How to choose/ spec the perfect Forged wheels for your car.
Author Bryan, Director at RRT FORGED
With 10+ years of engineering custom forged wheels, Bryan specializes in precision fitments, brake clearance, and high-performance builds for Singapore roads.
Choosing/ specifying the ultimate light weight Monoblock forged wheel for your purpose
Choosing the correct wheel for your car can be a daunting task, there are so many directions that one can take with a myriad of outcomes. Many a time even after the perceived best fitment comes up. Things can trip up the build. The smallest things like brake caliper clearance, tire size availability, shock strut clearance and so forth.
This article is a guide to help you in this process, to reduce potential mistakes or surprises that may occur.
The 4 Pillars of Wheel Builds
Assuming that by reading this article you are a car enthusiast just like us we still have to qualify that not all car enthusiasts chase the same goals with their builds. The main builds we will go through today are:
1. Street performance
2. Street and track mix use
3. Hardcore circuit track use
4. Aesthetic build
While we recognize there are other builds for this article we will cover these 4 types of builds in our blog post series. For this article today we will cover.
Street Performance
Performance over "Stance." We recommend a rim width that supports the tire sidewall, protecting your investment against potholes and improving mid-corner stability.
Street performance builds are about utility and practicality. A car that can do everything, it needs to do on the street and do it well. From midnight city runs, mountain passes, b road blasts. Not to mention ferrying the family and getting you to work.
A street performance build needs to be tough enough to take road imperfections and the punishing miles of day to day life.
When we talk about the performance benefits a good forged wheel brings, we need to start ground up, specifically, tire choice.
When it comes to RRT wheels we offer custom forged Monoblock wheels in all specifications, we cover almost all widths and offsets. Hence when you choose RRT there are no limits wheel wise. The limits are the car and the tires available in your market/ location.
For a street build what is important is an easy to get tire size that offers you the greatest availability of tire choices. Many a time we have seen other manufacturers push wheels to clients without consideration of what tires are available in their market.
Even if you have the best wheels, there will not be any performance benefits with lousy tires.
Typically for a street build the main considerations are:
1. Practical fitments that allow for fuss free road usage.
2. Cost considerations when it comes to tires.
RRT recommendations:
Go for common easy to find tire sizes that offers you the most choices in terms of brands/ models
Spec the wheels for those sizes, ensure rim widths match those sizes, consider whether you will upgrade to a wider tire and potentially spec in a wider wheel. For example if you currently use a 245 width tire but may want to upgrade to a 255 width tire in the future. Spec in a 9” width wheel that can be used on the 245 and 255 width tire.
Do not go too big and have too thin a tire, there is a big difference between blasting down a road, feeling the car move around you, and enjoying the sensations. Versus having the fear in your heart that your tires will blow out on the first pot hole, as there is not enough sidewall protection.
Factor in potential brake kit upgrades you wish to have in the future. As you have the power to spec brake clearances with RRT forged wheels Singapore. Doing it at the start and future proofing your investment is a prudent choice. Our clients spend their hard earned money with us and we take the responsibility of ensuring their future plans are catered for very seriously.
The Ultimate Street Build: A car that handles the commute as well as it handles a midnight blast through the 99 Bends.
Design choices. RRT wheels cover a wide spectrum of performance. From our extreme series to our essential series. For street performance where maximum cost to benefits are considered our essential line and performance line fits the bill perfectly. However, if you are going for an ultra light street build for cars like lotuses, Alpine a110, Miata’s. Or extreme performance street builds like 1000hp Audi RS’s, BMW M’s, Porsche GT builds. The extreme series synergizes perfectly with the intent and spirit of that commitment.
Consider square setups for practicality, some cars like the BMW m340 xdrive can thrive on a 255 all round square setup. This opens tyres options up as there is no longer the limitation of matching front and rear tyres under the limitation of different sizing from a staggered setup.
Do not go for too flush a fitment, while super flush wheels look great, rubbing of the mudguards and the fenders on large compressions and humps is impractical and again, detracts from the enjoyment of a street performance build. While increasing wheel camber can help running too much camber on the street actually hard the performance of the car on the street. Less effective brakes, less grip in the wet not to mention premature wearing out of the tires.
Conclusion
This guide is to help clients consider their needs and formulate the best possible specification when choosing a street performance build forged wheel. We acknowledge that there can be different views on the matter. Regardless, feel free to contact us should you need technical assistance, if unsure, RRT staff have decades of experience when it comes to wheel fitments, we are ready to help!
Frequently Asked Questions: Specifying Forged Wheels
What is the best rim size for street performance in Singapore?
The best size isn't necessarily the biggest. For street performance, we recommend a size that allows for a "meaty" tire fitment with sufficient sidewall. This protects your forged monoblock wheels from pothole damage on the PIE or KPE and ensures a planted, comfortable ride. Usually, speccing a 9" or 9.5" width for common 245mm to 265mm tire sizes is the "sweet spot" for most performance sedans.
Can I use my custom forged wheels with a Big Brake Kit (BBK) later?
Yes, but only if you "future-proof" the design. At RRT Forged, we allow you to spec specific brake caliper clearance during the engineering phase. If you plan on upgrading to Brembo or AP Racing kits in the future, we can design the spoke curvature and offset now so your new wheels fit perfectly over larger calipers later without the need for spacers.
What is a "square setup" and is it better for daily driving?
A square setup means using the exact same wheel and tire specifications for both the front and rear of the car (e.g., 255/35R19 all around). This is highly recommended for street performance cars like the BMW M340i xDrive. It reduces understeer, allows for easy tire rotation to extend tire life, and simplifies tire purchasing since you aren't hunting for different sizes for the front and rear.
Why is "tire availability" important when ordering custom rims?
Even the most expensive monoblock forged wheel is useless without quality rubber. Many manufacturers push aggressive widths that only fit obscure or expensive tire sizes. We recommend speccing your wheels around common, high-performance tire sizes available in Singapore. This ensures you always have access to top-tier brands like Michelin or Bridgestone without long wait times or inflated costs.
Does "super flush" fitment affect car performance?
While a "super flush" look is popular for aesthetic builds, it often requires excessive negative camber to avoid rubbing on fenders and mudguards. On the street, too much camber reduces your braking efficiency and wet-weather grip while causing premature tire wear. For a true street performance build, we recommend a practical fitment that allows for full suspension travel without rubbing.
