TSW vs. HRE
 

So you can get a set of TSW's for a little over 1000 and some HRE's for 3200 ish. They both look very similar. Other than the price what's the difference ? I don't know much about wheels so I'm deferring to the knowledge of the hopefully unbiased forum.

http://www.tsw.com/alloy_wheels_nurburgring.php

http://www.hrewheels.com/wheels/hre-flowform/ff01

HRE 's are a much more attractive wheel, you have tons of options for finishes.

TSW are a bargain wheel though. Not enough choices at that price point, and the Cray brand don't do it for me.

On looks alone, HRE by a mile.

For value per dollar, TSW.

The HRE'S are cast, I think, the TSW is rotary forged, a bit stronger. I like the Cray's and just mounted the ones below for 475 a wheel. Look at forgeline too, they are reasonable priced.
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h3...DC17DF49DB.jpg

They look almost the same.

HRE's hands down the best wheels money can buy and are vastly superior in many regards including the testing and engineering that goes into any of their wheels before they release it for sale.

Any questions give us a call

They may be true about the forged ones they make in-house but the FlowForms outsourced to a company Japan and a cast/forged.

A true Forged wheel is much stronger than a cast wheel, Rotary Forging is somewhere in between. Z51 Wheels are forged, HRE wheels from the US are forged. When you get to the Free Form wheels in structural integrity I would argue if there is much of a difference between TSW and HRE, astheticaly though they are amazing. My BMW has BBS and I can say I have never had a structural issue with them in 14 years.

Wheels are getting better Rotary forging is definitely an improvement over a pure cast wheel and lighter. I wouldn't knock the TSW's or the Cray's they come out of the same factory.

I just bought some Cray's for a track wheel, I am keeping the stock Z51's as my street tire.

TSW look great
 

TSW look awesome in photos and in person and you won't need to refinance your home to own a set:smash:

I'm looking into Forgelines right now myself

People keep posting that Z51 wheels are forged. I haven't seen any reliable source that confirms that as fact.

Do you, or does anyone, know of a source that says Z51 wheels are forged? Thank you to anyone who can offer a source. :)


Apologies to OP if this comes across as a hijack.

I thought that in one of the presentations by Chevy there was a picture of their presentation in the background that stated the wheels were forged?

I dunno, maybe I'm thinking about something else?

Z51 wheels are cast, they are not forged. I have confirmed this with one of GM's wheel suppliers. The primary loading specs for the Z51 are 1800 ft-lbs for 70% of their duty cycle and 3000 ft-lbs for 30% of their duty cycle. ZR1 and the new Z06 wheels are rated at 3000 ft-lbs for 100% of their duty cycle which can only be achieved with a true forging.

Base C7 wheels are rated at 1800 ft-lb for 100% of their duty cycle, I.e. No track use.

I'm 90% sure TSW rotary forged and HRE flow formed come out of the same factory and aren't really forged wheels. The wheel is cast then the barrel is formed with a rotary press. The result is a barrel section that closely approximates a forging. Both are certainly lighter than a fully cast wheel but the part of the wheel that gets the highest load is still cast so in reality neither of these wheels are any stronger than the factory Z51 wheels.

To the OP's original question, there is no performance or quality difference between the TSW and HRW, only the price.

Crays are actually manufactured by TSW.

I considered Crays for the new Z06 before the car was revealed. Good news for the wifey: I am no longer considering aftermarket wheels after the reveal. The z06 wheels in the grey with machine lip is a winner. This may be the first time I'm not getting aftermarket wheels.

Then GM is flat out lying it is in their product brochure and their sales material.

Completely incorrect about them being made in same places. And nowhere does HRE claim that their FF wheels are Forged. They are flow formed which is a cast wheel hence the exponentially smaller price tag than their forged wheel lines. You want answers all you have to do is call HRE and compare apples to oranges all, but you start making comments about things you aren't knowledgeable that does nothing but cause trouble.

Just the same as all forged wheels are not created equal despite the companies claim they use the same T6-6061 aluminum. There is a heck of alot more that goes into a successful wheel company than just Forged or Cast and cheap vs expensive. When you perform research and structural integrity on sets of wheels and make sure the wheels can withstand the conditions they will be subjected its at that point you know what you have. Most of these so called Forged companies are Private Labels with no quality control, poor lead times, and no follow up. Yeah you pay alot for a set of HRE forged wheels but being in this business along time I can speak from personal experience with everything from fit to finish there is not another company that stands behind its product like HRE. If there's ever an issue they fix it, they dont give you the runaround or some story. To get TUV approval is no small feat and their wheels have earned that, lots again of companies say they have that but they dont. If it looks like a Rolex and you buy it in NYC for 30 bucks is it a Rolex, I'm here to tell you its not. Only a true Rolex is the example of perfection, same with wheels and I'll leave it at that.

Walmart and Sears sell wheels as well so if you are looking for cheap, one off imitations there are plenty of them out there that will take your money and in a few months when you trade up, or decide for yourself what you really bought its only then that you understand what we are talking about here. If all these wheels were created equal you'd not see the presence HRE has.

Would you bring your C7 to a handyman to install your supercharger, tune your vette, or work on it? I dont think so, so why in heck would you trust a non proven company to sell you wheels at any price??? Those that understand quality know what HRE stands for and why they get the money they do for wheels. Trust me its not smoke.

Rotary Forged, Flow Formed, Flow Forged are all just fancy ways to say CAST but as not all Forged wheels are created equal don't believe for a second all Cast wheels are created equal.

Best of luck on your choices

http://www.hrewheels.com/wheels/hre-flowform/ff01

Here's the final multi page brochure, no mention of forged.

http://cdn.dealereprocess.com/cdn/br...4-corvette.pdf

BTW, I thought the same but I don't think you will find any official document that calls out forged. I think some bloggers and writers published it early on but were mistaken.

Guess I'll go with TSW since they're both "Rotary Forged". The money I save will go to tires and powder coating.

If you search you will see GM claims Forged Wheels on the Z51

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c7-g...g-5-0-a-2.html

Okay. Thank you! I've never seen that Powerpoint pic with Tadge and I never looked at that thread because of the title subject.

So, I guess that settles it, Z51 wheels are forged! :)

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1586358122-post35.html

Unless you track your car you'll never get anywhere near the design limits on wheels whether they're forged or cast. That means for the vast majority of C7 owners it doesn't matter whether your wheels are forged or cast, so base your purchase decision on cost, quality and looks with little or no weight on how they're made.

I talked to one of the GM Engineers at a track event who told me the same information Z51 wheels are forged. Which isn't too hard to believe, my M3 and M5 both came with forged wheels from the factory.

The people on this forum will look at the blue sky and say it's white. So much wasted energy on being argumentative.

This thread will turn a lot worse, I'm afraid....

I have tracked SSR's and BBS wheels for many years without any issues and they are also not Forged.:iagree:

Yup. I raced my C6 at open road races and road tracks. Lots of Vettes of various years at those races. How many wheel failures did I see or even hear of? Not one. Ever.

The forged v. cast wheel argument is no different than a private man-part size argument. :crazy2:

heading that way. i just wanted some help :willy:

rims
 

Does anyone know where the wheels are made? I know the tsw's are made in china which was a deal breaker for me, but don't know where the corvette or hre"s are made.

What about pot holes? I always thought forged was to maintain roundness when hitting a large pot hole? Wouldn't cast bend easier?

I like the factory wheels being forged.

$1050 shipped...easy choice:thumbs:

When's the last time you talked to anyone who ended up with a bent wheel from a pothole? I mean firsthand experience, not someone who told someone who heard it from someone?

I'm not a metallurgist, but I suspect a cast wheel would be more likely to break instead of bending. I could be wrong about that.

Like I said, I thought the same thing having seen the same presentations over a year ago but all the latest literature, as well as the Chevy website no longer mentions forged, they simply state painted aluminum. Do you really think that if the production wheels are indeed forged GM wouldn't play that up in their literature????

It's not unheard of for specs to change from those May 2013 presentations Tadge and team did and September production.

If they are forged then their under $795 MSRP ($585 street price) makes them some of the least expensive forged OEM wheels I have ever seen. Most factory forged wheels are well over $1000 MSRP. My OEM Forged Jeep SRT wheels were $1495 each.

As to where HRE Flow Formed are made vs. TSW's, I stand corrected but either way it's the same process and TSW is a very respected wheel manufacturer but hey, if you want to contribute to HRE's profits then by all means pay twice the price plus over the TSW's for a cast wheel.

Personally, I purchased a 2nd set of Factory Z51 wheels to have refinished Hyper Silver/Black because I like the design, trust them to be a quality wheel but wanted a different finish. The wheels I bought will be here tomorrow so I'll take a close look and see, it's pretty easy to spot forged over cast, especially since most forged wheels say "forged" somewhere on them ;) I'll weigh them as well, that's also usually a dead giveaway.

Factory Corvette Z51 wheels are made in China. HRE flow formed are made in Japan. I don't know where TSW wheels are made but I'm sure someone who has purchased them would know since it should be on the box or in the casting. I suspect China.

Here are the markings on the factory Z51 wheels.

My BBS wheels on my M5 and M3 didn't say forged and I would say a mass produced wheel for $585 being forged is more likely than not. Custom made wheels may be $1,000 each but they also aren't mass produced. You can buy replacement BMW M wheels for that range or lower and are regularly sold for far less than that.

Life would be a lot easier if OEM's did like the aftermarket and stamped Forged into the wheels when they were forged.

I'll be at the factory Thursday picking up my car, I will make it a point to ask whoever I can whether the production Z51 wheels are indeed forged. It would be too funny if I got both answers.... :D

Not true, I personally know of a gentleman who's cheaper made wheel on a high end car broke on the freeway and this guy is now in wheel chair paralyzed from the waist down. This wheel company went belly up and he is now a very rich man. I would rather have my legs then his money.

I also have had a "Boss" wheel crack in the middle of the barrel on my wife's Tahoe for no reason. These are cheap cast wheels and I got what I paid for. We are putting way more stresses on our Corvettes then these two instances.

Many people don't know that there is no D.O.T. Standards or official approval process in the United States for aftermarket wheels. The only certification for aftermarket wheels is TUV, and HRE Wheels is certified.

we have nothing to fear but fear itself. im sure you will be just fine...if not let me know, we are all there for you.:thumbs:

I personally love the HRE P40 wheel.....but never will I spend 6 grand on a set of wheels....even if I could afford it.....and I can't. LOL

http://www.e90post.com/forums/attach...6&d=1204690147Bent cast or forged wheels are common. i've had a few. there are many places that will straignen bent wheels so they must be out there. I was just wondering how much more strenght (if any) you get from forged when it comes to pot holes?

He's a bent cast wheel:

http://http://www.e90post.com/forums...6&d=1204690147

My Z51 wheels are stamped as Taiwan...

The Z51 set I just bought are stamped China, it's not uncommon to have multiple suppliers, especially with the shortage of Z51 parts. They are legit GM wheels.

Honestly, I can't decide if they are forged or cast but they are very well made. The spokes are actually quite thin, as is the barrel which is leaning me towards forged.

The fronts are 24 lbs, the rears are 27.4 lbs. Light but not as light as some forgings I've had.

Overall they are very nicely made, I'm impressed.

24lbs on a 19's is pretty light.

My 18" BBS RC's are 17lb's.
18" SSR's are also 17lb's.