Why do these wheels look the same?!? Welcome to Pitted, our newest series where we compare 2 similar products. With so many brands popping up and getting things from similar suppliers, original designs and engineering unique products seems to be less and less common. Today we are Pitting these 2 wheels against each other. The Work Meister S1 vs the SSR Professor SP1 Wheels.
Lets start with the basics. Both these wheel companies are historic JDM brands. This is not Penny singing about buying an engine on TikTok (watch the video below). If you have not seen a set of Work Wheels or SSR Wheels on an iconic JDM car such as a Mitsubishi EVO, Skyline GTR, or European machine from Porsche or BMW, your feed is BROKEN. Not to take sides, but my Porsche 964 has a set of Work Meister wheels
Work Wheels is actually older than me. They established their business in Japan in 1977. By 1979, they opened their 3-piece wheel assembly factory in Osaka City. Their philosophy is simple, “Wheels are the most important component in that they determine the category of your car…” What does that even mean? Work Wheels builds custom wheels for your specification and use. Though they have a line 1 piece wheels targeting the everyday tuner car, VIP, and off-road vehicle in cast or flow form, their signature is competition wheels as seen in motorsports such as JGTC, D1 Drifting, and Rally.
SSR has a similar history. They were formerly known as Speed Star Racing Wheels in the early days headquartered in Osaka Japan. In 1971 they released their first 3 piece wheel called the MK1. This wasn’t designed for cars and coffee, but for high performance track vehicles. This resulted in a high demand for their product which had them achieve JWL certification by 1973. Whether street or track, all SSR wheels go through JWL testing. SSR was the first wheel manufacture to use a semi-solid forging process in 1991 which they patented. Having some of the lightest and strongest wheels, they became a supplier to factory race teams for Honda, Toyota, and Nissan. SSR also competed in top level racing in Japan such as JTCC, JGTC, and Super GT series.
So what’s up with the Work Meister S1 and the SSR Professor SP1 wheels being so similar. At first glance they both look like a thick 5 spoke wheels with step lip barrels and wheel bolts lining the inside of the wheel. The SSR Professor SP1 and Work Meister S1 are both a 3 piece wheel design. This means they have a CNC machined forged aluminum center with 2 separate wheel valves bolted to the middle to make the complete wheel. But let’s dive deeper. The SSR SP1 spokes actually come to the edge of the wheel flange and cut off a section of the wheel bolts. This gives the face a little more elongation to the spoke profile. Typically when a wheel company does this, they still bolt the remainder of the wheel together from the back side. The Work S1 wheel has all 36 bolts exposed around the wheel flange. The wheel spoke design is similar as the SP1 but then tucks inside the wheel flange which would make these spokes just slightly shorter. Structurally, they are both well engineered to take on competition world.
The SSR wheels are available in 18, 19, and 10 inch diameter from 7.0 to 12.5 inch widths. Depending on the wheel diameter, the center disk can be made in certain offsets. They refer to these as Super Low Disk, Normal Disk, Medium Disk, and Hyper Disk. Each SSR wheel is done with a step lip construction and is available in standard silver or black finishes. Wheels typically include polished hardware and center caps are sold separately.
The Work Meister wheels are available in 16 inch through 20 inch, giving more fitment options to different sports car vehicles. Depending on diameter, their widths are available in 7.0 to 13.0 inch. 16 inch sizes are available as small as 5.0 inch to 11.0 inch. Their offsets are determined by the center disc referred to as Adisk for Standard, Odisk for Deep Rim, and Wdisk for a Hyper Deep Rim. Work boasts more standard colors such as silver, white, hyper gold, black, and polished all with polished lips. For additional costs you can get the inner and/or outer lips coated as well. The wheel hardware to join the 3 pieces can be done in 4 different colors. Center caps are not included but available as an option.
So there you have it. You now know what is different and what is not with these 2 similar looking wheels. Are you Team Work or Team SSR? Drop me a comment and tell me what brand you prefer.
