[Expert@ApexWheels]

Thanks for the positive feedback all.

Originally Posted by esquire

Nice photos and wheels. What is the weight per wheel? And are these wheels fully forged (some companies use clever naming to create the incorrectly convey that they're wheels are "forged")?

Originally Posted by Bumpinjeep

Also, are those wheels truly forged?

These are great questions that more enthusiasts should be asking.

Our fully forged wheels are made from 6061-T6 aluminum using a 10,000 ton press. In short, our forged wheels are fully forged, and our flow formed wheels are just that - flow formed. As you described, some companies selling flow formed wheels use names that include the word “forged” to describe the manufacturing process, which can lead to confusion.

A similar issue we see is the common misconception that all forged wheels are strong, or that all forged wheels are stronger than cast or flow-formed wheels. Forging is simply a manufacturing process, not a measure of strength. Using forged material only gives a manufacturer the opportunity to create a stronger wheel, but it does not guarantee the final design will lead to an increase in effective strength vs a non-forged wheel. Consumers and the companies that sell forged wheels often focus on low wheel weights, but at what cost? Is that lighter wheel weaker, stronger, or equal to a cast alternative? Who knows? You’d need more info to make an educated decision, but that info is rarely presented. People’s assumption that forged is strong can lead to the purchase of wheels that are actually weaker than cast options. We made sure our forged wheels are stronger than our flow formed line by significantly increasing load ratings before trying to shave weight.

We wrote a more in-depth article about this topic in this blog article here: https://www.apexraceparts.com/blog/f...t-mean-strong/

At the end of the day, we could have released forged wheels years ago, but our main objective was to deliver product that went beyond fancy marketing. To deliver on our objective, it required meeting our internal increased strength and load rating benchmarks over our existing flow formed wheels, developing our own dies, designing our barrels to have industry-leading BBK clearance, ensuring our paintless knurled beading was functional, and more.

Edit: I forgot to supply you with a wheel weight. The EC-7R 18x10" ET25 pictured weighs approx. 20.6 lbs. You can find a list of wheel specifications and their respective weights and load ratings for both forged designs on our website. https://www.apexraceparts.com/wheels/forged-wheels.html

Originally Posted by Bumpinjeep

Can you really say the wheels have a "aggressive & flush appearance" when you have to run spacers with them?

The 18x10" ET25 fitment shown on the car is a direct fit on the F80 chassis with stock suspension, lowering springs and most aftermarket coilovers, where no spacers are needed.

With that said, there are some aftermarket suspensions like KW (Variants, Clubsports and HAS) and Ohlins Road & Track that are known for eating up inner wheel and tire clearance. This can be due to a larger strut body, a taller spring stack height by incorporating tender/helper springs (which leads to a lower spring perch location next to the wheel & tire rather than above it), and/or other factors. When you install wider aftermarket wheels and tires with these particular suspensions, small spacers are necessary for the proper strut to tire clearance.

Please let us know if you have any further questions.

- Ryan