Finding the right rims for your racing vehicle is not hard, but you need to understand what sets racing rims apart. You also need to figure out how a change in rim style affects the rest of your vehicle’s sight lines. While rims are important when you race, they’re also a big part of what makes your car recognizable when you are on the track.
Forged Rims for Strength Under Stress
Cast aluminum and steel rims are the standard for many street vehicles, and for daily driving conditions, they are more than strong enough. Forged rims are stronger, though, and they are built for forces and temperatures beyond normal driving conditions.
Where racing conditions could eventually lead cast wheels to become brittle in places, forged wheels resist that degradation. It’s a difference most drivers would never notice, but if you log a lot of miles at the track or you’re regularly pushing your acceleration in drag events, it matters.
Forged rims are not the only kind that are strong enough for racing, but they are often touted as the strongest choice. Form-filled and roll-formed processes also yield stronger parts than basic cast rims, but it is hard to find anything that beats a forged rim over the long haul.
Top Brands of Rims for Racing Vehicles
Higher heat and force tolerance and greater durability are just part of the package. Great race wheels also have designs that make full use of the material’s best qualities, dissipating extra heat and providing structural strength while they look great. There are a few top brands you can not go wrong with in today’s market:
- Weld Racing
- JEGS
- RaceStar
- Billet Specialties
- Aero
All of these manufacturers have many choices that work for racing vehicles because they design series of wheels that have the same design strength but different stylistic features. When it comes to differences between brands, it often comes down to those design choices. You’ll find a black powder coat, anodized aluminum, bronze, polished steel, and other choices.
If you compete in multiple events or you want to keep a separate set of street tires so you can still use your car as a daily driver, it helps to have dedicated racing rims for your competition tires so you can just use your garage tools to change and balance your wheels as needed.
How Much Does the Metal Matter?
If you are weighing aluminum and steel options, there are great choices in each category. Aluminum has a lower melting point than steel, so it can deform more easily under high heat and stress, but it is also far less brittle. The heat generated by a vehicle is far below the melting point of both metals, but heat does influence a metal’s strength well below its melting point.
The community is divided over which yields better results, but when weight matters, aluminum rims are almost always the lighter choice. For many, that’s the deciding factor over top-end strength and durability, because that top end is rarely tested. Like the choice between drag radials and traditional slicks, the best choice depends a lot on your vehicle’s full setup. Start shopping today so you can find the rims you need before your next competition.
