,
To create these light, yet strong wheels, RAYS has developed multiple manufacturing processes to achieve this goal. For the ultimate in performance, RAYS creates its forged wheels with a forge press that forms the metal with 10,000-tons of pressure! Another process is RM8000, using open-die, spin forming technology. Lastly, there is RCF, RAYS Cast Flow Forming process; RCF applies spinning technology to the casting process to provide relatively lightweight cast wheels with great strength. And just so that you know each wheel is high quality, RAYS has ISO9001 certification and TUV marks for various European market products.
Forging also refines the grain of the metal though a phenomena called cold working which improves the strength and other mechanical properties. Like wood, metal also has a grain and the forging process aligns the grain to the geometry of the part which also imparts strength and durability. Forging also increases the metals ductility meaning that if the wheel is subjected to a catastrophic impact, the forged wheel will most likely bend and retains most of its structural integrity instead of cracking or shattering like a cast wheel probably will.
The MotoIQ crew has found Volk wheels to be very durable despite the light weight. When subjected to the rigors of racing, (nearly all of our staff have racing licenses and race actively) Volks outlast cheaper lightweight wheels at about a ratio of 3:1. The MotoIQ crew has also never suffered a wheel failure that caused the loss of air pressure or a debeading of the tire, even in serious racing accidents where wheels were destroyed.
So now you know why we choose RE30s. RAYS use of extensive analysis in design and state of the art manufacturing technology make their wheels double the standard strength, and ensures that each wheel is up to the best quality standards. That sort of engineering is important to us; after all, the wheel is a critical component for safety.
 |
| Since we did not go for a super aggressive fitment, you can see we have plenty of clearance for lowering later. |
So how did all of this work? Amazingly well, the RE11 tires have excellent transient response and tenacious grip in the dry, offering a surprising amount of grip for a street tire. We also got to test the RE11 in a rare Southern California deluge. Although rain is often a problem for ultra high performance summer tires, we drove the RE11 through lots of standing water and just plain wet surfaces with no standing water. We experienced absolutely no problems with hydroplaning at speed. We were pleasantly surprised with the great wet traction. Where the stock tires would easily spin in the wet surface at WOT in 1st gear (Potenza RE050), the RE11 grips!
With the lightweight Volk wheels we have not experienced a loss of acceleration that you sometimes can feel when going to bigger wheels and tires. We have also not suffered a degradation of ride comfort as the unsprung weight has been kept in control. The wider RE30 wheels keeps the tread of the tire flatter and helps with improving grip. Lastly we love the way these wheel look on our car!
So that’s our wheel and tire package for Project S2000. Next up is a suspension system to take advantage of our high grip tires and racing wheels.
Sources
