RAYS Shows Us The Future Of Lightweight Wheels

RAYS never misses an opportunity like the Tokyo Auto Salon to show off its latest wheels to the world.

Be it design innovation or refinement, you can always expect exciting things from the Japanese wheel maker, and for 2017 it’s really taking a big step forward with alloy wheel production. This is the Volk Racing TE037 Dura, the latest evolution of the signature six-spoke design and RAYS’ new halo product.

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It’s also the company’s most expensive wheel yet, one that combines everything RAYS has learned in the last few years in both Super GT and Le Mans.

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It joins the TE37 family, a vast array of versions that cater for pretty much every vehicle out there, from vintage rides to the popular sports machines we all love, right down to city cars and of course off-road applications. And now if you happen to own an R35 GT-R you can go for the Dura version.

As the name suggests, ‘Dura’ stands for duralumin, a hard and rigid type of aluminum alloy. It’s composed of 95 percent aluminum, 4 percent copper, 0.5 percent magnesium and 0.5 percent manganese. It’s not the lightest of metallurgical mixes, but what it lacks in that respect it makes up for in rigidity. And it’s this rigidity that RAYS has learned to harness, because if you forge an exceptionally strong wheel you can actually begin to remove material away without impacting its overall structural strength. And that’s precisely what’s been done here.

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If you look closely you’ll see that the six spokes are forged with an empty back as well as a hole at the top where they merge with the inside of the rim. Further material is removed from each of the sides of the spokes to open up three separate holes.

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The result is a drop of 300 grams per wheel when compared to the TE37 Ultra in the same R35 size and offset. The Dura is offered only in 20-inch diameters, two faces (more concave for the rear), and two widths for each face to suit either the R35 GT-R or the Lexus RC F. Price ranges from ¥251,000 to ¥260,000 ($2,200~$2,280) per wheel.

I personally can’t wait for this sort of production technology to trickle down to other TE37 versions as well as more wheels in the Volk Racing line up.

Dino Dalle Carbonare
Instagram: speedhunters_dino
dino@speedhunters.com

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1

My god that's so expensive! I love Rays wheels though. Surprised they dont have a carbon concept yet.

3

So they are slowly iterating towards Y-shaped spokes :)

4
taskforceranger117

Not as good looking as TE37 tbh, but the new design really blow my mind.

5

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6

300 grams though? half a pound? just doesn't seem worth the effort on anything but a race application

and something I see spoken about time and time again is unsprung weight with wheels, which is great, I'm absolutely all for that, but then we are typically buying the lighter wider wheel, and fitting wider tires, that MAY offset the weight savings of the wheel, by increasing the weight of the tire (I've seen tires weighing in at over 30lbs each)

just blabbing, not really scientifically motivated, but I'd be curious to see a more in depth article around complete wheel and tire packages and unsprung weight savings in the future - if possible - or if the interest is there

I always loved those articles in Sport Compact Car and the others. Wheel and tire guides seem like over done fluff, but I think there is some real science going on collectively that the industry doesn't necessarily discuss in total.

maybe it's just me - otherwise, great article, I think the wheel looks fantastic - although it's way out of my price range

7

impressive work, but not the most attractive.

8

Interesting.... i suppose the 3 aditional holes in the sides spokes will help in a kind of wind vortex to let air flow to the discs in high performance cars.

9

marlonsamuel Or they just remove weight without sacrificing structure.

10

marlonsamuel nah, that helps make the wheel lighter

11

Very futuristic. Doens't really look like the original, but hey. The name TE37 scores so why not? But I can't stop thinking about cleaning the little holes. Should be quite the drama.

12

Haha, true! I always think that when I see nice wheels.

13

Are there any stats on how wheels handle potholes. I love these and CF wheels but might crack them in a few weeks.

14

Like rays but it seems like they have learned from bbs (FI R) more than from super gt and Le mans :-P

15

I wonder if this will cause rotational wind noise? yya, just spent +1M Yen on wheels and now i got wind noise lol. Christ, arn't i a skeptical bastard!

16

rook56 Why would you spend close to $10000 on wheels and then drive them on roads with pot holes? I would think these wheels would be a track only item, something you buy when you're trying to save as much unsprung weight as possible.

18
speedhunters_dino

Kamjosi Yes BBS has got a similar wheel custom made for Manthey Racing but the spokes on those aren't completely hollowed out at the back. The spokes are thinner however. Would be interesting to compare. BBS cost more though

19
speedhunters_dino

3nigm4 rook56 They aren't engineered as a track only wheel.

20
speedhunters_dino

DinoSawr That's pretty much on par with high end wheels from other manufacturers

21

speedhunters_dino I know, but I would never drive these on our crappy Australian roads. It would take me YEARS to save the cash for a set of these (not that I would ever spend $10000 on wheels). 
I would think that mainly track guys will buy these though, due to the rigidity/weight improvements. Well, track guys and people who want e-fame for running $10000 wheels......

22

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25

well

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27

speedhunters_dino Kamjosi Kamjosi is referring to the FI-R's which are hollowed out at the back.  Looks like Rays/Volk followed a similar methodology of thickening the spokes to allow for the cut-outs.  Something yet to be done by HRE.  I'm guessing they are at a similar price point of around 9k-10k a set.  It would be really neat to see a set on a 991 GT3RS.  The wider spoke face would better suit it's design.

28

Or people who own a gtr, and thus should probably be able afford 10k wheels.

29

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30

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32

AceAndrew2 speedhunters_dino Kamjosi 
Exactly. There are the FI wheels which are "just" Forged and the more lightweight version Fi-R which have additionally those cut-out windows.
But i think dino do not talk about the windows, but about that the spokes are kind of U shaped. Didn`t you? It can`t be seen very good but it seems that they are. The BBS, on the other hand, have a kind of I beam spoke.

Nice to know the mixture of the Materials. I´ve been wondering about this for a while. Thought that Rays use whay more magnesium.

33

earmenau Yeah. I kind of forgot for a moment these wheels are 20 inch for the GTR. Price makes sense for GTR size wheels.

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36

Hmm,  seemingly these Japanese wheel manufacturers going the same way as Sony...  forget about what customers are asking for and forge ahead with your head in the sand.  Nice engineering, no doubt, but stylistically not exciting. New version of an old design...  
They need to pay more attention to what people like Rotiform are doing, or risk falling out of touch with the market.  But this is the achilles heel of most Japanese corporate business,  they dont pay enough attention to anyone outside of Japan.
The copper makes me wonder as well...  I appreciate that it adds strength, but if the ratio is too high it will compromise longevity, as well as soak up too much heat and possibly make it difficult to control the tire temps.  
Would love to get my hands on some of these for some track testing with a thermometer and see how they operate.

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Ronnie_B It maybe an old design but man rotiforms are just fuckin ugly... all there designs. I strolled through sema last year and I was just disgusted at how many of the designs were just fugly. To each there own

40

I'm in two minds. I hey what you're saying but If i did spend that kind of money on wheels they would be on my daily driver so that i enjoy them every day.
AND they would have to last my lifetime. I'd also park about 2 feet out from the kerb ...

41

So whats the actual weight of these then? Seems Im way out of touch with what a 20inch wheel should weigh these days and how much unsprung weight these save?
Im more used to looking at mid 90s cars where a 15x7 is plenty of wheel and weighs about 5kg....

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