Volk Racing Rims

Volk Racing Rims (Volk Racing Wheels)

Definition and Core Positioning
Volk Racing is the flagship forged wheel brand under Japan’s RAYS Co., Ltd., representing the pinnacle of RAYS’s lightweight forging technology. The "Volk" in the moniker originates from German, meaning "people" or "folk", yet its true significance in tuning culture has long transcended literal translation—it epitomises an engineering philosophy rooted in motorsport and dedicated to ultimate weight reduction. Volk Racing products are 100% forged, machined, and inspected in-house in Japan, with every single rim imbued with the motorsport pedigree RAYS has cultivated across premier arenas like F1, WEC, and Super GT since the 1980s.

Origins and Motorsport Pedigree
Volk Racing’s racing heritage traces back to RAYS’s extensive track involvement during the late 1980s and early 1990s. During this era, RAYS wheels featured prominently in the World Sportscar Championship, IMSA, JGTC, BTCC, and Formula 1. In 1991, the Mazda 787B running on Volk Racing wheels took overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Across the same year and the next, the Acura Spice race car also clinched GTP class honours at the 24 Hours of Daytona on Volk rims. These endurance racing triumphs directly spawned the Volk Racing GTP competition wheel, with the one-piece GTP Daytona widely acknowledged as the forerunner to the TE37. This seamless transfer of track technology to road applications forms the foundational narrative of the Volk Racing brand.

TE37: The Brand Icon
The TE37 is Volk Racing’s most iconic offering and remains one of the most recognisable forged rims in global aftermarket culture. In 1996, RAYS launched this six-spoke forged rim under the "Touring Evolution" ethos, with "37" denoting its target weight—the 15×6J entry tipped the scales at a mere 3.7 kg, marking a revolutionary benchmark when typical 15-inch rims regularly exceeded 4 kg. Key design hallmarks of the TE37 include: an equal-length six-spoke layout that distributes stress evenly across the inner and outer rim circumferences to handle heavy track loads; proprietary A6061-T6 aluminium alloy blending immense structural strength with elasticity; and its trademark bronze finish achieved via anodisation rather than paint to eliminate unwanted coating weight.

The TE37 established undisputed supremacy in the GT500 category of JGTC/Super GT, with front-running race machines including the Denso Supra, Raybrig NSX, and Arta NSX all fielding its magnesium alloy derivative, the TE37 MAG. In 1999, "Drift King" Keiichi Tsuchiya clocked a blistering 51.875-second lap record at Tsukuba Circuit piloting the TE37-shod Arta NSX, firmly cementing the TE37’s legendary status in JDM culture.

Product Line-Up and Variants
Through nearly three decades of continuous refinement, the TE37 has spawned around 40 distinct iterations while retaining its signature six-spoke profile. Key variants include: the TE37 SAGA S-plus, a reinforced evolution of the 2016 TE37 SAGA re-engineered in every detail to cope with the higher load demands of modern performance cars; the TE37 SONIC, a lightweight offering engineered specifically for Kei cars and compact cars in 15- to 16-inch fitments; the TE37 Ultra, the strongest derivative in the TE37 stable, tailored for heavy-duty SUVs and 4x4 pick-up trucks; the TE37 Large P.C.D., built for six-stud 4WDs such as the Toyota Land Cruiser 250/300 Series and rated to stringent JWL-T standards; the TE37V, with 'V' standing for Vintage, aimed at classic and retro builds; and the TE37 Gravel, a rally-prepped specification featuring reinforced outer lips and barrels to withstand severe stone and gravel punishment.

Alongside the TE37, the Volk Racing stable features: the CE28 range, celebrated for its slender 10-spoke profile, with the CE28N-plus standing as one of the lightest competition rims on the market; the ZE40, a 10-spoke design engineered for optimal load dispersion on 5-hole hubs; the G025, built around ultra-slim 5 mm spokes blending rigidity with an aggressive stance; the 21A, a cross-spoke mesh rim introduced in 2022 reviving heritage RAYS styling; and the NE24, a new series introduced in 2025 derived from Volk Racing’s Gr.N roots, utilising fewer spokes and deeper undercuts to deliver a distinct concave aesthetic.

Forging Craftsmanship and Quality Standards
Every Volk Racing rim is manufactured utilizing RAYS’s proprietary multi-tonne forging presses and flow-forming spin-forging technology. RAYS commissioned a 5,500-tonne forging press in 1986 followed by a 10,000-tonne unit in 2005, enabling rim wall thickness to be shaved below 3 mm. Its patented "RM8000 rotary forging" method, implemented in 1995, combines the final forging of the spoke face and spin-forming of the rim barrel into a unified operation, unlocking mass production of true one-piece forged monoblock rims. Volk Racing rims comply with JWL and VIA standards while exceeding RAYS’s far more stringent in-house "JWL+R Spec 2" test criteria, which enforce testing parameters roughly double the statutory baseline.

30th Anniversary
The year 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the TE37. The Japan Anniversary Association has officially gazetted 7 March as "TE37 Day". At the Tokyo Auto Salon, RAYS revealed dedicated 30th Anniversary editions based on the TE37 SAGA S-plus, TE37 SONIC, and TE37 Ultra Large P.C.D., decked out in the iconic original Dash White and Bronze finishes, complete with blue valve stems and the choice of spoke decals or machined logos. This commemorative milestone not only celebrates the unmatched staying power of an iconic rim, but also honours Volk Racing’s enduring commitment to bringing pure motorsport technology onto the street.