As Fast and Furious series increase its popularity, more and more people are amazed by stunning high speed car chasing scenes. In order to drive fast and safe, turbo engines are not the only elements that matter. To ensure the safety and better steering during high-speed driving, all monstrous luxury vehicles had to equip with stronger wheels.
Photo courtesy: vw-audi.twRetrieved Feb 2, 2016 from http://vw-audi.tw/index.php?showtopic=75922
Many of these specific strong wheels came from a manufacturer located in Taiwan. Even McLaren’sP1 was assembled with its wheels. Three letters- S.A.I. were inscribed on those drizzling and shiny wheels. The three letters represented luxury, limited, exquisite and customized.
Photo courtesy: cw1.tw Retrieved Feb 2, 2016 from http://cw1.tw/CW/images/article/C1371453837638.jpg
SAI is the abbreviation of Super Alloy Industrial Company Ltd which is a manufacturer specializedin high-quality and lightweight forged metal products. SAI was founded in 1994. At the beginning,it produced golf head covers. As skills and knowledge accumulated, SAI stepped into forged wheels production. This move, however, almost ended this company.
Photo courtesy: superalloyengineering Retrieved Feb 2, 2016 from http://superalloyengineering.com/
The company soon faced shortage of money after millions invested in production facilities, but yet received supplier certifications. Thus, SAI didn’t receive any orders from major automotive industries. Instead of giving up, this company worked even effortlessly to acquire supplier certification to prove their ability. The company overcame its crisis until it obtained supplier certifications of major automotive industries.
After being approved by BMW as their suppliers, the business of SAI went skyrocketing. More car companies queue up for SAI’s wheels,including Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Jaguar, Audi, Ferrari, and Porsche. As the business was booming, SAI became top three forged wheels manufacturer around the world. The United Kingdom Queen Elizabeth II, British Prime Minister Cameron,German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Putin, the Middle East Abu Dhabi royal family, football celebrities David Beckham,and even the US military all use SAI’s wheels.
The difference between SAI’s forged wheels and traditional casting wheels is that casting is melting Aluminum and casting it into the mold to facilitate mass production. It is fast, cheap, but porous and low density. It has to be thickened and reinforced. Thus,it’s too bulky to be assembled with high-end sport car. Forged wheels, however, are extruding Aluminum in mold with extremely high pressure. Forging process eliminated impurities and structural defects from high temperature Aluminum heated. Thus, forged wheels are far more superior to traditional casting wheels in both strength and weight.
Forged wheels have higher strength, better stiffness, better durability, and higher impact resistance. For example, when cars assembled with cast wheels drive through uneven roads, cast wheels may be damaged while forged wheels would not. Forged wheels are also 25 to 30% lighter which can reduce fuel consumption significantly. According to a Japanese experiment, a vehicle can save 30L gasoline per year, if it is lighter by 1 kg. In addition,forged wheels have better cooling capacity. With better cooling capacity,brakes and brake calipers can maintain excellent braking performance. In long-distance driving or continuous braking, cooling capacity can also maintain appropriate tire temperature which can increase tire life expectancy and reduce the chance of flat tire.
Photo courtesy: www.carce.cc Retrieved Feb 2, 2016 from http://www.carce.cc/blog/wheel/read/58
Although forged wheels are three times expensive than casting wheels and SAI’s wheels cost more than its competitors,more and more car manufacturers choose SAI as their supplier for its skills and technology. SAI proved that a small factory can transform itself into a leading company, as long as it has the leading technology and willing endlessly improving itself.
Reference:
http://superalloyengineering.com/welcome/
http://www.cw.com.tw/article/article.action?id=5045464
http://blog.xuite.net/star297/starmoon/307004146-%E5%B7%A7%E6%96%B0(1563)~%E9%AB%98%E7%B4%9A%E8%BB%8A%E6%AC%BE%E8%BC%AA%E5%9C%88