?
There's several ways of casting a wheel , and it starts with the mold .
There's gravity casting , there's low pressure casting , there's a rotary there's many different words that are used , but there's it's generally two or three methods and we use all three , and this depends on what type of design and what type of wheel will go onto the wheel and onto the car so it's a method of essentially pouring molten metal into a casting .
But , um yeah , so you're considering the site design for manufacture when you are designing the wheel . You've got that manufacturing method in mind and the resulting strength of the wheel as well .
Right .
So , for example , if a new car comes out , a Civic Type R for example , and we want to create a design for that specific car and related cars , we'll go into the design first and then computer analysis with that design , go into 2d , 3d samples , molding and then we'll determine which type of manufacturing is the most viable for that model okay , and then moving
on to forming .
This is forged wheels , rather definitely the more higher end thing , and the price point reflects this . Can you explain that manufacturing method to us and maybe any variations there are within this ?
I can't give out too many details , but what I can say is we start from the billet and we manufacture all the way from the raw material through the end product . There is quite a few manufacturers that do the same , and there is also others that do not . Either good or not bad , it depends on what you're trying to achieve .
But for us , we do everything from scratch . That kind of helps us reduce weight , flexible in design and then , of course , price-wise as far as mass production .
So the actual process of forging the wheel from the raw material . What does that look like ?
So we have our own specific mix of the raw material itself , which we calculated to match our production process .
And then when we started with the billet which means there's , depending on the designs and the faces available there's two , three , five molds , and it'll go through that process of punching in design and then spinning out the rim to make the final finish right , okay , so yeah , the again .
The design is you consider the manufacturing method during the design . That may allows you to remove material in certain areas to make the design more lightweight and still get the strength that you need . Unfortunately , there's a lot of replica wheels out there which are just copying the design but not copying the manufacturing method . What's the issue here ?
For us it's kind of we're kind of happy to see that there are replicas , because that means there is a need for our products , but then also it's also a safety factor , because it is a safety product . It's on the road , it's with their tires , with you know , with your family in the car .
So we stress that our stuff are par with standards in Japan and we also have our own standards that are addition to it to make sure all our items are safe . That's our first priority and , of course , making it look good . We take a lot of feedback from racing professional racing . We're involved with the FIA WEC championships .
We've done Formula One in the past . I'm in the Super GT races in Japan . So we take all of that data and put that and feed that back into our street products .
Are you interested in expanding your automotive knowledge ? Start your free lessons with us today at hpacademycom . Forward slash free .
So in motorsport , something that you commonly hear about is the wheel stiffness . How does that translate ? Is that something a non-professional driver would notice ? Is it related to suspension stiffness around , like compliance , something that you'd actually feel For ?
a standard street driving ? Probably not . If you are cornering at high speeds on a track and you're on a chicane or there's hard braking or hard acceleration , there is definitely a change in feel .
The feedback I get the most is that because you want the tire to grip on the road right and if the wheel is not up to par , the tire is not gripping to the road . So as far as our wheels , we make sure that that doesn't happen , or it's less liable to happen .
And when you're going around a corner , the more the tire grips onto the road , the more the driver is comfortable making that excessive turn , and that's when they'll probably realize the difference .
Right . So yeah , it's related to , I guess , response responsiveness . I noticed on one of the wheels over there inside the bead there's like a textured surface . Is that related to anything to do with the tire and its beading ?
Are you talking about the knurling ? Yeah , yeah , right , so that helps the tire from slipping from the rim . So whenever there's braking or any bumps , the tire is always moving and the wheel is always moving . So when they have these little slippage points , it kind of helps to prevent that . So we call it anti-tire knurling , anti-tire slippage .
That's kind of like the similar terminology that's used and that helps the wheel from not slipping against the tire right , okay , that makes sense .
I guess I all of these things add up and including that with suspension , bushing , deformation and stuff .
That's all compliance and having the stiff wheel and that contact between the , the tire and the rim as well , as it's all going to having the stiff wheel and that contact between the , the tire and the rim as well , as it's all going to make the car feel more sure and planted , unfortunately , just going back to the replica wheel thing , is there anything that
people can do , maybe to identify a replica wheel compared to one of yours , like any key things to look , make sure maybe they're not getting ripped off , or just being able to identify the real thing ?
So a lot of our new wheels we started implementing machining on the wheels . So it has Made in Japan clearly . It has their brand names , it has Rays on there . And also look for the sign of Made in Japan . Especially A lot of the replicas are not made in Japan obviously , so it doesn't have the mark that says clearly made in Japan .
So that's probably the good sign . And again , just look against our website . We have our website that has the full lineup , a lot of it visually , you'll be able to check which one's real or not and also buy through an authorized dealer . They're the ones that knows the stuff and they carry the product authorized .
I know sometimes people are prone to buying it from auction or secondhand , which they can , but they also have the option of before purchasing , they can contact any of the dealers and ask them hey , can you verify this wheel ? And we'll be able to do that for them .
Yeah , that's a very helpful service . I see a lot of the time people advertising things is maybe not what they are , and with the replica wheels you can sometimes see japan stamped on them , but it's specifically that made in japan , right ? So thank you for your time
¶ Raisewheelscojp Platform Overview
. If anyone wants to learn more about raise wheels or look at any of your products , where's the best place to do that ?
our official website's the best raisewheelscojp . There's an English site for overseas customers and they'll get all the information there .
Awesome . Thank you very much Thank you .
If you enjoyed this podcast , please feel free to leave a review on whatever platform you've chosen to listen to it on . It goes a long way to help us getting the word out there . All these conversations , and much more , are also available in full on our High Performance Academy YouTube channel , so make sure you subscribe .
It's a one stop shop when it comes to going faster , stopping quicker and cornering better .