Replica wheels??

[Tigger]

Hey all,

what are your thoughts about the range of replica wheels available for our vehicles?

I noticed that I can get a set of 18" Detroit (mk6 GTI) replicas with good tyres, fitted for only $1400 a set...(the oem is prob that much per wheel!...)

Heard anything about these?

[entice]

i'd be interested to find out the wheel weights of the OEM's Vs the reps.

[Tigger]

The place I spoke to said they were rated to carry 750kgs each...does that mean anything?

[Pullstarter]

Have a look in the aftermarket wheel thread Tigger, lots of info and pics in there about replicas. I have RS4 replicas which are perfectly fine, certainly not OZ racing or BBS quality but you get what you pay for unfortunately

[noone]

The packages would normally come with cheap tyres. You should pick a few good tyres and ask them to give you a price for a package with those instead, otherwise you will end up with a poor ride (comfort, handling and noise).

Wheel weights can make a difference, ideally you want rims that are close to 10kg each.

I don't think you would have any issues with the rims distorting / cracking, as long as its a reputable manufacturer.

[JamesTiguan147]

Hi Tigger, cant beat OEM wheels and tyres that are specifically designed for your car. Wasn't easy to get the savannahs but after shopping around all the wheel and tyre places in Sydney for an alternative replica, i just got no confidence from walking into those places. Good to see you're back in the market after the crash.

[gareth_oau]

OEMs are typically around the 12kg mark. I suspect it would be very difficult findind replicas at 10kgs.

after-market lightweights will be around 10kgs, but youre starting to talk much bigger $$$.

As long as your replicas arent too much more than your OEM wight I dont think its an issue unless you are planning to track the car

[Maverick]

Hey all,

what are your thoughts about the range of replica wheels available for our vehicles?

I noticed that I can get a set of 18" Detroit (mk6 GTI) replicas with good tyres, fitted for only $1400 a set...(the oem is prob that much per wheel!...)

Heard anything about these?

For $1400 they're going to be absolute rubbish (both tyres and wheels) compared to the OEM ones. Depending on where you buy the package from the tyres will either be old imported stock (possibly designed for winter) or new cheap tyres ($150-180 each - $600-720) and this leaves over $680-$800 for wheels ($170-200 each).

There will be no manufacturer info on the wheels, they'll be most likely direct imported in bulk from whatever factory is doing a good deal and build quality/finish will be poor. The places that sell these include high quality establishments like Tempe Tyres and St George Tyres.

A decent set of 18" tyres will set you back $1500-2000 alone and rims around the same. OEM rims are around $650 each but if you wait you will pick some up that someone is selling straight off their new car for around $2000 ($1500 for 17") with tyres.

[JamesTiguan147]

Could not agree more Maverick. A very good summary. At one place, the box with the new replicas came out and the quality was so poor even the guy showing me was embarressed when he could tell i wasn't impressed. Then i asked about the tyres, lower tier brand and was reluctant to show me when i asked, i wanted to check the 4 digit build date code (after getting the tip from this site), he let me go out the back and look and they were made in the 17th week of 2007!! I wasted a lot of time looking at replicas that were up to my standards, i tried everywhere, they were just so far off the mark on so many levels. I just spent almost $50k on a quality European car, i just couldn't do it. Very happy with my OEM wheels, absolutely no dramas.

[team_v]

I got a set of Omanyt rep's wrapped in Kumho KU31's and couldn't be happier.
The tyres are quality and only cost $800 for 4 in the price breakdown.

Have had no issues with the replica wheels ad they were lighter than the stock ones and more evenly balanced.

Haven't heard of any other issues regarding replica wheels on a tiguan however you may need to note the load rating and speed rating of the tyres.