SoCalSC4

That's an interesting statement... but you haven't considered fatigue, the real issue with aluminum wheels. If you made the cross-section of the spokes thin enough, trust me, you could have a sudden, catastrophic spoke failure during a hard launch.

Another point to consider is the radial and cornering loads applied to a wheel. Most modern street cars are capable of generating close to or in excess of 1g (lateral) during turns (this would only occur for perhaps one second at a time). And don't forget, an S-Class Mercedes is a pretty heavy car- about twice as heavy as my MR2. Combine these two loads over enough time, and you'll quickly discover the limitations of a wheel.

So, here is the dilemma: overbuild the wheel for worst-case scenarios, or take your chances building a lighter wheel with compromised structural integrity. HRE's philosophy is to overbuild the wheels a bit, to ensure they won't have structural issues over time- after all, you're dealing with people's safety here.

On HRE's new Competition Series, we really pushed the envelope of three-piece wheel design- the latest & greatest fimite element analysis software was used, along with our engineering staff's experience with analyzing the materials, balancing the design, and predicting the expected loads. The designs are all optimized for specific vehicles (these will not be available for S-Class or BMW 7-series, for example), and a Ferrari wheel program is different from a Porsche wheel program to minimize weight and maximize strength. Also, certain finishes (such as chrome) are not available.

Nobody in the wheel industry has ever done this do the degree that HRE has with this new line (there are over two dozen programs for three wheel styles in two diameters). HRE takes tremendous pride in creating our design, engineering, and fitments- this is a business, and we are professionals and we happen to be enthusiasts, too.

You are absolutely right, a one-piece is the ultimate compromise for weight and strength considerations. Unfortunately, it is also the most expensive way to make a wheel- to create tooling to forge the number of sizes, widths, and styles HRE manufacturers would cost literally millins of dollars. Don't forget, we build everything from 15x6.5" wheels to a 20x14" wheel.

An example: for Saleen, we build a 19x9.5 front and 20x12 rear for the $400,000 S7 supercar. Proprietary center forgings and inner rim components were created, but this was much less expensive than tooling for a forged one-piece wheel would have been, especially for the volume of wheels that are needed. If you could sell 5,000 sets of a certain wheel, you could recoup the initial investment and turn a profit- but HRE is known as a custom wheel manufacturer, and builing 17x7" wheels all day isn't very custom...

The bottom line is: when it comes to engineering, HRE does things the way it does for specific reasons- these reasons are mostly proprietary, part of our 'secret sauce,' if you will.

jjc01

SOCAL SC4: You were correct in stating this string was never intended to address an issue with HRE, and in fact, the only time I made reference to your company was when I indicated I wished I had purchased my wheels from them. Now, since some readers appear to want folks who post comments to qualify themselves, somewhat like an expert in court, I believe I must make a confession. I spent about one year casually researching which wheels I was going to purchase, and during the early phases of my quest, actually visited the HRE factory. I was given a tour of the entire factory, treated wonderfully, had every question I asked answered to my complete satisfaction, and my tour guide ws even kind enough to bring one of the rims I was interested-in outside, so we could place it up against my car and I could get real good idea of how it would look mounted. I fell in love with the wheels and HRE, but upon returning home received the obligatory reality check with regard to my finances at the time (I was still in the process of replacing all my personal property), and so I decided to forgo the purchase of HRE wheels until my next car. In the interim, I researched (exclusively on the Internet) less expensive wheels, and about one year later, when I was in the process of ordering chrome BBS RSIIs, was told I was going to be paying almost as much for them as I would for forged wheels. I decided to spend the extra money and the rest is history…

My point: I am not interested in ordering a Glashuette watch (the Submariner I purchased in 1986 still serves me well), but want to highlight the fact that this string was initiated by me with the intention of asking about “the wait.” I had no idea how many folks had been quoted accurate production/delivery times for their forged rims, if some manufacturers were better than others in backing their ETAs etc. So, consistent with that theme, I would like to ask you a couple of hypothetical questions that potential chrome wheel buyers (including me; hindsight is always 20 - 20) may be interested in knowing, and I ask them with the expectation that some buyer may take your reply as gospel, and may cite it to HRE some day if they are in a similar situation…

My questions are:

(1) Does HRE have much influence with its chrome plater or do you lose total control of the manufacturing process once your wheels are forwarded to the plater?

(2) If I had purchased my wheels from HRE, would your company be able and willing to exert enough influence, to have my replacement rim placed at the front of the chroming line, so with regard to my position in line/the wait, I wouldn’t be starting all over again?

I hope I have not placed you in too awkward a position, but I’ve been dying to ask these questions for some time. As you may note from some of my earliest postings (prior to learning about losing my wheel to UPS), my greatest fear was always that I might someday have to replace one of the original rims and potentially wait another eternity…

Appreciatively,
jjc01

Hameed

Hi Bob,

Can you please post some pics of these new wheels?

Thanks!!

jjc01

Hermosa/Hameed: Please let me know if there is anything in addition to a close-up of the rivets that you would like me to highlight. I will post more photos as soon as I receive the fourth wheel, which I’m hoping to receive any day now…

jjc01

PS: Best wishes for a happy Thanksgiving holiday to you all....

Hameed

Actually my question was to Bob of HRE regarding the new wheels he had mentioned that HRE was making. Did not mean to hijack your thread!

jjc01

Hameed: No problem; I have the utmost respect for HRE and happy if this thread can assist anyone with wheel interests.. I thought you were probably making the request to some one other than me when you addressed Bob, but I hadn't responded to Hermosa's request for photos, and wanted to give you the option also.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

they were posted already in another thread (the thread that you wonder the lip on the 911 turbo). the wheels (anadized and gold) on the ferrari 360 track i believe they are the racing series by hre

Hameed

Hmmm........... I did not particularly like those ones..........................

rominl

iTrader: (4)

well those rims are SOLELY designed for racing purposes. light weight while strong is their main mindset. actually from what i know they do NOT have that racing series for the GS at all. every one of the racing series are specifically designed for each car (something like 10 in the lineup now?), like m3, 360, etc... those rims are not really for look i guess, at least it's stepped lips instead of reverse, etc...

SoCalSC4

jjc01: We'll start with your questions

It is true, the chromer is an outside vendor, but we have a terrific relationship with them. In fact, they helped us devise a proprietary method of chroming our centers and even built special racks to hold them.
Anyway, although we don't do a ton of chrome, they are responsive when we need a rush order. The chroming process is fairly quick anyway because we prep the parts for chrome in-house. The chromer gets a fully prepared part, so they don't need to mess around prepping it- also, HRE gets to control the quality of the preparation (this is the key to a good chrome job).


QUOTE: 2) If I had purchased my wheels from HRE, would your company be able and willing to exert enough influence, to have my replacement rim placed at the front of the chroming line, so with regard to my position in line/the wait, I wouldn’t be starting all over again

Absolutely- it's challenging enough to even endure our typical 3-week turn on a new set of wheels- I can only imagine how frustrating it is to wait another several weeks (few months in your case?) for a replacement wheels because someone else lost or damaged a wheel. In most cases, HRE actualy machines the center portion of a wheel within 24-72 hours of having a received order. The rest of the wait time is actually spent getting the wheels through 'finish,' whether it be polished/painted/chromed, etc. We have and will used our influence (and good relationships) with our vendors to expedite certain "hot" wheel orders. To give you an idea, we can turn a chrome plated wheel out in as little as two weeks, if necessary.


I probably shouldn't tell this story, but it comes with a certain sense of pride and shows how far HRE has come in the past couple of years.... Before the big SEMA show in November of this year, the guys from Aston Martin USA called and ordered a set of our 547R wheels in 19" for a Vanquish.

We delivered the wheels on time, and the Thursday before SEMA at 5:15 PM, we get a call from one of the Aston guys: "Uhhh... these wheels don't fit!"

Our salesperson, Guy, was the one who took the order, so I am standing by, listening to his conversation. I pulled the QC sheet from the file- no, in fact, I checked the set personally and signed off on it. 5x108 bolt pattern, 63.5mm centerbore, it's all okay. I asked Guy (our salesperson) to ask the Aston rep to walk around the back of the car and read what it says. The reponse is "yes, sure enough, DB7 GT."

Right away, I know they had ordered the wrong wheels. The DB7 GT uses a 5x120.65 bolt pattern, and the offsets are different. We send out a confirmation sheet before starting all orders, and, sure enough, "Aston Martin Vanquish..."

Now we are determined not to have the Aston guys 'embarrassed' at SEMA by running stock wheels. I generate a new QC sheet with the DB7 GT fitment and run it out to the second-shift machinists, who work until 2 A.M Monday through Thursdays. By the time I arrive at 8:00 the next morning the wheels are completely cut. After I QC the machining, I hand them to Jorge, who spends 6 hours carefully polishing the centers while Pedro polishes the outer rim components.

By 5:00 PM Friday, the wheels are completely built and headed via courier to Los Angeles, where the car is waiting at a Ford dealer. Saturday morning the tires are mounted, the wheels are installed on the car, and the car is on a carrier headed to Las Vegas. Needless to say, Aston Martin really likes us now!



Yes, the Competition series were on a 360 Challenge car (I got to drive it!). They are available only in 17" and 18" and are meant to be driven on the track, but are certainly capable of street-use.

Hameed, sorry to hear you don't like the styles, but they were driven by our quest to build the lightest three-piece wheel possible, so aesthetics were secondary. In person, they are actually really nice, and have some neat & subtle machining details (including the HRE shield and logo engraved between the assembly bolts). BTW, they have Titanium bolts, too!!
My '85 MR2 will be treated to a set of these in 17" in January, so come and see them in person at the SEMA International Auto Salon!!

Thanks again for the kind words and commentary- as always, if I can be of any assistance, feel free to contact me at the office: bobh@hrewheels.com

Best regards,

Bob Hale
Technical Specialist
HRE Performance Wheels

rominl

iTrader: (4)

wow, that's one hell of a story on austin martin!

TTurboPimp

iTrader: (12)

I know I have already expressed my hapiness with HRE and my purchase, but to take it a step further...Bob e mailed me every step of the way to let me know where my wheels were in the process...and my wheels were delivered right on time. I definitely have the impression that if something were to go wrong with my wheels, that HRE would fully bakc their product and correct the problem.

Im not going to sit here and say that I dont like any other brands because I own HRE..I actually think the I Forged are great looking wheels, but I have read more than one post (on different forums) complaining about turn around times. Of course you usually only read about bad posts, the good transactions are usually not in the lime light.....thats why anyone in a service industry should really take to heart how they treat each and every customer.

I just dont understand why some people take it so personal....barring being a co owner of the company, whats the big deal....everyone has opinions and preferences.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

That's ok you can't afford them anyway.

1niceride

Not to thread jack ,but.....................

Bob - So how much do the competition series weigh in 18x8.5 and 18x9.5 . You said they were made to be lightweight first and aesthetics were second, so i hope they weigh close to my volks.

I am currently thinking of new rims, and liked hre's , but didn't like that they were heavy.