Ideally I'd want the RE30s, but since money is a factor I'd take the Type Fs.

 

the destruction test isn't going to go as well for me.

 

There's quite a few cars in my local mazda club that run the FN01R-C's and a Mazda 6 owner I know put me onto the wheels.

They served every purpose i was looking for. They were lighter than stock even in the 18 inch size, look great and are very durable. I've taken some nasty pot holes and had zero issues.

I think this article shows that price doesn't always equal performance and that you can still get a great wheel without having to sell your mother to buy one.

 

I agree, FN01's are super popular for a reason...

Personally I would go for the re030's but in reality I would never pay anywhere near retail. Wheels can be purchased elsewhere...

 

the real moral of the story was all the times are within the realm of driver error and anyone thinking they are getting a performance advantage from super light and super expensive wheels are fooling themselves

 

I was waiting for someone to post this. I read the article, and I was amazed at the justifications that were going on here. There is no reason to assume that a wheel that weighs *more* than the Axis Halo (i.e., the 5Zigen FN01R-C) would outperform the Halo on the track. I don't remember the weights that the magazine measured for the FN01R-C and Axis Halo, but according to the two manufacturer websites, the 18x8.5 5Zigens (that I've been considering for my RX-8, as I have a set of them for my Mazda3) weigh 21 to 22 lbs. and the Halos (which I'm about to order today) weigh 19.8 lbs. The track times are obviously so close as to be irrelevant, which was the entire point of the article. Their conclusion was precisely that the weight of the wheel, at least when they're all relatively close together, has no measurable effect on track time.

 

Wheel weight does not means its better, wheel rigidity plays a bigger factor.

http://www.vividracing.com/catalog/pages.php?pID=57

replica wheels can look good, other than that there is nothing special about them. Hell they are just copying a design, I doubt they are gonna put any research in to anything after that.

1 second in a 25second course is huge, that's 4sec/min, that is normally the diff between first and last in autox

 

rigidity is why the Volks in the test had zilch in the way of an advantage

 

The whole test is BS because they didn't include the best wheel. RPF1's

 

Yes, that can be huge, but it also can fall within normal variation from one lap to the next for a given driver. The fact that a heavier wheel beat (slightly) a lighter wheel shows what the authors themselves stated: it's all within the margin of error.

 

I'm using the FN01-RC for track day now
17x9 with 255 NT01
they are heavier compare to my 18x8 RPF1, but they are stronger tho
The RPF1 is pretty easy to bend as I did bend them in track when i was trying to cross all the bump and bit the time.
The cast is strong, harder, but also heavier and will crack after bit hit.
The forged are a bit softer than the cast, lighter, will bend after hit, but fixable
some how I like to use cast wheels for track day, because they are stronger and cheaper
I bended my RPF1, but fixing them is like 100~120 per wheel.
I bought my FN01-RC used with NT01 only for $600, what a deal...
If I fix my RPF1s, is gonna be $500 for just fixing them...

 

 

What? no ROTA's?