Has anyone got any experience of replica alloys?

Im very much a believer in "you get what you pay for" but the TT RS alloys im looking at dont exist in 17inch other than as replicas.

I would normally buy the genuine wheels but i dont want to run 18's on a polo/fabia chassis!

Any opinions? Should i steer clear? cheers!

A lot of people will advise you against them mate due to them not been as strong as OEM. My advise is for you to make your own mind up based on the roads you frequently use, ie if they have a lot of pot holes and speed bumps I would say avoid replicas as they tend to damage easily. The other down side is they are normally pretty heavy so will cause other problems with steering weight etc.

Thanks for the input those are two things I've heard crop up before (strength/weight) and its worrying.

The roads round here (or anywhere!) aren't very good..

I'm mostly worried about it affecting the handling and creating wheel wobble etc.

I wouldn't say you would have an issue with wheel wobble if they are new. It just when/if you bend them...

Can you post a pic of them please, be interested to see these wheels

I've had a few mates who have bought replica Audi alloys against my advice and they soon regretted it. They looked good new but one winter later all the paint was flaking off and there appeared to be quite a lot of corrosion which would have affected their strength. Guess it all depends on the quality of them in the first place.

Thanks for the responses. I tend to change my alloys quite often atm so i dont know how long i would have them on anyway! At £330 theyre not crazy money..

These are the alloys in question - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/17-VW-GOLF-MK4-99-04-NEW-TT-RS-GUNMETAL-POLISHED-5-SPOKE-ALLOYS-/370791396484?pt=UK_CarParts_Acc_Wheels_tyres_Trims_Car_Rims_ET&hash=item5654e3b484

I used to have a set of BBS LM reps, never had any issues and looked great on the car, like with any wheel you just have to be careful,

Thats good news i suppose any alloy will buckle if you smash into potholes all day.. I think i might have to give them a go.

Out of interest when people post "weight is an issue" and "weakness is an issue" is this just because they saw someone else post it? So on and so forth?

Or is there a thread somewhere that has actual data showing weight / strength etc?

I think they look **** hot and must be pretty local to me in Barnsley! haha

Agreed T. In my trawling through google i can only find friend of a friend info.

Like i said, its not the end of the world if they turn out to be rubbish, but i think they look pretty cool too!

Pro Race 1.2's look cool too

If you need any

I could get a whole set of reps for the cost of one

replacement OE alloy for my car.The wheels on my S3 are manufactured

by speedline and are just over £420 each from the dealer.

Are they any more or less easy to buckle? Who knows, it's a lottery

That said, would I buy a set of reps...? Yes I probably would,

I'd just have them re finished at a quality wheel refurbers before

fitting them for the first time. For the sake of say an extra 40-50 quid per wheel

and being new they wouldn't need repair just recoating so hopefully

a deal could be done with regard to price.

That's still a set of 4 with a quality paint finish for way less than the cost of 2 OE ones.

I've had my eyes on these for mine...

£375 for a set of 4 delivered.

have these at the moment.

I thought about refinishing actually! Like you said tho, £40-50 a wheel (say £200 all in) might it not be better to just use them, sell them cheap, and if you really like that set, buy another?

Just a thought

For me it's just simple mathematics.

£375 wheels, (price for 4 inc £25 delivery)

£200(ish) painting/coating somewhere reputable.

£40 fee for swapping tyres over.

£615 total. (Already have brand new Michelin PS3 tyres on the car)

Replace all 4 with OE replacements.

4 @ £400(+) each

£40 fee for swapping tyres over

£1640 total and still end up wanting a refurb to change the colour

so including that £1840

So, in my case well over a grand saved for wheels which would be

indistiguishable looks wise from the real thing...

I want 17" LM Reps! But I cannot find any anywhere!

Do they these rep wheels in 16s? Or any other in 16s?

Cheers

Some reps are fine… it all depends on the manufacturer of them, as some of the manufacturers actually make OE wheels for other marques anyway, so they are basically OE wheels anyway.

However others are not as good, weigh more, buckle easier and corrode easily, one thing that would concern me about the ones you linked to is the comment:

4) No wheels cleaners are to be used only hot soapy water.

Now I fully understand not using an acidic cleaner, but a non acid cleaner on a half decent finish should be fine.

They seem to write that about all their wheels.

Probably just covering themselves.

Some dedicated wheel cleaners are pretty harsh.

Wonder wheels anyone???

In the past I'v found wheels to be either heavy or easy to buckle, so to manage to make a wheel that does both is impressive. For the money I would give them a punt, as said if the finish goes just get them blown over.