- In a world of 2022, we need some solidarity.
We need something calm.
We don't need a one night stand.
We need a respectable conscious adult in our lives,
that's gonna teach us that going out till midnight
on a Tuesday is not a good idea.
And while there's plenty of brands teaching us
that Red Bull and vodkas are the way to go,
what you really need sometimes as like a vodka sprite
and then a water, so that you can stay alive.
Now, some one that already did the 48 hour Las Vegas rager
and named their wheels, things like the Wide Open,
the Stamped and the Heat Sink, those are real wheel names.
That is, with certain wheel companies like,
that are out there in the world
that people like you and people like me do like
but have no idea how long they've actually been around.
I'm Alex, Alex Fi on Instagram
and today we're gonna be talking about one
of the OG wheel companies when it comes to the tuner world
of cars here in the United States of America, America.
We're talking about the company that has been making wheels
for cars that have been around for a quite a hot minute.
Then they were like hot, they were good looking,
Then they were like kinda sort of not good looking.
Then they were on hot wheels.
Then they were on Pontiac Aztek and then they were hot again
because they're new wheels,
today, ladies and gentlemen,
we're talking about the wheel truth about Konig wheels.
(upbeat music)
Hey, oh way, bud, before y'all get jived up
on some mountain dew, go to the link below,
let us know which Konig wheel is your favorite
or what you're most excited about in 2022 in relation
to cars, let's keep a PG 13.
In the comments section below
along with your Instagram handle, if you have one.
We'll select a random comment
to win a free fundamentals hoodie
and a decal, and congratulations to Matthew William,
you won this week's T-shirt.
I think, and decal if I got that wrong, we'll sue me, okay,
but we'll send you something for free for commenting,
thank you so much.
And we'll shoot your DM on YouTube
so you can get your stuff.
Konig has been around for quite a while.
1982, in fact, and they started this whole operation
in New York city.
PS, they still actually have an office in New York city.
Now, if you've ever seen a tuna car from 1982 to now,
it probably at what point in its life or another,
had Konig wheels on it.
Now, Konig has been a household name
for like the last 40 years,
because it was like one of the few domestic wheel brands
that was founded in the 80's
that specifically targeted, the growth
of certain markets in the domestic US.
Now Konig or Qonig is,
if you're looking at this from like the German standpoint,
has been the brand that's been about every single type
of size, color design and finish of aftermarket wheels
in its existence.
Also, they named it
because they were importing German seats.
Now, mostly because it was specifically made
for tuner and muscle cars in the 80's
because of the explosion
of the automotive aftermarket market.
I'm serious about the seat thing.
That's actually a real thing.
I mean, fun fact Konig's name was the result
of them being the first US exclusive importer
of Konig racing seats out of Germany.
Take that home with you, do something with it,
put it on a Facebook status.
Okay, that is why the company started out doing business
as Konig USA.
Now, soon after Konig actually started developing wheels
and realized that essentially,
what they wanted to do was put their heart
and soul into that.
So, the rest is essentially history.
Now Konig was born into this beautiful world
in the 80's through an idea from Pan-Mar Corporation.
Who had took the last decade or so spending time importing
and exporting car parts around the world.
And you'd have to like, remember back in the day,
there really wasn't a whole lot out there specifically
in the 70s and early 80s.
There wasn't out anything out there for wheel brands.
I mean, domestically, you essentially had Western,
Center Line and American Racing.
Maybe Cragar, a few others or on the European side
you pretty much only had Momo and like BBS.
And in Japan, you pretty much just had Work
and they weren't really doing a whole lot
of import expert at the time.
The market was booming
and it wasn't really booming
without a whole, a lot of international support
and Pan-Mar that's Panama Cana.
All right we're like, that's some free real estate.
Like that's something we could do,
and we could...
Konig would go on to import wheels
and continue to import other popular tuning parts
under the brand, through the 80s and into the 90s.
The import tuning segment was starting to grow
and so was Konig's popularity with the cool kids.
Now, another fun fact, some of their first big wheel hits
were wheels called like the Konig Villain, the Toxin,
the Tantrum and The Verdict.
The rest though, especially the first wheels
to come from Konig, were a little aggressive.
They were a little out there
and there maybe not what you would expect to come
from the likes of Konig like the Blix-1.
It's behind me, isn't it?
And there were other wheels that came out
with it like the Daylight, the Further Six
and the Hold On, that's a real name, say what you want,
but if you've been around for four decades,
you've probably gone through some trends and phases too.
You probably had a little bit of weird stuff going on
in high school.
I mean, take a look at your high school photos
and tell me it's not a little cringe
but your head was always weighing to one side
for the perfectly cropped hair.
It's not a phase mom, dear Maria.
Now, as Konig began to grow,
it really managed to find a healthy way into the market
by providing wheels that didn't cost an arm in the leg.
And that's something people know Konig for nowadays
and that's something they've always been really good about.
Now, BBS, Work, Cragar, American Racing,
they were a little bit pricey
and Konig was able to come in and make some creative wheels
with some good like glitter that people were excited about.
Okay, they had a wheel, literally called okay, the Tweet.
I love Konig, but the names,
the nomenclature that they use is absolutely hilarious,
'cause it's like I'm watching "Transformers,"
on FX and I miss the movie.
Okay, now, while most individuals understand
that Konig has been around for quite a long time,
they probably don't really understand
that they've been around for a really long time.
They've even popped into some of your favorite,
"Fast and the Furious Movies," at one point,
Jesse's Jetta, from "Fast and the Furious," it was on Konig.
The S-chassis that you'd see in "Fast and Furious 3"
Tokyo drift, they were on Konig wheels.
Hell, they even had their own comic foot
had Konig wheels on them.
There was hot wheels with Konig wheels on them.
The name Konig was awesome
but they really didn't start to hit the next generation
of enthusiast support really up and into the 2010s
or so with their introduction
into the YHI International umbrella.
Now, YHI has been around for a while
and probably one of the reasons
that sometimes people get confused between Konig
and the relationship that's formed with that
with other brands like Ozzy and Enkei
YHI has the Enkei wheel line within its brand portfolio,
along with other names like Brighton and Spacko.
Now, YHI is essentially, and this is a simplified way,
YHI is a licensed manufacturer of alloy wheels
for Japan's Enkie corporation.
Now this was from 2006.
So much of this may have changed,
but at that time YHI was making Enkie's tuning brand
of alloy wheels and YHI has been an authorized distributor
of Enkie's since 1975.
But why do you really need to know that?
The reason you need to know that,
is because Konig carries some of the similarities
in their technology on some of their initial wheels
some of their craftsmanship and focus like Enkie does,
except, they're not Enkie.
Konig and YHI's international joint venture
where YHI took 51% of Pan-Mar slash Konig
is essentially where this whole thing started to happen.
And Pan-Mar kept 49% for a few years
until it ultimately sold the last,
but that's where you were at to see this resurgence
of the badass Konig wheels.
So when Konig got married to YHI
and YHI wanted 20% annual growth because they wanted it.
A lot of people were invested into the brand.
The next 50 teen years is where you really start
to saw Konig, start to explode.
Now sure they have their mainline wheels,
which are all right,
but really where people like you and people like me
truly know lend love Konig, is for their flow formed wheels.
And in 2009, Konig released two flow formed wheels
utilizing M.A.T. technology, which was licensed by Enkie.
A few days later, Konig and YHI
would develop own proprietary flow forming process.
And now offers a fairly massive offering
of flow formed wheels.
That is only Konig's.
That's why they're similar in the past, but not anymore.
Now, the ultralight sharp spoke nice lip wheels
seem to be like perfect for near any application
that has a slightly sporty look.
Literally look at any of the wheels that has the math name
and you know exactly what I'm talking about.
The flow forming keeps them light, it keeps them strong,
it's good for a multitude of applications.
And the designs align with like a billion
different car platforms.
But let's be real, it's pretty much just like Miatas
and Ford Focus, but we won't jump.
And while Koning was still doing their marketing jazz
with things like Super Street magazine, Rip, and NASA Racing
since the mid 90's,
the next generation wasn't as aware of all the caught noise
Konig had been making prior to the full farm lineup.
Now, a lot of people are wondering
are Konig wheels real or rep.
And the answer is, is most of them
these days are authentic design wheels
that are made in Thailand or Taiwan.
If that's not enough, there's very few people
that I would argue that have ever ran Konig's
that would tell you that they weren't a good wheel.
Konigs are properly good wheels.
They have a massive actor backing them
and they are great wheels.
Now, they're a strong priced for solid designs
and they're like focused to function,
makes them a great pickup.
If you're building a track racer
or you just want your daily driver
to kinda sort of look like one,
because sometimes we wanna look like we do things
that we don't actually do.
That's why a lot of times you buy a lot of under armoring
and you never go to the gym.
Even though YHI try acquired the remaining 49% of Konig
in 2011 they've always allowed Konig
to operate on their own
with the additional resources at their disposal,
Konig was able to really grab another gear,
which helped them push further into flow forming technology,
almost all of the original employees
and even current employees are enthusiasts.
They just, they like cars.
You can talk to them pretty much anywhere
and they're just gear heads.
Now, they're still heavily involved
in grass roots racing and drifting
and a lot of their wheels, design, sizes,
and weights are all taken from their racing teams
and communities, feedback.
Not just some random person overseas.
And they are really literally all over the place.
They were like one of the first wheels in formula.
They were one of the first wheels in drifting
in the United States, in the early two with thousands.
I mean, they've been everywhere guys.
So should you pick up Konig wheels?
That's a good question.
You should pick up Konig wheels
if you want something that's affordable,
that pairs well with aggressive styled cars
like sport compacts and hot hatches
and you're comfortable with standard sizes
that apply to about 90% of the normal cars out there.
Now Konig, doesn't do multi piece stuff, anymore.
They don't do fully forged stuff, anymore
and they don't have a thousand crazy colors anymore.
They used to, but their finishes are solid
and their designs have stayed up to date for a hot minute.
And as a brand, Konig has been around for a long time.
They've been with Single for almost four decades.
They've helped countless automotive companies
make their platforms not look like hot garbage.
Like things like the Honda and Nissan and Hyundai
and all of those things.
They've been helping them with various wheel options
and them spearhead the marketing
and industry that is the auto automotive stuff
in the United States that you know, and love to this date.
And within all that
I'd be pretty hard pressed
to find another set of wheels
at $1,200 or less outside of a couple other brands
that are in stock and ready to ship
and are actually halfway fricking decent, they're good.
But what do you think about Konig wheels?
Let us know below and of course, if you're on the fence
and you wanna take a look at Konig wheels,
Please sure to check 'em out over @fitmentindustries.com.
You can get your wheels and tires packaged together,
shipped to your door in as quick as seven days.
I know it sounds super like salesy,
but you don't have any idea how hard it is to get something
like a wheel entire package to somebody's door
that lives in the Arbraska, in seven days.
Okay, also just so you know, go check out Konig,
they also have a badass YouTube channel
where they talk history, cars, and wheels
with available content for use.
We'll drop a link below so you can support them
if that's something you wanna do.
I'm Alex Fitman industries,
and we will see you later, peace.
(upbeat music)