5zigen Wheel Quality?

[1gDSM4g63]

I'm considering getting 5zigen FN01R-C wheels but I heard the quality isn't too good. Any updates or any other wheels I should consider that is light and conservatively cheap price-wise?

 

[DSMSpyder99]

WTF What are you talking about the FN01RC are proven wheels. Many racers use them to drift, drag, autoX, and road race.

 

[Supa Dexta]

Yeah I have a set of them, they are nice wheels. I think I may have heard something about an old finish being weak.. But I'm not for sure on that.

 

[1gDSM4g63]

From what I have heard 5zigen are not the strongest wheels and I'd like to confirm whether or not that's true. I mean there are nice looking wheels but were are talking less than $200 per wheel.

 

[asian312]

Strongest relative to what? With any wheel there are trade offs and these differ with different construction processes, spoke design, and materials.

I have quite a few friends that track on FN01R-C without any issues. Then again I don't see them driving their low profile 17 and 18 on Houston's pot-hole ridden streets.

 

[Rx3]

From what I have heard 5zigen are not the strongest wheels and I'd like to confirm whether or not that's true.

No it's not true.

 

[eclipsegsx1736]

5Zigen wheels (and 5Zigen's Black Racing line) are in fact made with a softer and weaker (and cheaper) metal compared to other Japanese-brand wheels such as Work, Rays/Volk, Advan etc. These brands are also much more expensive but the extra money is actually worth it in the long run. I used to have 5Zigen Black Racing Pro N1 (17x9) which weighed in at 21 lbs and were a very weak metal (bent the crap out of the wheels and the lip actually broke). I now have Rays Volk CE28's in 17x9 also, but they only weigh 15 lbs and are MUCH MUCH stronger (forged instead of a weak cast). They also cost $675 each compared to the 5zigen's ~$250 each.

 

[DSMSpyder99]

5Zigen wheels (and 5Zigen's Black Racing line) are in fact made with a softer and weaker (and cheaper) metal compared to other Japanese-brand wheels such as Work, Rays/Volk, Advan etc. These brands are also much more expensive but the extra money is actually worth it in the long run. I used to have 5Zigen Black Racing Pro N1 (17x9) which weighed in at 21 lbs and were a very weak metal (bent the crap out of the wheels and the lip actually broke). I now have Rays Volk CE28's in 17x9 also, but they only weigh 15 lbs and are MUCH MUCH stronger (forged instead of a weak cast). They also cost $675 each compared to the 5zigen's ~$250 each.

Beau you forgot to mention how you bent your wheels and cracked the lip. He went OVER a curb on the freeway going approx 80mph and only messed up 2 of the rims (seems strong to me) . I do agree with him that cast wheels are not as strong as forged but FN01RC are proven wheels.

 

[RoasT BeeF]

I have a set of the old style 5ZR wheels. They were very nice when I got them but they didnt stay that way for long. The finish on the lip began to peel almost a month after I got them on the car. Once the finish begins to peel they become virtually uncleanable and are ugly as ####. I ran them for one summer and removed the wheels to try and refinish them. I found a crack in one of the rear wheels right on the edge. It would still hold air but obviously a safety hazard. I have no idea how it got cracked. The car was driven for almost one full summer under normal conditions. I dont remember hitting any significant pot holes or any other road debris that could have caused the damage, plus it was on the back. I am done with Zigens.

 

[kahl23]

General rule of thumb with wheels is Price, Strength, Weight, pick two.

 

[D_Eclipse9916]

Never had a problem with any of the sets of mine, im on my second set of fno1rcs, only reason to switch was for the wider wheel. Went from 7.5 to 8.5, Got em used, if I had gotten em new would have gotten 17x9

 

[1gDSM4g63]

General rule of thumb with wheels is Price, Strength, Weight, pick two.

Yeah, that's what I thought. Price is unrealistically for good quality and I tend to believe the bad stories more than the good. They are probably no suitable for the stress of intense autocrossing.

 

[DSMSpyder99]

I have a set of the old style 5ZR wheels. They were very nice when I got them but they didnt stay that way for long. The finish on the lip began to peel almost a month after I got them on the car. Once the finish begins to peel they become virtually uncleanable and are ugly as ####. I ran them for one summer and removed the wheels to try and refinish them. I found a crack in one of the rear wheels right on the edge. It would still hold air but obviously a safety hazard. I have no idea how it got cracked. The car was driven for almost one full summer under normal conditions. I dont remember hitting any significant pot holes or any other road debris that could have caused the damage, plus it was on the back. I am done with Zigens.

The wheels that are in question are the FN01RC not 5ZR. Overall 5Zigen wheels have been know to bend and crack. However, the FN01RC have been used buy a lot of racers and have proven their durability on the track.

 

[D_Eclipse9916]

Autocrossing, road racing, daily driving....yeah did all that....still held up fine...
Here are even pictures of the conditions I put mine through...road racing, snow, and autocross oh MY!

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[Ludachris]

I personally haven't seen them on many track cars. Though I have seen plenty of cars using wheels like Kosei and Enkei, which are also relatively cheap compared to Volks, SSR, Gram Lights, CCW, etc. I've always liked the look of the FN01RC, just wouldn't buy them with all of the other good choices out there.

 

[Flash]

The wheels that are in question are the FN01RC not 5ZR. Overall 5Zigen wheels have been know to bend and crack. However, the FN01RC have been used buy a lot of racers and have proven their durability on the track.

On the track your not going to be that worried about bending a wheel. Wheels can expand 10% of their original size. The problem becomes cracking when at the track, unless you have a big impact with a wheel which will usually damage any wheel. In a poorly designed cast wheel, there will be air pockets in the aluminum left from the casting process. This in turn creates weak spots. With the wheel constantly expanding and contracting at the track this puts great stress on the weak spots.
Digging up more information on 5Zigen I found:

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ISO9001:Read here and here

 

[Scrymerr]

On the track your not going to be that worried about bending a wheel. Wheels can expand 10% of their original size. The problem becomes cracking when at the track, unless you have a big impact with a wheel which will usually damage any wheel. In a poorly designed cast wheel, there will be air pockets in the aluminum left from the casting process. This in turn creates weak spots. With the wheel constantly expanding and contracting at the track this puts great stress on the weak spots.
Digging up more information on 5Zigen I found:

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ISO9001:Read here and here

The ISO links are interesting, Grant, but I don't buy a 10% expansion for one second. There is absolutely no way that a wheel would reach the temperatures it takes to expand 10% their original size. If you wanted to do that, the tire would melt THOUSANDS of degrees before the wheel would reach that size. Where did you get that number from, anyway?

 

[1gDSM4g63]

...plenty of cars using wheels like Kosei and Enkei,... good choices out there.

So, I take it that Enkei and Kosei, if I can get my handle on 5x112, are a better choice right?

 

[D_Eclipse9916]

On the track your not going to be that worried about bending a wheel. Wheels can expand 10% of their original size. The problem becomes cracking when at the track, unless you have a big impact with a wheel which will usually damage any wheel. In a poorly designed cast wheel, there will be air pockets in the aluminum left from the casting process. This in turn creates weak spots. With the wheel constantly expanding and contracting at the track this puts great stress on the weak spots.
Digging up more information on 5Zigen I found:

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ISO9001:Read here and here

ISO 9001 is bullshit, doesnt measure quality. It was a popular thing to have in the 90s. Nowadays its like those quality awards given to cars, dont mean a thing. Koseis are a much better alternative but are much uglier in my opinion. Why I go with 5zigens is they are cheap used because all the evo guys love to run them. IF I had the money I would go volks, gram lights, etc etc.

I didnt have any crack after daily driving them, 7 weekends of track time, and 30+ autox, but it wasnt competition racing, and after 3 weeks on track I bought a set of track wheels with hoosiers. If your not competitively racing, you could run freaking ebay rims and because of technology these days they are not going to fall apart as many people think that they will.

 

[Scrymerr]

So, I take it that Enkei and Kosei, if I can get my handle on 5x112, are a better choice right?

Based on that statement I would say absolutely not. I would not base my wheel choice off of one persons' observation. Although I would figure as well that they are decent wheels just by the fact that they are fairly commonly used, I would not use this to decide one wheel over another. I don't think it would matter at all, as I am sure all three wheels are good, but research first. That way you can let us know what you find!

 

[1gDSM4g63]

What do you think I'm doing? I'm not a material science engineer so I lack knowledge in this area and coming from my first post I stated that I've heard a lot of bad reviews about 5zigen and I just wanted to verify it openly instead of searching through hundred of forums.

 

[Scrymerr]

What do you think I'm doing? I'm not a material science engineer so I lack knowledge in this area and coming from my first post I stated that I've heard a lot of bad reviews about 5zigen and I just wanted to verify it openly instead of searching through hundred of forums.

Whoa, don't get all defensive now! All I am saying is that I would compare the quality of two similar products by assuming that more people will have the 'better' one, that is all.

And the above statement I quoted was not correct. I meant to quote Ludachris.

 

[Flash]

The ISO links are interesting, Grant, but I don't buy a 10% expansion for one second. There is absolutely no way that a wheel would reach the temperatures it takes to expand 10% their original size. If you wanted to do that, the tire would melt THOUSANDS of degrees before the wheel would reach that size. Where did you get that number from, anyway?

In diameter.

 

[Scrymerr]

In diameter.

No, where did you hear/read that?

 

[Flash]

No, where did you hear/read that?

What? You want me to reveal my sources now? Ok. A source at AME Wheels. Enkei Japan makes AME wheels, so Enkei knows what their talking about when they disclose this type of information.
Even for a road car that you take to the road course that isn't a full-on race car like you see on TV. Hypothetically, say you see a max of a 5% expansion (extremely generous) in diameter on just your daily driver you take to the track; it still is a considerable amount of stress put on the wheel design.
It's too bad most people don't have a different view of wheels besides being a piece of circular-shaped metal.