How bad are ROTA Wheels ?

[JD74]

I have read a couple of bad reviews about the quality of Rota wheels and was wondering if anyone had anything to say, either good or bad about them ?

I need to find a set of wheels for my car, that I can use while my Regamasters are geting restored. I need them to be decent and I am going to run them for just 1 season, then sell if I can.

The plan is, to find the cheapest yet half decent looking set of wheels that I can either keep or sell once I am done with them and I had a set of P45's in mind.....as I can't really justify buying a REAL set of LMGT4's, or anything over $1,000 because I want to keep my Regamasters as my MAIN wheels once refinished/restored.

$750 USD + Shipping.
Rota P45r

Alternatively, does anyone know of the existance of a CHEAPER (cheaper then $900 USD Inc shipping) set of 18x9.5 +12 wheels that I can run for a season and have a good chance of selling once I am done with them ? They MUST be 18's, as once I mount my Akebono Big Brake Kit, there will not be room for 17's......so I figure I stay with the exact same size I run currently and call it a day. 18 x 9.5 +12, which is also a VERY friendly Size for R32 GTRs.

The Rotas....

[Driftacular]

look up MB battles they should be around that price. pretty dam sure.. alot better quality too
SON240SX guys run them alot.
same size ur looking for with a slightly diff offset (+15 dont quote me)

[falcon]

Lots of drifter guys use them and Subaru owners seem to get a boner over them. Personally, wheels is not something I choose to cut corners on. Intake piping, IC's... sure, but the one thing that's b/w your car and the road, not so much. I have seen to many failures of these wheels to assure my peace of mind.

I would just run some stock GTR wheels with some spacers for fitment while your Desmonds are getting repaired and wait until then to install your brake kit. Why do you project it will take a whole season to do? The wheel repair shop that I do work through will have a set of wheels, cleaned, fixed and re coated in a week if you really need it. If you give them a month there is no reason they can't be done.

[Zacho]

I have a set of the P45r. For the money they are a decent weight and they come in some sick sizing. Got them off eBay for a great deal.

Lots of people joined the bandwagon to bash rota...only because one post whore on a forum did and everyone decided they are shitty wheels.

cutting corners....LOL.

[TK-GTS]

from what i hear there was a back batch made and alot of them were recalled. its probably just hit and miss, keep in mind even high quality wheels break.

[flipridah17]

I have a set of the P45r. For the money they are a decent weight and they come in some sick sizing. Got them off eBay for a great deal.

Lots of people joined the bandwagon to bash rota...only because one post whore on a forum did and everyone decided they are shitty wheels.

cutting corners....LOL.

amen to that brother!

To be honest they are not bad for the money.. Its just sometimes harder to find them on the right offset + size that you want. My co-worker owns a rota and he has never been happy with them..

I think you can ask MWRacing as he used the same wheel on his MWR34

[GTR-guy]

Europeans seems to love them! They just lack originality since pretty much every models they have is a shameless copy of another maker.

[NismoS-tune]

When people are on a tight budget and want nice looking wheels it's hard to beat rota. They look as good and the real thing (for example the LMGT4 knock offs). They sacrafice quality and reliability to a certain point from what I hear. I've only seen a few pictures of busted rotas but whatever triforce rims break too. I'm pretty sure they aren't forged but they are aluminum so they have good weight. A member here painted up some rotas black and put nismo stickers on it and you couldn't tell they were fake.

So, I think if you don't care about them being simply aluminum and aren't the best, what are you losing. Cheap, good looking, what else do you want. I'd say go for it since you're after the nismo look :P

Keep the Regas

[Shadao]

rota's are crap wheels... but they look good and can be used as good looking wheels...

but they are not good for tracking or pushing... ive seen/heard enough times how someone with rotas had there wheel fall apart while at a track day to never buy them for that pourpose... but if you are gonna roll around nice and easy i dont see why they will not do the job you need of them

[M13]

The thing is though...


Most people here who say ROTA is bad probably:

-never had one
-never destroyed one
-never weighed one in person
-read other forums or saw other pictures


I don't have ROTAs so I can't make factual judgment on them. I've seen some gnarly pictures of them, but I don't know if they ripped apart while "driving along" or after some idiot curbed the crap out of it at 100KPH.

All I see is online-factual regurgitation and amplification to a point where even though the fact may be purely based on opinion, but with forums where many people come to agree with that idea and turn it into a general agreement, the opinionated-"fact" turns into a solid testament and cannot change ever.

Say for example ONE picture pops out on the web that shows a ROTA wheel shattered into pieces (after the driver drove over a curb and braked, but didn't share that fact with the public), then a three people see that and decide that ROTAS shatter all the time, a few CTRL+C, CTRL+V later, you have a handful of forums that see this shattered ROTA wheel, without ever asking how it broke.

A few weeks later you have a few hundred, if not a few thousand people that think ROTA wheels suck, based on ONE case where its failure may have not been due to manufacturing defects.



I'd say go for it, as MWRacing has a set and his hasn't blown up yet, in fact I don't think I personally know anyone with ROTAs that had any failures. Sure they are heavier and are not genuine, but that's why the price reflects such properties.

[falcon]

rota's are crap wheels... but they look good and can be used as good looking wheels...

but they are not good for tracking or pushing... ive seen/heard enough times how someone with rotas had there wheel fall apart while at a track day to never buy them for that pourpose... but if you are gonna roll around nice and easy i dont see why they will not do the job you need of them

Finally someone with their head on straight. I can't believe how many people think these are great wheels? If you're rolling around not doing track days or agressive driving go for them, whatever. But someone would be CRAZY to do a track day with them.

[falcon]

yes, but M13... a wheel should "shatter" when you hit a curb. Have you seen some of the pictures where these is NOTHING but the hub left?

I've seen Rotas in person. The hubs are sketchy. Such a thin design where the wheel bolts to the car. Doesn't look strong at all.

[GDZILLA]

I am running a set for my track wheels and I have been for about three years. They are 18 x 9s with Hoosier 295/35- 18s on the rear and 265/35 - 18s on the front. My Z that I run them on is making anywhere between 620 - 640 WHP (depending on ambient temperature) and I have never had a problem with them.

I agree with Falcon in that you get what you pay for but I honestly have not had any problems with them and I have only heard about that one or two random people on forums that have.

[Zacho]

Not all rota wheels are the same. Just like any other brand.

wait whats that, a cracked rays? Owner said they drove fine but had this crack



don't knock it till you try it is all I'm saying. If you are after the lightest wheels with the most **BaLlEr** brand name don't buy them. Go pay twice the price then, simple as that.

[Muss]

Haha again with the bashing of Rotas. Why would you not track them? Whose to say they aren't any good?

Like I said before they have been used with much success in the BTCC and EDC, if they're good enough for professional use I guarantee you they will pull their weight at any local event. As with the last post defects are seen in many makes and brands, for some reason Rota got the worst of it.

I have yet to see a set of Rotas randomly explode on any of these PROFESSIONAL race cars. That, and they have been sported on many winning teams, not just low budget filler teams. Anyone who is bashing them really needs to look into them more. I fail to see how getting professional quality wheels for less is a bad thing? If they can be used with success in Europe on professional teams but amateurs in NA are turning their noses up to them what's that say? Misuse and inexperience leading to failure perhaps? I guess we've gotten to the point where cost and rumors, not real world testing, is what defines quality.