As with many things in this glorious modified scene of ours, 3 piece wheels have their origins in motorsports. Here, we investigate how the technology ended up on the street and who are the best 3 piece aftermarket wheel players.
A wheely brief history of the 3 piece wheel
Multi-piece construction allowed race teams to experiment with widths and specifications to suit different tires, conditions and circuits without having to change the whole wheel. It was an easier and cheaper way of fine-tuning. The concept caught on in the early seventies on the track and it wasn’t long before tuners wanted a slice of the action. Some manufacturers took note of the customer appetite and the rest, as they say, is history.
Today, car modifiers in all scenes utilize the 3-piece wheel. Sometimes this is a performance-oriented decision and sometimes it’s to achieve a flush fitment, a tuck or even a poke (no giggling at the back, please). Hell, wheels you can personalize with infinite options in hardware, lips, barrels and finishes were always going to appeal to our tribe. In no order of merit but with one eye on the chronological timeline, here are our pick of the best 3-piece wheels. We will be looking primarily at manufacturers and picking a few of our favorite models along the way…
SSR 3 piece Wheels
Speed Star Racing (SSR) racing was formed in 1971. Straight out of the blocks, they were credited with producing the world’s first 3-piece wheel, the iconic Mk1. Almost immediately, the company became involved in Japanese motor racing. The competitive heritage has taught them a thing or two over the last fifty-two years. Their wheels are double heat treated for strength. The second cycle burns away yet more impurities in the alloy and makes for extra robust rolling stock. SSR JDM classics like the Formula Mesh and Professor aren’t just pretty faces and they’re still available now along with a range of more contemporary designs.
BBS 3 piece wheels
Baumgartner, Brand and Schiltach (BBS) was founded in 1970. Originally, their main focus was the manufacture of plastic auto body parts. In 1972 they designed a 3-piece wheel in partnership with Mahle who had the production capability. The original BBS Mahle was a huge success. By 1975 BBS was well known for their signature cross-spoke design. The ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday’ ethos that was a key reason why so many car manufacturers were heavily involved in motorsport. BBS capitalised on this marketing trick. The proliferation of their distinctive gold-centered cross-spoked wheels being prominent on the circuits, led the way to a huge public demand for the brand. Alongside rocketing sales to the public, BBS wheels became standard or optional equipment on many European brands.
Their famous RS range of 3-pice wheels became standard equipment on the BMW 635CSiM and were an option on high-performance Mk1 and Mk2 Golfs. In period, they even ran an iconic advert in car magazines where, in true eighties style they boasted that their RS was the world’s most expensive road wheel. A cool $247 or £200. In today’s money that’s a baller $797 or £644 per corner. Throughout the eighties and nineties, BBS’s range of E prefix magnesium wheels were de rigueur on circuits worldwide. The brand entered even the mainstream public consciousness. To this day, BBS continue to make 3-piece applications for both road and track and, as far as wheels go, they’re probably the closest you’ll get to a household name.
Work Meister S1 3 Piece, the five-spoke that is always up there in our top ten. This numbers game is hard, erm, Work
Work wheels
Another 3-piece wheel manufacturer with a history dating back to the sexy seventies is Work. They produced their first multipiece wheel in 1977. Work is a proudly Japanese brand and would it even be a JDM meet without seeing a 350Z rocking some Meisters or an AE86 packing Equips? However, there’s always room for a bit of cross-pollination and they’ve found their way onto some European machinery with some favourable results. Who remembers Performance VW’s ‘Project 4 Play’ that broke cover back in February 2011 packing a 19×9 and 19×10.5-inch staggered set of Work VS-XX 3-piece wheels. Ay Caramba!
One of our favorites from SEMA 2022, this Z rocked the 3 piece HREs handsomely. Viva Las Vegas!
HRE 3 piece wheels
Gene Howell founded HRE in 1978. Originally the company operated as the official US importer and distributor of Hayashi Racing Wheels. Gene realised that there was a stateside gap in the market for all import aftermarket wheels, and before long, HRE started to make their own rolling stock. These found favour in the grassroots motorsport spheres of autocross and amateur racing. A desire to capture the 1980s hunger for upmarket road wheels resulted in the company releasing such classics as the 505 and the 525. The enduring love for these iconic rims has seen HRE taking inspiration from its own back catalogue for their ‘Classic’ range, designed with the discerning modern classic market in mind.
The company’s current CEO, Alan Peltier joined in 1999 as their Lead Engineer after formally working in the exacting world of aviation. With a passion for the brand and a love of its history, whilst simultaneously wanting to push the envelope, he worked his way up and became CEO in 2019. His goal was for the company to be the most respected and innovative wheel manufacturer in the world.
Movie features
Despite the Swiss-style branding, HRE is based in Southern California. They are the kings of careful product placement, with a few sets appearing early on in the Fast and Furious franchise. Brian’s Silver and Blue Toyo liveried R34 Skyline famously sported a set of the 446 split rims in 2 Fast 2 Furious, Bumble Bee wore a set of their wheels when he was masquerading as a Chevy Camaro in the 2017 Transformers movie, and who can forget Gas Monkey Garage’s all black Ferrari F40. Get you some of that! Peltier’s technical ambition recently drove the firm to be the first to construct a multipiece 3D printed wheel in titanium.
Honey, I shrunk the Pro-Touring. A Maltese-look Mk1 Escort rocking signature Image 3-piece wheels
Image wheels
Image were founded in 1987. Their products have been used on numerous competition cars and even record-breaking vehicles. Rigorous research and development and experience has built up a huge back catalogue. They take pride that everything on their closely monitored inventory is made in the UK and fully traceable. Over 50 different styles are available in a range of sizes from 10 to 20-inch diameter in any width and offset. All PCDs can be drilled as well as centre lock setups. Image products crop up on many a classic car and high-end kit car replicas but they found an unlikely fan base in the Medetarian. Malta is an ex-British colony and despite gaining independence in 1964, the UK Forces had a presence there until 1979.
Many British cars were imported into Malta and the hot climates have preserved them much better than those back in Britain. As such, the Classic Ford scene is huge for such a small island. Whilst it’s customary to run 13-inch wheels on small, low rear-wheel- drive Escorts in the UK (a look that is known as the South London look), in Malta the locals started fitting 17 or even 18-inch 3-piece Image wheels to their otherwise subtly styled cars. With the coke bottle styling of the old Fords, it was a look that aped that of the Pro-Touring look with American Muscle cars running huge wheels under stock-looking fenders, albeit scaled down. Classic Ford coined the phrase the ‘Maltese Look’. Nine times out of ten, it’s Image supplying the killer rolling stock for these beauts in a niche automotive fashion we doubt anyone could have predicted.
Is there a better combination than 964 Porsche and Rotiform 3-piece wheel?
Rotiform 3 piece wheels
Rotiform was founded in Southern California in 2009 by Brian Henderson and Jason Whipple who both had long histories in the world of modified cars. Alongside their new range of wheels, originally they also specialised in the restoration of European 3-piece rims such as Ronal and BBS. Savvy marketing and jumping on social media just as it was blowing up, meant that Rotiform wheels were everywhere almost overnight. BLQs and NUEs were commonplace in the space of a season. Rotiform soon started to sell its own range of multipiece forged wheels. Whilst their one-piece offerings are usually made in the Far East to keep the prices competitive, the split rims have always been machined, milled and assembled in the US.
Some high profile show scene stunts like Bryan shipping his Peppermint Porsche 964 to the UK in 2013 and then driving it through Europe to the late great Worthersee event, broke the internet and won the hearts of an ever-increasing fanbase. After just six years they were bought out by MHT who put in the requisite parent company funding to scale up the operation in a bid to meet the growing demand. A further takeover occurred in 2019 when MHT was acquired by alloy wheel behemoth, Wheel Pros.
In both mergers, the founders have been kept on as their passion and direction are seen as key to the brand’s success. High-profile activity including being the official wheel provider for Ferrari’s GT3 programme, a collaboration with Hoonigan and close relationships with project powerhouses such as Players, JP Performance, and LTO are indicative of the quality and flexibility of the creative company.
Buy Rotiform wheels here.
We love Heritage Wheels 3-piece wheels
Heritage Wheels
Heritage Wheels was founded in 2014. At first, their business concentrated on importing rare Japanese rolling stock into the US and refurbishing them before selling on to enthusiasts. As the business grew, so did their buying power and their inventory of barrels, lips, bolts and other multi-piece hardware. There was a realisation that the smallish wheels they were importing were finding their way onto older models, and that there was a gap in the market for larger attractive 3-piece wheels in fitments that would be more suitable for their customers’ daily drivers. They soon started making their own 3-piece wheels that often pay homage to classic JDM designs but by way of a respectful nod. As with Rotiform’s 3 piece wheels, their quality control is in-house and they offer almost countless bespoke choices such as exposed or hidden hardware and flat or concave centers to name but a few.
So much want in one photo. 3 Piece Ronal Racing splits, anthracite centres, centre locks, just the right amount of stretch and a Mk1 Jetta
3 piece wheels: a retrospective
Some of the previous 3-piece heavy hitters have ditched multipiece technology in favor of one-piece forged or flow-formed lightweight wheels. This seems a bit of a shame but, fear not, there’s plenty of old gold on the classifieds and finding and restoring these rare finds can have showstopping results. Gotti, Revolution, Compomotive and Ronal have all made amazing 3 piece wheels in the past, not to mention the offerings from German tuning houses like AC Schnitzer, Hartge, AMG etc.
Sometimes looking outside your normal marque-friendly PCDs can bear fruit but obviously, appropriate care has to be taken with spacers, bolts and re-drilling, taking into account weights, measurements and tolerances. It’s always worth exercising caution with old alloys, despite looking fine to the naked eye, you never know how kind the last 50 years have been to them. An x-ray or scan by a specialist to check for cracks and fractures is money well spent. Stay safe out there party people.
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