is a high-end

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese

wheel A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machin ...

manufacturer for both

motorsport Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of Car, automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and Aircraft, powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific term ...

and street use. Their flagship brand, Volk Racing, features a high-tech forging process exclusive to Rays Engineering.

Wheel construction

Rays wheels are manufactured through two different processes: forging and casting. After each wheel is manufactured, the wheel goes through strenuous inspection before being packaged and shipped out. The following is a video showing each manufacturing process of a Rays Engineering wheel
Rays Engineering Manufacturing Process

Forging

The forging process for a Rays Wheel consists of seven steps: # Hot Forging – Takes a billet and creates metal lines through volume distribution with a hot press. # RM Forging – Forging method exclusively developed Rays Engineering. Finishing of designed parts on the wheel is completed during this process. # Cold Spinning – Width of wheel is constructed during this process with a high-speed spinning machine. # Heat Treatment – Wheel is quickly heated then immediately cooled down with a solution to form a strong structure for the wheel. # Machine Work – Special cutting device used to improve roundness of the wheel. # Shot Blast – This process smooths the surface of the wheel to prepare of aesthetic finishing. # Surface Finishing – Various chemicals are used to prevent corrosion and protect the surface of the wheel

Types of forged wheels

*Forged 1 Piece Magnesium *Forged 1 Piece Aluminum *Forged (Seamless) Rim 2 Piece Wheel Aluminum

Casting

The casting process for a Rays Wheel consists of four steps: # Fusion – Aluminum metal is heated up into molten liquid. # Molten Metal Treating – Process of removing impurities from molten aluminum. Molten aluminum with no impurities are moved into a holding furnace. # Casting – Molten aluminum is poured into a die to form the wheel. # Machine Work – Various chemicals are used to prevent corrosion and protect the surface of the wheel

Types of cast wheels

*Cast 1 Piece Aluminum *RCF (Rays Cast Flow Forming) Casting 1 Piece Aluminum

Products

*Volk Racing – Flagship forged sport wheels brand name of Rays Engineering. *Gram Lights – Lightweight wheels manufactured through casting process. *Eco Drive Gear – Lightweight wheels focused on being eco friendly. *57 Motor Sport – Cast racing wheels used in

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sing ...

and

British Touring Car Championship The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...

. *Versus – Fashion brand of wheels with influences from European styling. *G-Games – Wheels used in the JDM scene with influences from American styling. *Daytona – Performance wheels produced for Japanese

Kei car Kei car is the smallest category of Japanese expressway-legal motor vehicles. The term ''kei'' is a shortening of , (kanji: ), which translates to English as "light vehicle" (). With restricted dimensions and engine specifications, owners ...

. *Black Fleet – Japan's dress-up culture for the sedan scene brings the newest design with a tuner taste. *Garcia – Wheels bringing in the latest design trends for vans and

. *A/X RePLA/Y – The Arthur Exchange brand is revamped from 2010 with fresh new design wheels. *Vesta *Sebring – also the Japanese distributor for its

exhaust pipe An exhaust system is used to guide reaction exhaust gases away from a controlled combustion inside an engine or stove. The entire system conveys burnt gases from the engine and includes one or more exhaust pipes. Depending on the overall syste ...

s They are the current wheel suppliers to winning factory race teams of

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

, and

Mazda is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima (town), Fuchū, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima, Japan. The company was founded on January 30, 1920, as Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd. ...

in racing series such as

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a sports car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is the top level of ...

Japanese Touring Car Championship The Japanese Touring Car Championship (abbr: 1985–1993: JTC, 1994–1998: JTCC, officially known as All Japan Touring Car Championship, ) was a former touring car racing series held in Japan. The series was held under various regulations during ...

(JTCC),

(BTCC), Formula Nippon,

Formula D Formula DRIFT (also known as Formula D or FD) is an American drifting series, and was co-founded by Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage in 2003 as a sister company to Slipstream Global Marketing, the same partnership that introduced D1 Grand Prix to the ...

, and

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

. Their Volk Racing wheels are popular with owners of

sport compact Sport compact is a United States marketing classification for a high-performance version of a compact or a subcompact car. There is no precise definition, and the description is applied to various models for promotional purposes. Cars began to ...

and import cars on the race and show circuits. Rays Engineering also manufactures wheels for car manufacturers' in-house tuning teams such as

Nismo , abbreviated as Nismo, is a division of Nissan Motorsports & Customizing focused in motorsport and performance-oriented car models for Nissan. Nismo was initially a company, , formed in 1984 as a result of a merger of two motorsport departmen ...

Ralliart Ralliart is the high-performance division of Mitsubishi Motors. It was responsible for development and preparation of the company's rally development of high-performance models and parts available to the public. Ralliart scaled down its busines ...

, STi,

Mazdaspeed (often stylized in all-caps as MAZDASPEED) was Mazda's in-house performance division. The company was a grassroots racing team in Japan. Owned by Mazda Motor Corporation, they built production model vehicles, became involved in motorsports develo ...

and

Toyota Racing Development Toyota Racing Development (also known by its abbreviation TRD) is the in-house tuning shop for all Toyota and Lexus (and formerly Scion (car), Scion) cars. ''TRD'' is responsible both for improving street cars for more performance and supportin ...

and also supply wheels to Williams Formula One team as well as the cars that appeared in '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift''.

References

External links

* {{Automotive industry in Japan Automotive companies of Japan Wheel manufacturers Automotive motorsports and performance companies Auto parts suppliers of Japan Manufacturing companies based in Osaka Manufacturing companies established in 1973 1973 establishments in Japan Automotive accessories Japanese brands