6ul wheels

[TroyV]

Troy,

Did Emilio do anything for you on the old cracked wheels? Just curious.

FWIW, I have never cracked an RPF1 after many years and thousands of track miles including enduros.

Gordon

It turned into a little bit of a cluster F. He offered to replace them at first, after I sent him the pictures, then took it back moments after I sent him the UPS tracking numbers, as he never actually looked at the pictures until then and identified that they were Gen 1 wheels and as such would not replace them.

It felt a little skuzzy to me that it would go down like that...especially after going through the expense to ship them to the left coast. He would not return them to me after an inspection as he cannot knowingly ship cracked wheels to a user, so I would be out the scrap value of them as well. After some back and forth, He offered to apply my shipping cost toward a new set, though I have yet to place an order. I have no doubt the Gen 2's are better, and it sucks that I'm into this for cash, when I'd have been just as happy to toss them in the scrap dumpster.

It still feels skuzzy.....how this went down.

[Grippy]

That is about how all my dealings with him have gone down. Once he has your money he doesn't want to hear back from you, especially if you have a problem. So much for customer service.

I don't understand why he wouldn't stand behind the first gen wheels which are of a known inferior design (which he designed). He is lucky no one has been hurt or killed due his crappy wheels.

[TroyV]

I have a set of RPF1's that I bought from Will when I bought the car. I have no idea how many track miles he put on them prior to my getting them, but I easily have twice the miles on them than I did on the 6UL's, and I use them on the street in addition to the track. There isn't so much as a mark on them.

[WillM]

Troy,

That is unreal.

Just to be clear of the time line:

1. You send him pictures of the cracked wheels.
2. He offers to replace them, free of charge, if you return the wheels.
3. You ship the wheels to him.
4. He goes back on the offer and then refuses to reimburse you for the shipping charges.

Sounds like all he did was make sure that he got the wheels out of your hands and into his. As soon as the wheels were on their way, your wheels were Found Uninsured (ie: F.U.).

I have nothing but GREAT things to say about Enkie wheels. The RP-F1 in 15x7, and at 9.5 pounds is an incredible wheel. Very light weight, very strong. I own many sets and they have all served me extremely well. My only issue with Enkie is that they do not make a 15x8 or 15x9 RP-F1.

Enkie makes the PF-01 in 15x8. I have a set of these. The wheels are not as light as the RP-F1, but are otherwise a quality wheel. The weight is a few ounces lighter than a 15x8 6UL.

I have no interest in supporting a business that makes ME feel like I am doing THEM a favor, and that is the feeling I've had in prior interactions with 949 Racing. Unfortunately, it seems that the owner of 949 has a legion of fanbois in the Miata community which inflate 949 products and service with significantly more credit than I feel is warranted, based on my personal experiences and the experiences I've heard from others.

Troy & Derek, I'd look into the Enkies. David Lopilato is a COM member, Enkie dealer, and all-around nice guy. last I heard, his Enkie prices were very attractive too....

[Chrispy]

Time to make a nice little video montage out of the pictures and put them up on youtube with appropriate tags. Turn comments off so you don't have to deal with the BS.

[jeffw]

Time to make a nice little video montage out of the pictures and put them up on youtube with appropriate tags. Turn comments off so you don't have to deal with the BS.

Seconded!

I'll note that if you're ok with slightly heavier wheels, there's a local manufacturer of Miata wheels ( http://dforcewheels.com/ ). They have 13 pound hubcentric miata wheels in 15x7 25 and 30mm offset.

I've got 2 sets (one black, one silver) if you'd like to see them in person.

Phils Tire Service also carries them if you want a wheel/tire package.

[TroyV]

I'm not really the vindictive type, even though I feel I'm well within my rights to be so in this case. I would not post a vid like that or post attack threads in forums. There really isn't anything to be gained from it.

[Chrispy]

So far he has been very successful in quashing any evidence of wheel failure (do a google), so consider it education for the masses. He also might reconsider his offer about replacement. Although if it was me and had lost all confidence in the manufacturer Enkei wheels would be my choice.

[breakaway500]

Troy,I can see why you are upset about the wheels.First,the discovery of cracks,and then the refusal of the manufacturer to replace them,especially after you had already shipped them back.. ! Certainly no warm fuzzy feelings there.
If I were in your shoes,I'd feel the same way. He should have at least offered you a substantial discount on replacements. This incident will make me think twice about a future 949 purchase, and I will be checking my current 6UL wheels very very closely!

[TroyV]

I have seen wheels crack before. It is all part of the game. I wouldn't say I was upset about it. I'm just annoyed that I have cash in to this when I could have just dumped them and moved on.

[Dtangard]

Wow I've been off the forum for a few days and I'm surprised to hear 949s customer service is terrible. I called phils tire service this morning to order a set of 15x8 6uls but it was going to take 2 weeks for them to arrive at my front door so I held off. I'm glad I did.

How do lap times compare between the 15x7 and 15x8 wheels? I'm not overly concerned about weight. The dforce wheels do look nice, especially for the money. Where are they made?

Will, I've always liked the enkeis. I'll contact David Lopilato and see how much a set of PF01s go for.

Thanks for the heads up guys.

[zchris]

What happened with 6ul is not uncommon in the performance industry. I had a Winters tripple track diffy expode in a quick change a while back. It happened to be there most expensive diffy at around $1400. When I called Beaver at Winters, the manager, he said "Oh ya, that was a bad design and lots of them broke. I said OK how about a replacement. He says he'd be glad to sell me a new design one, at full price. And then he says if I want a discounted one he'll sell me another bad design one for $800. I could not believe my ears. Does the term douchbag seem applicable. Its pretty standard treatment in the industry. Buyer beware.
Chris

[WillM]

Wouldn't it be great if businesses had to adopt honest slogans?

"We don't have customers, we only have beta testers that pay full price."

Having been a customer of such businesses, and dealing with similar issues, I'd say that my "favorite" part is when "they" ask for all of the data I've collected and then pick MY brain for solutions.

[jeffw]

How do lap times compare between the 15x7 and 15x8 wheels? I'm not overly concerned about weight. The dforce wheels do look nice, especially for the money. Where are they made.

No idea on lap time comparison....I think Will and Troy have run both 15x7 and 15x8. I thought about going to 8", but I'm happier having multiple sets of 15x7s and the D-Force are a great deal.

I've set both NHMS ST4 records on 15x7 wheels, so I think they can be plenty fast

As far as manufacture location, http://forum.specmiata.com/cgi-bin/ulti ... 9;t=000111 sez China.

[zchris]

Will, when Race Technologies first came out with the DL1 it did not work. My buddy Kyle is a software engineer and worked with them for months to get it to work. There was no pay for his services. Though he saved countless racers the agony of a DOA new product. When a company comes out with a new product, I'm the last to buy. Would rather wait for the bugs to be worked out. Others like the challenge.
Chris