TyperItr said:
I was convinced the RPF were a forged wheel originally cos of the price of them, but yeah they are a cast wheel. I reckon they are lighter cos enkei claim to use a special casting process.
The Enkei RPF1 as well as all other Enkei Racing Series wheels are all produced via MAT process in Japan.
All Racing series wheels are made in Japan, no exception.
The MAT process is what they call "spun forged".
You have a centre (the spokes) that are casted, then you make the barrel by spinning and stretching the excess metal from the casting process.
By applying heat and pressure to both side of the barrel, you basically "forge" the barrel.
I had a chat with Enkei regarding this process, and it's pros and cons.
Casting allows you to get a little more different design on the spokes, and it isn't as expensive.
In theory, the spokes won't be as strong as a "forged" item.
However, in reality, there are a limit to tensile strength of aluminium alloy forged or cast, so the real world strength difference on the spoke aren't that much different.
The part of the wheels that takes most of the impact, and therefore require to be strong is the barrel.
And of course, both Enkei or Volks use forging technique to create the barrel, so strength is similar.
The Enkei wheels are well made and finish, and of course are expensive.
But you certainly get the quality you paid for, and you never have to say you got REP because the RPF1 is about as classic and as original as they come.
Jerrick