Can someone explain the difference between Volk, Gram Lights and G Games? Are they manufactured to different quality levels? are the different brands focused on particular applications? I've spent the morning on google looking for this information but I came up empty. Currently I'm planning on getting the Gram Lights 57f or 57f Pro but I just want to make sure I'm not overlooking any important details that may sway me toward one of the other Rays brands.

 

Marketing...

 

Well, partially marketing.

The Gram-Lights are forged magnesium, the Volks are forged aluminum and the G-Games are cast aluminum.

That is in descending order of expense, ascending order of weight, but not any real indication of quality. All Ray's wheels are pretty fantastic.

Incidently, the MazdaSpeed wheels are (essentially) Volks and Gram-Lights. But talk about marketing - they are marked up almost 300% because of the MazdaSpeed name.

 

Thats exactly what I needed to know. Thanks!

 

very interesting thanks

 

As far as i know, Gram Lights are NOT "forged magnesium" but mostly cast aluminum, with the exception of a few of their models. In terms of price, the true order is: Volk, Gram Lights, G-Games.

 

I have to agree with the last post here..

It goes VOLK.. which has various lines..INCLUDING a FORGED MAG (MAGNESIUM) line.

GRAM LIGHTS then G-Games..

 

Rays are good wheels, just wish they were cheaper.

 

i want volks but yeah too much money. i wonder if ne1 is buying the MS wheels.

 

But would you still want them if they were cheaper and everyone had them? or they had to reduce quality in order to produce them cheaper?

There are a lot of copies out there, but ppl still buy the real deal because they get piece of mind that Rays makes high quality wheels that are both strong and light.

IMO if you like a certain Rays wheel, be patient and save up your money and buy what you really want.

 

Any idea how strong cast aluminum is, relatively speaking? I'm thinking of Gram Light 57C's as compared to Enkei RPF1's. RPF1's are very light and seem to have a good reputation for strength. Can't find much on the 57C's.

Thanks.

 

As far as I know, castings are significantly weaker than forged parts. If this trend holds true, then cast aluminum wheels will have less strength than a forged wheel. I found something from my old MECE 2361 Mechanical Design I class at the University of Houston (GO COOGS!!):

"Forging is a manufacturing process in which metal is pressed, pounded or squeezed under great pressure into high strength parts known as forgings. The process is normally (but not always) performed by preheating the metal to a desired temperature before it is worked. It is important to note that the forgine process is entirely different from the casting (or foundry) process, as metal used to make forged parts is never melted and poured (as in the casting process)...

...Forging is carried out in different ways:

One way to classify forging is by the working temperature. Most forging operations are performed hot or warm to increase ductility of the part. However, cold forging is also common. Cold forging increases the strength of the part due to strain hardening..."

- Adapted from Bulk Deformation Processes, page 1 of 13

From what I have learned in auto tech (thank you Mr. Skinner), metal shop (thank you Mr. Roberts), high school drafting (shameless plug to Mr. Smith) and the like, casting can leave areas of the material weak because of the distribution, core shifting, etc. Casting has an advantage: price. It costs considerably less to cast something, say a wheel, than it is to forge that same wheel. Being cost effective is what keeps some of these imitation brands (ADR, Arospeed, Speedy Wheels, Tenzo) in business. I am going to assume they cast their wheels, not to mention rip off some timeless designs (remember Konig's Imagine wheel? Looks as if the design was taken straight from the Enkei Aegis Mesh. Bastards .).

In a forging process, the strength distribution is nearly homogeneous. Here's an example. Would you rather purchase a cast U-joint or a forged U-joint for a 1000+ hp dragster, assuming the material is the same? I believe when parts are cast, the melted material loses some of its strength through the immense heat transfer (I'm taking the risk of getting flamed here). According to the excerpt, forging involves heating and compression, but not melting. Therefore, its internal strength is not compromised.

Anyhoo, whether it is cast or not is not an issue. Depending on your application, you could spend about $300 each for a cast wheel or $800 for a forged wheel that might have as much strength as the cast. It's up to you. Besides, most cast wheels are pretty strong, so I don't think you have to worry about it what its made out of. Heck, you could buy wagon wheels, but that would just be plain silly. I hope you learned nothing from this .

 

I believe even MS wheels are manufactured by Volks!!! Same as my nismo wheels and some of the STi, Rallyart wheels too!

cheers,

richie

 

They are , but they're made by RAYS. Volk is a brand of wheel made by RAYS as well.

 

Am I a PC thug or what?