Are Forged Wheels Actually Worth the Money?

Today we’re talking about forged wheels. You’ve probably seen them on high-end builds or heard about how they’re the final boss of wheels. The question is: ‘Are they really worth it or just marketing hype?’ We will be breaking down the pros and cons so you can decide if forged wheels are right for you.

Pros of forged wheel

First, you’ll need to know a bit more about how they’re made.

Strength

During production, a chunk of high-grade aluminum is hammered, pressured, and otherwise formed into a close-but-not-exact shape with extreme force and heat. Compared with casting, this results in a far superior grain structure.

If you’ll be tracking your car, strength is obviously important, even more so if you picture yourself going off track regularly - you have to learn somehow.

Weight

Strength is cool, what’s possibly even cooler is that forged wheels are lighter while also being stronger. Rather, because they’re stronger, they can be made with less material. Think of this like a character creator where points are allocated to strength or light weighted-ness, but forged simply gets more points. This is why they are often lighter AND stronger.

Less weight means less unsprung mass which improves everything from acceleration to braking to cornering. You’ll absolutely feel the difference in a lighter set of wheels, especially if you’re pushing your car to its limits.

‘Cool’ factor

If you plan on buying these for strictly performance reasons, you might roll your eyes at this. But, you gotta admit, there’s a cool factor to forged wheels. Whether you’re going to a meet, cruising around town, or just admiring your car parked at the gas station, a nice set of forged wheels makes a statement that you care about your car.

Cons of forged wheels

Price

The elephant in the room - they’re expensive. We’re talking thousands of dollars just to get your foot in the door. If you got a daily driver that costs $10K, it’s hard to justify buying a $5K set of wheels. But, if you’re driving something higher-end, maybe a Supra, Porsche, etc, they can be a worthwhile investment (wheels should be about 10% of purchase price of your car).  

The price also makes them a thief’s wet dream. Sure, the guy cutting off your catalytic converter with a sawzall might not know what they are, but believe us, smart criminals do. Whether this impacts you really depends on where you live. If you’re going to be street parking your car, maybe forged wheels aren’t the best choice.

They’re overkill, for most

If your car is a daily or weekend warrior, you probably won’t realize the performance benefits we talked about earlier.

Another thing to consider, and most people won’t tell you, is that ultra-light wheels are prone to cracking. Stuff such as TE37s have a super thin inner barrel which are prone to cracking when combined with stretched tires or exposed to pothole-riddled roads. This doesn’t apply to most multi-piece wheels that are often built like tanks but also weigh a ton.  

If you do damage a forged wheel, they’re not as easy to replace. Many of them are custom made-to-order, meaning they can’t be bought off-the-shelf. It can be a long and expensive process to get a replacement. You might even want to consider buying spares upfront. Again, this isn’t as applicable to forged 3P wheels, of which replacement lips or barrels can be ordered on a whim.

Different types of forged wheels

Not all forged wheels are created equal. Here are some examples.

Monoblock vs 2-piece/3-piece

Monoblock forged wheels are one solid piece of aluminum. Volk Racing TE37s are a classic example. This type will always be the lightest.

As we already touched on, multi-piece wheels are typically brutes, capable of handling some serious abuse. However, the construction makes them heavier and finicky as they have potential for air leaks around the flanges.

Quality

Just because it’s forged, doesn’t automatically make it the best. The quality of the base aluminum, the forging processes, the machining processes, and the engineering behind the wheels all play a role in how good your forged wheels actually are. A cheap forged wheel might not be much better than a good flow-forged or even cast wheel.

Engineering is just as important as manufacturing. There are brands like Work Wheels that make entry-level forged options that don’t sacrifice in quality. On the other hand, certain brands charge insane prices - not dissimilar to other industries such as clothing, food, etc. You have to check out how products are made, engineered, and tested to ensure you’re getting what you’re paying for.

Brands

There are a ton of brands that make forged wheels. Just to give you an idea, let’s look at one from every market segment so you can see who they are , what they do, and how they differ from each other.

HRE Wheels

These are for exotic and luxury cars. They’re basically the Ferrari of forged wheels. They’re premium, hand-build, bespoke, all the adjectives you might associate with luxury products - plus, they can back up the pricing. There's a reason we called them the ‘Ferrari’ and not ‘Lamborghini’. You get super light and strong wheels, naturally, the price tag reflects this. These run around $10,000 for an average set.

No, they’re not made in Switzerland. These are the gold standard for American-made wheels.  

Work Wheels

These cater to the JDM sport compact markets and tuner market. These are positioned on the more affordable end of the spectrum, compared with HRE, at about ¼ of the price for a set. They’re still high-quality wheels with tons of engineering and racing heritage behind them. You’ll see them on a lot of JDM builds but they’re also popular on European cars.

One caveat is that Work uses a cast wheel center with forged lips and barrels on their 2P/3P wheels.

We sell more Work Wheels than anyone in North America. We got basically every model they make.

Forgeline

These are track-focused muscle car wheels. They’re another high-end option, often seen on Vettes and Camaros that will see track use. If you’re going to the track regularly you’ve certainly heard of Forgeline. Their wheels are known for attention to detail, and of course, come in at a high price.

BBS

If you think of wheels + European, BBS is what should come to mind. They’ve been around forever and have been making forged wheels almost the whole time - the RS and LM are two examples.

They make forged wheels in certain standard sizing meaning they’re off-the-shelve ready to go. Doing so allows for aggressive pricing compared with full custom forged wheels. Certain models of BBS, particularly newer designs, can be extremely expensive. The price range is vast, with their ‘entry level’ stuff setting you back about 4K, while a set of FI-R’s can run well over 10K.

BBS is an OG brand in the industry and a name you can count on.

Belak Industries

Sometimes just called Belak wheels, these guys are relatively new. They make some of the coolest drag racing wheels on the market. They’re focused on one thing: going in a straight line from 0-130, give or take. These are very expensive compared with some of their competitors, but they’re super lightweight and have all kinds of interesting tech, beadlocking for example. 

They cost a pretty penny. Keep that in mind and if they’re out of your budget check out Weld or Forgestar.

American Force

These are forged truck wheels. If you have a diesel truck you’ve probably shopped for a set of Force’s before. They are OG’s in the aftermarket truck wheel game and make some seriously cool styles at prices that aren’t too extreme.

Forged wheels on trucks are a little different than cars as they’re mostly for style points and don’t give a tangible increase in performance - but, Force’s are just… sick… and we’re here for that.

When do forged wheels make sense?

If you have a high performance car, something north of 70K, then forged wheels make a lot of sense. You’re going to notice performance gains and the wheels will hold up to any type of driving that you may enjoy. Plus, cars in this price range probably come with decent wheels, so opting for less could be a downgrade compared to stock.

If you’re daily driving an entry level sports car, you likely won’t realize the performance gains of forged wheels. In this case, casts or flow-formed wheels would make a lot more sense.

Are forged wheels worth it?

If you really need them, then yes - there’s no replacement. For track junkies and performance enthusiasts who demand the absolute best, forge wheels are a game changer. They offer unmatched performance and strength. Again, if you just have a daily driver, possibly consider a more cost-effective option.

It comes down to what you drive, how you drive it, and what you’re willing to spend. There will always be an objectively better option, even within the tier of forged wheels. If you’re just looking to upgrade the style of your car you can do so without going into crippling debt.

Whether you want forged wheels, cast, flow formed, wheels for your truck, car, or even golf cart, we’ve got them in our shop.

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