carlosinseattle

My car has MB forged alloy wheels, but I think I want to run all season tires for winter and summer set for nice weather, and have a set of wheels for both. I just bouth AS tires and they're mounted on my forged MB OEM wheels. I'm considering options for a sumemr set of wheels. The tires are Pilot Sport 4s. Would you guys use non forged wheels? What about the middle ground "flow forged wheels"? I worry because I had OEM non forged wheels on my S550 and I cracked 2 in under 9 months and 7K miles ow ownership. I know the S63 is heavier than the S550 and I tend to drive a little faster. Any thoughts on aftermarket or even MB non-forged options??

JohnLane

More import than the wheel being cast or forged is how much air you keep in the tire.

Wheels get bent when the wheel comes in contact with the edge of a pothole, curb etc due to the tire being unable to protect it.

Keep 48lbs of air in your tires and it will ride firmer but you won’t have bent wheels.

Pressures in the 30s will guarantee pinched tires and bent/broken wheels.

superswiss

Forged wheels are not inherently stronger. The primary benefit of forged wheels is that they are much lighter than cast wheels. Forging makes the material stronger, so less material is needed to achieve a certain strength. So given the same strength of a cast wheel vs. a forged wheel, the forged wheel will be significantly lighter whereas a forged wheel that weighs as much as a cast wheel will be significantly stronger. Lighter is better as it reduces unsprung weight. Less unsprung weight is better for performance. A lighter wheel gives better steering response and acceleration and helps the suspension.

Flow forming also makes the material stronger than casting, but not as much. So flow formed wheels are somewhat lighter than cast wheels. They are a cheap option to save a little bit of unsprung weight, but for proper lightweight wheels you have to go forged, and good forged wheels are expensive.

carlosinseattle

Intersting...I was at 50 psi when I cracked the last rim. It was the OEM MB non-forged 10 spoke AMG wheel. Maybe the impact was just too severe, I was happy that there was no suspension damage in that situation. Broke through the tire sidewall so it had to be replaced. Luckily the tire was under warranty and under 3K miles so I just needed to replace the one tire.

carlosinseattle

I don't want to spend $10K for summer wheels. I'd spend up to $3K on a used set of OEM forged wheels, but I can't find any for sale right now. I still have a couple months before I plan to changeover, maybe something will show up for sale. But I like the looks of a bunch of aftermarket cast wheels, even one set that retails for around $1K. Then I'm looking at 2K-3K for flow formed sets. I know you do a lot with your car, but in your climate there's probably no need for alternating sets.

superswiss

Nope, I don't have to deal with that. I'm on PS4S all year round. We have my wife's car with FWD and Michelin CrossClimate 2 for nasty weather and if we go up to the mountains in the winter or I just rent a car for the purpose.

JohnLane

Ouch! Must have been a nasty pot hole. Try as we might it happens. I damaged wheels with the 221 S-65. Always in Washington. Never a one here in Phoenix.

carlosinseattle

I wish the roads were as nice as AZ...or even the weather. I'm in PHX several times yearly for biz and family, last there in late January and it rained everyday.

carlosinseattle

It's been more than a decade since I've even considered aftermarket wheels. Not sure if flow formed forged wheels even existed back then. Is anybody running flow forged wheels on thier S63, or any of your cars???? And is anybody using cast wheel on your cars??

JohnLane

Congrats! You managed to bring the PNW with you! Many here will thank you for the rain.... I’m still not enough years removed from Washington to miss it! Love seeing the sun almost every day.

LMK when you are down this way. Perhaps we could share a meal at the Persian Room.

carlosinseattle

Just missed you; I was in Gilbert visitng my oldest son and the grandkids 3 weeks ago. We had terrible weather...by AZ standards. Mid 50's and drizzle all three days, with maybe one afternoon that had nice weather. I'll look you up next time I'm there.