The Return of Magnesium Wheels

Remember when mag wheels were all the rage?

Well, they’re back, and Bill Koenig, executive vice president of MKW Alloy Inc., compares bolting a set onto your vehicle to getting the sort of power boost you would by supercharging your vehicle’s engine, without all the plumbing and other work beneath the hood.

Because of the reduced weight at each of a car’s four corners, “It’s like increasing power without a supercharger,” Koenig says of his company’s RSR line of forged magnesium wheels.

Based in Southern California, MKW Alloy launched in 1995 to export large-diameter chrome automotive wheels from the United States to South Korea and three years later began selling those wheels in the U.S. as well. It claims to have been the first, in 2004, to introduce a 26-inch wheel for sport utility vehicles.

Since its launch, MKW has grown into four separate divisions producing primarily cast aluminum wheels for niche and upscale applications.

RSR is one of MKW’s four divisions. RSR is short for Road+Street+Race. Another brand, Hostile, offers off-road wheels with names like Moab, Knuckles, Havoc, Hammered, Exile, Switchblade and Zombie. Avenue is another of the company’s on-pavement lines.

RSR launched in 2014 but added many more styles last fall.

“We’d been chasing magnesium wheels for 10 years,” Koenig said.

Koenig said the price of mag wheels had always been “ridiculous.” The solution, he said, was the cost-effective technology of forged wheels rather than cast. Not only did it bring down prices, but the wheels are stronger and more durable, he said.

Production is done in Japan. “The factory has proprietary magnesium alloy and 800,000 tons of pressure that pushes out the blank,” Koenig said, adding that the same factory produces the wheels for eight Formula One racing teams as well as for other high-end racers and for some high-end original-equipment automakers.

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