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Replica Wheels - Do They Deserve The Bad Reputation? I Aim To Find Out.
AKA, "Mic's Personal Tire and Wheel Test"
Objective: I'm going to pair a set of grade A, super sticky and well known tires with a set of "cheap", replica wheels to see if the wheels deserve the bad reputation that comes with them.
Why: Because.
Laff.... it's explained below.
Background
A while back, I sold my Z33 Nismo and just recently, sold my last set - of three - Nismo V3 wheels. This left me with a set of flypaper sticky tires with no wheels to mount them on so I tried to sell them.
When I couldn't find a buyer for the full set, I kind of just forgot about 'em until this past week and decided I'd best put them to use rather than letting them rot on the shelf with a date code somewhere around the middle of 2013.
Since I already have my ideal wheels for my Zs, this would be a chance to experiment a little and maybe share some objective assessment results with people eager to buy some "champagne-class" wheels but only have a "beer wheel" budget.
But I really wanted to answer a few questions for myself just for kicks.
Specifically, I wanted to find out:
- Will they help or hinder performance vis a vis my lightweight LMZ5s. which I'm using as the benchmark for the base runs (of which I've logged hundreds of mountain miles).
- How well will they fare against a $4000 set of Volks that, while being a solid and beautiful set of wheels, aren't exactly that light weight despite their forged, modular construction?
- A decision tree type of objective: Should I even bother putting a set of new tires on my Z34N wheels if their weight and strength aren't any better than an $800 set of alloys and I'm not likely to use them much? (That's totally hypothetical as I know I will be using them. Laff...)
- But more germane to the my350Z.com community: Are these cheap replicas good enough to "recommend" (OK, maybe that's too strong... how about "suggest") to others on a budget?
Let me put the question in your mind to rest:
No, I'm NOT actually trying to disprove the worth of any of these forged wheel sets (or conversely, proving the perception of worthlessness of replicas by many). No, that's not the point. It's a proven fact that lightweight, forged wheels are stronger, generally lighter, and THE choice for serious enthusiasts and racers.
But there are reasons so many replicas exist these days. Cost is certainly at or near the top of that list.
$850 wheel. Note: this picture taken off web. If this is your car and don't wish to have it shown here, please PM me and I will take it down. No copyright infringment intended.
vs.
$150 wheel.
You ask: Maybe they belong in the dumpster in the background?
That's what I want to find out.
Let's face it though, replicas exist for thousands of people who don't really care about the actual "performance-under-load" aspect. Lots of people want their cars to have the appearance of speed and to be a little more unique, a little more "individual" than the thousands of similar cars on the road regardless of whether they run them hard in the hills or just to commute to work.
So it begs the question: If they're so bad, how come there's so many out there and do they really deserve the bad reputation?
Running a set of these the way I run all my other wheels should provide some real world opinion. Note the key word: "opinion". I consider myself pretty objective and will call 'em as I see 'em. But as they say, "your mileage may vary."
On that note, all "results" will be from a pure driving perspective, with only a few scientific facts thrown in as I will only be using a tire gauge, pyrometer, g-meter, and my very own MicButtDyno to make some assessment.
Special note: NO, I am not planning to part with any of my forged wheels in favor of replicas - regardless of outcome - so please don't ask...hahahaha.
Loss of Sanity?
In any event, by this time, people are shaking their heads and asking, "Mic, have you taken leave of your senses?? Why do you want to run junk copies, they're gonna break!"
But.... will they???? And that, folks, is the whole point behind this test.
So these are just used for mountain road twisties?
Nope, I use my Z for just about any/everything from grocery runs to mountain runs. Not by necessity; rather, by choice. My wife says it's my daily driver despite having two others to choose from.
And actually, running these on the streets are almost more (or at least equally) abusive than in the twisties. Case in point and in a bit of irony, was driving my Volvo from the tire shop where'd I'd just picked up a pair of mounted tire/wheels.... hit a HUGE pot hole near my house and upon arriving home, heard the tell tale hissing of a leaking tire.
Getting it off, found a bit of construction metal sticking out of the tire..... 3/4" wide! But yeah, be curious to know what that pot hole would have done to EITHER my forged wheels or the reps.
In that case, my magic 8 ball says you will be just fine minus anything that would kill any other wheel anyways.
I'm convinced the main problem is the QC of the wheels so assuming you get 4 good wheels, you are set. I think they just miss too many faulty wheels which is why they get a bad rep. The rate of failure is probably higher but when factored against the overall number of wheels sold, the percentage is likely minuscule.
Interesting- just got through leafing through an article In SportsCar mag about fatigue/wear cycles and ultimate life cycle of a racing wheel. Depending on materials used and load ratings (street tire vs. DOT-R vs. race tire), there are formulas that can be used to determine when I should be replacing wheels before they break.
But many of the Enkei wheels I use on the race Z have been used for eight years and show no signs of cracks or deformation. I probably need to dismount and magnaflux them to be sure.
I think the ratio of people who buy expensive, forged , high performance wheels , is split . I feel less than 1/2 half buy them for performance / the rest buy them for looks/status of having the real deal.
Less expensive wheels , and replica wheels , are not in all cases the same thing.
The majority of people who say replica wheels are bad, are owners or buyers of non-replica wheels.
When you buy a high performance car like a 350z or 370z , 9 times out of 10 the OEM wheel offers as much performance as $4K volks/SSR.Works, So buying $4K wheels to say its a gain in performance is silly, I have bought dozens of $4K wheels over that past
30 years , and every one was for looks, and status of having the real deal over a replica.
Just because wheels cost $1000 and not $4000 does not mean the less expensive wheel is not a good wheel. But real high end wheels look much better than their replica counter part.
imo only real differences are name brand and forged vs cast. I have owned cheap cast wheels in the past and a couple of them did crack badly beyond repair. Also the oem wheels are very good but just aren't wide enough for a wider tire.
I don't mind replicas, I just search for the lighter weight wheels. Don't care for the more mainstream reps such as Varrs. I own both authentic and reps, I prefer using the reps on the streets. I've bent the lip of multiple Work Wheels and SSRs on minor potholes. The reps I've owned has held up just fine on the same streets. I haven't gone to the track in many years and don't intend to anymore, for daily most of the reps I've owned have made me just as happy without the pocketbook damage.
Last edited by mr. sparco; 05-22-2016 at 12:42 PM.
I've tracked twice on my Ambit wheels and push really hard. Mountain drive, I've daily them hit bumps this and that with no problems
They cost less then 500 and I can not complain. I'll say the only reason with going with Enkie next is because they are sworn on so much for cost and reliability. The real wheel crowd people are the only reason I feel a type of way about my reps cause I have 0 problems with them and they will be staying my street wheels cause I refuse to spend 4k on wheels.
On that note, all "results" will be from a pure driving perspective, with only a few scientific facts thrown in as I will only be using a tire gauge, pyrometer, g-meter, and my very own MicButtDyno to make some assessment.
Reps look good, but next to the real thing they fall a little short. in weight and appearance.
Seem to hold up though, seen a rep set of TE37's take some punishment with no problems on a 700+hp Z
The subject of real vs fake is a touchy one. Ill drop my .02 into this.
To my understanding, company like rotas and other reps have zero certification. Infact, all they have on their websites about any form of testing are "in house testing" no via or jwl, yet they have those "stamp" on their wheels. And lead many to believe that they passed jwl. (I could be wrong here)
Company like rays, works, ssr, enkei pass these actual test and beyond. I believe rays is the leader in wheels. They have light weight wheels for the same price as the rota grids or whatever.
Its hard to believe that people who buy fake wheels only does so for the looks. You dont buy a fake rolex because you like the way the watch looks, you do it because youre balling on a budget.
Also, as i mentioned in your other post about the wheel weight. Reps tends to require more weight to have a balanced wheels that anything else. My last rep took 4oz to balance, while all my other set took less than 1.5 oz.
As far as whoever mention "oem are just as good if not better than 4k wheels." I have to disagree. Oem are better than reps for sure, but last i check, i havent seen any oem wheels that weights in at 18lbs for 18x9.5. Most oem are cast, and cast are not going to be as light or as strong as forge. Nis v3 are forged weighting in nearly 20lbs if i remember correctly. Only oem wheels that are better than 4k wheels are the carbong fiber wheels on the gt350 and the supercars. However, those are 20+ and 18 forged will probably be better for performance.
I can go on and on about real vs fake and why i prefer real wheels. But that wont really change anyones opinion. We all have preferences, but just be educated on the fact that real wheels are better than fakes. Will a fake shatter at 10mph hitting a speedbump and causing the csr to flip 50 times? Probably not, but is it as good as a forge or better casting process wheels? Probably not.
This reminds of the kid who broke some Forgestars on the track after swapping to sticky tires. The stress cracks were clearly evident on the inside. This could be an expensive test. GL
05-21-2016, 11:07 PM
Replica Wheels - Do They Deserve The Bad Reputation? I Aim To Find Out.
