Forged wheels, the French roadworthiness test and registration: what is actually checked

This page covers the French roadworthiness test (contrôle technique) and French vehicle registration, then the rules of five neighbouring countries. For Great Britain and the MOT, see our Delivery to Great Britain page and our guide New forged wheels and the MOT: TPMS, condition and fixing.

In France, the roadworthiness test examines the wheel without removing it: cracks, distortion, assembly, and a wheel size, design, compatibility or type that does not meet the requirements, for example a wheel that sticks out beyond the bodywork or touches another part. It also checks that the tyres are of a size intended by the vehicle manufacturer, or an accepted equivalent, with load and speed indices at least equal. The roadworthiness test neither validates nor refuses a modification of the vehicle: that is a matter for vehicle approval and the registration document, and in neighbouring countries for an expert assessment or an individual vehicle approval, at the owner's expense.

Our wheels are designed to JWL/VIA standards: the Onyx Forged design office applies their criteria. Onyx Forged holds no attestation issued by any body under these standards. Made individually, they have no individual approval of their own: we would rather say so before you order.

Country by country, in one table

The details and the sources for each line follow.

France: what the inspector checks on a wheel

The roadworthiness test of a car covers 133 points (service-public.fr). For the wheels, the inspector applies technical instruction IT VL F5, index G, in force since 1 September 2025 (UTAC-OTC). The inspection is visual, including by handling, without dismantling.

The instruction presents its further details as “not exhaustive” (page 1). The two examples in item 5.2.2.d.2 are therefore not the only possible cases: the inspector judges the wheel as fitted to the vehicle. The findings provided for the wheel mention neither its brand, nor a standard marking, nor a document that would come with it.

The reference tyre sizes are those intended by the vehicle manufacturer. The inspector reads them in these documents:

• the OTC technical database;
• the manufacturer's label or the owner's documentation;
• the CoC, the European conformity document supplied with the vehicle;
• a statement from the vehicle manufacturer or from the tyre manufacturer;
• the tyre manufacturers' websites;
• the TNPF table of equivalent sizes.

The load index and the speed index must be at least those intended by the vehicle manufacturer. The TNPF table allows certain tyre sizes to be treated as equivalent to those intended by the manufacturer, and therefore to be accepted at the roadworthiness test.

What a deficiency leads to (service-public.fr):

• major: a re-inspection is compulsory within 2 months;
• critical: the test is valid only for that day, and the vehicle may no longer be driven from the next day until it is repaired.

France: what the roadworthiness test does not do

The roadworthiness test does not validate a modification. The French Ministry of Transport wrote so in reply to a parliamentary question (Official Journal of 17 July 2018). It is not its role “to validate or refuse modifications made to a vehicle”.

According to that reply, validation belongs to two other procedures:

• vehicle approval, for significant modifications: any vehicle that has undergone one must be submitted for a new approval (article R321-16 of the French Highway Code, cited in the reply to question no. 23163). This is then an individual vehicle approval (réception à titre isolé), from the State's regional services, the DREAL (reply to question no. 90491);
• the registration document, when the modification changes its particulars. You then have 1 month to apply for it to be updated on the ANTS website (service-public.fr). The particulars concerned are those of the descriptive notice: power, weight and dimensions, axles, braking, steering, energy, emissions.

In practice, for a custom forged wheel:

1. The tyre must be of a size intended for your vehicle, or accepted by the TNPF table, with load and speed indices at least equal.
2. The fitted wheel must stay covered by the wing and touch nothing, with the wheels turned as well as with the suspension moving. A wheel that sticks out is a major deficiency. The offset (ET) and the width decide this position: the Onyx Forged design office calculates them for your car.
3. Both tyres on the same axle are the same size. A staggered fitment, with different diameters front and rear, remains possible if the vehicle manufacturer provides for it.
4. If your project goes beyond the sizes intended by the vehicle manufacturer, ask the DREAL for your region before you order, since validating a modification is a matter for vehicle approval and not for the roadworthiness test.

The Onyx Forged design office sends you the measurements in writing before anything is manufactured (Terms and Conditions, art. 3.1). That is the moment to ask it about the tyre and the position under the wing. The lesson Reading the dimensions of a wheel helps you read what it proposes.

What “designed to JWL/VIA standards” means

JWL is the Japanese technical standard for light-alloy wheels for passenger cars. It is set by the Japanese Ministry of Transport (MLIT) and describes three tests:

• a rotary bending fatigue test: 100,000 revolutions, or 50,000 under an increased bending moment;
• a radial load durability test, of at least 500,000 revolutions;
• an impact test.

VIA is, in Japan, the mark of wheels that have passed these tests with a third-party body. That body brings together the Japan Aluminium Association, JAWA and the Japanese vehicle inspection association, according to an interview published with JAWA.

For our wheels, “designed to JWL/VIA standards” means one precise thing: the Onyx Forged design office applies the criteria of these standards, which concern resistance to fatigue, to impacts and to dynamic stresses. It uses them to check the measurements, the thicknesses and the geometry of your wheels, for your vehicle and the use you make of it (FAQ).

What this statement does not mean:

• it is not a VIA registration. Onyx Forged holds no attestation issued by any body under these standards;
• it is not an approval for your vehicle. A wheel made individually has no individual approval of its own. The statement therefore does not replace the steps a country requires for a wheel to be entered on a vehicle's documents. These steps are described below.

Belgium

According to the FAQ of Autosécurité, a vehicle inspection body:

• indices: the speed index and the load capacity of the tyres must be at least those provided for by the vehicle's approval report (procès-verbal d'agréation, PVA), the CoC or the manufacturer's handbook;
• diameter: if the tyre size differs from those in the PVA, their diameter must stay within a tolerance of −2% to +1.5%;
• track width: fitting non-original wheels or tyres may not widen the track by more than 2%, or 4% for an off-road vehicle;
• marking: the tyres of a vehicle first registered since 1 January 1998 must bear the E or e mark.

For your measurements: on a track width of 1,600 mm, 2% is 32 mm, or about 16 mm per wheel. Tell the design office that your vehicle is registered in Belgium when you reply about the measurements.

Luxembourg

The SNCA lists wheels and tyres among the modifications that must be registered. Two documents are accepted:

1. the report of an accredited technical service on the conformity of the modified vehicle with the legal framework, that is, an individual approval;
2. a statement from a motor trade professional, with the references and copies of the technical reports for the parts fitted, such as German parts reports (Gutachten).

A combination of modifications that affect one another, such as wheels and a suspension, requires the report of an accredited technical service.

• Timing: the check must take place before the next roadworthiness test, and no later than 2 months after the modification.
• Cost: additional charges apply.

For a wheel made individually, without a technical report for the part, the route is the report of an accredited technical service, at your expense.

Switzerland

Technical modifications to a vehicle must be declared and inspected (article 34 of the ordinance on the technical requirements for road vehicles, cited by the canton of St Gallen).

According to the canton of Vaud:

• a wheel is “covered” (réceptionnée) if it matches the vehicle type record or the CoC exactly, or if it has an asa expert report. No inspection is then needed;
• a wheel that is not covered requires three steps:
  1. ask your supplier for a declaration of conformity;
  2. book an inspection and come with the wheels fitted;
  3. have the modification entered in the vehicle registration document (permis de circulation).

The canton of St Gallen's notice sets out the technical requirements:

• the wheels must bear, visibly and indelibly, the manufacturer's mark, their size and their offset;
• the wheels must turn freely under all load and driving conditions;
• with a tyre size other than the one in the approval, the rolling circumference may not differ by more than 8%;
• a wider track due solely to the offset of the wheels is accepted without the vehicle manufacturer's agreement if it does not exceed, per wheel, 1% of the axle's largest track width. A declaration of suitability from the wheel manufacturer or the vehicle manufacturer is then required;
• beyond 1%, a guarantee is required from the vehicle manufacturer or from whoever modifies the vehicle, based on the report of a test centre recognised by the Swiss Federal Roads Office.

Before ordering for a vehicle registered in Switzerland, ask your cantonal road traffic office whether it can enter these wheels: we have no document to give you for this procedure, and the decision rests with that office. The inspection and its fees remain payable by you. Import duty, import VAT and the carrier's clearance fee, collected on delivery, are also paid by you (Terms and Conditions, art. 5.2).

Germany

The general rule: a vehicle's operating permit (Betriebserlaubnis) lapses after a modification that can be expected to endanger road users (StVZO, § 19, para. 2).

The exceptions (§ 19, para. 3): it does not lapse when the part fitted has its own approval, under one of these conditions:

• a general operating permit for the part (Allgemeine Betriebserlaubnis) or a national approval of its type;
• a European approval or an approval under a UN regulation;
• a parts report followed by an inspection of the fitting, carried out without delay.

For a wheel made individually, which has none of these approvals, the route is an individual assessment of the vehicle by an officially recognised expert (§ 21 StVZO). It is at your expense and its outcome is not guaranteed: the expert decides what supporting documents to ask for.

Before you order, ask a vehicle inspection organisation (such as DEKRA or GTÜ) whether it can assess a wheel made individually for your vehicle.

Austria

The holder of the registration document must declare without delay to the governor of the Land (Landeshauptmann) any modification that may affect safety. The vehicle is then presented to the expert of the Land's testing centre, with its documents and the necessary expert reports (§ 33 KFG 1967, Land of Upper Austria). Without an expert report, a consulting engineer (Ziviltechniker) or a technical office can draw one up.

For wheels, the same Land sets these criteria (Rad/Reifenkombination):

• type validation: the wheel type must be validated for the vehicle type, by the vehicle manufacturer, an expert report from a technical inspection association or a general operating permit for the part;
• indices: those of the tyres must reach at least the values in the vehicle's document;
• clearance: the tyres must turn freely in the wheel arches, whatever the load;
• coverage: the width of the wheel must be covered from 30° in front of to 50° behind the wheel centre.

If the documents do not include an inspection of the fitting for your vehicle type, an assessment by a consulting engineer or a technical office is needed.

A wheel made individually has no type validation. Before ordering for a vehicle registered in Austria, ask the testing centre of your Land whether it can enter it. If it cannot, do not order.

What we give you, and what remains for you to do

• Before anything is manufactured, the measurements of your wheels (diameter, width, offset, PCD, centre bore), sent to you in writing for your agreement.
• For delivery to mainland France, the invoice, which shows 20% VAT (Terms and Conditions, art. 4.1).
• The registration steps and their fees remain for you to carry out and pay, in every country.

If a body refuses a configuration before the order, nothing is committed. Write to us from the contact page before you order, giving the country of registration. After the order, the measurements are sent to you for your agreement before anything is manufactured. The lead time runs from full payment for an order on the website, or from the deposit for an order on quotation, and at the earliest from your approval of the measurements, the colour or the 3D render you asked for, under article 5.1 of the Terms and Conditions. To compare sellers on these points, see the 12 checks before choosing a maker.

Sources

• UTAC-OTC, technical instruction IT VL F5 index G, dated 18 June 2025, applicable from 1 September 2025, in French. It is published in the OTC's light vehicle document base and issued under Annex I of the amended French order of 18 June 1991.
• Service-public.fr, “Contrôle technique d'une voiture (catégorie M1)”, in French, checked on 1 January 2026.
• Service-public.fr, page F1478 on modified vehicles and the registration document, in French, checked on 10 January 2025.
• French National Assembly, written question no. 9328, reply published in the Official Journal on 17 July 2018, in French.
• French National Assembly, written question no. 23163 and written question no. 90491, reply published in the Official Journal on 20 September 2016, in French.
• TNPF, table of equivalent sizes, in French.
• MLIT, technical standard for light-alloy wheels, Annex 2, version of 7 July 2008, in Japanese.
• Kuruma News, interview with JAWA, advertorial, in Japanese.
• Autosécurité, “Pneus” FAQ, in French.
• SNCA, “Faire enregistrer une modification”, updated on 9 September 2026, in French.
• Canton of Vaud, “Modifications techniques sur son véhicule”, in French.
• Canton of St Gallen, “Fremdfelgen” notice, as at 26 March 2024, in German.
• StVZO § 19 and § 21, in German.
• Land of Upper Austria, vehicle modifications and wheel and tyre combinations, in German.

All these pages were accessed on 3 October 2026. Rules change: the body in your country has the final word.

Written by the Onyx Forged design office. Updated on 24 October 2026.