Can you say Volk knock-off??!
!!
This might sound counterintuitive, but I think that repros actually
work to the advantage of the manufacturers. They create a market
for the image. If only original wheels were available the popular
designs would not have nearly the same ability to imprint on the
potential customers. There are two different buyers, people who
want the genuine article, and those who want the appearance of
the genuine article. Together they generate a marketplace. Many
buyers likely start as the latter, and follow up with purchaces of
authentic products. The repros serve as a starter dose.
Just a thought.
work to the advantage of the manufacturers. They create a market
for the image. If only original wheels were available the popular
designs would not have nearly the same ability to imprint on the
potential customers. There are two different buyers, people who
want the genuine article, and those who want the appearance of
the genuine article. Together they generate a marketplace. Many
buyers likely start as the latter, and follow up with purchaces of
authentic products. The repros serve as a starter dose.
Just a thought.
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that makes no sense...i'm pretty sure they have 4 lug volk wheels too...different cars have different lug patterns...has nothing to do with the brand or quality
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From: Redwood Shores
"Volk knock-off". So yes, I can say Volk knock-off.
By the way ^ ^ Justg0tmy350z, I picked up on your sarcasm as soon as I read your post, mainly because I was going to say the same thing haha.
Seriously though I will say this. My previous car was a mazda6 and on the mazda6 forums you rarely see any RAYS wheels. The occasional Gramlights but that's it. For me, the mazda6 was my first car that I modified and I didn't know a lot about the car modification world before that car. It was basically my starter vehicle as far as modding goes. Along with that I wasn't familiar with most of the car part manufacturers since I was learning as I went. At that time I had heard of Volk and RAYS in general but I didn't know which wheels they made. I had never seen any in person (that I was aware of). At one point this guy got a set of wheels by a brand called ALT. I had never heard of them either. The wheels were polished lip with bright silver spokes, thin 5-spoke design with 2-piece appearance, and around the outer part of the spokes along the lips there were these cool looking slanted rectangles raised out from the metal. The wheels looked awesome on this guy's car. I was actually considering buying a set. Then I traded the 6 for the Z and came on here and realized that those ALT wheels were SF Challenge knock-offs!
Sooooo, my point is that there is certainly a market for knock-off wheels, and part of that market is the car enthusiast on a budget. Chances are good that a guy who buys a $22k brand new mazda6 is going to be in the market for less expensive parts than a guy who spent $30k on a brand new 350z. The other part of the market is people like me (in the past) who don't know that the wheel is a knock-off in the first place. I can tell you this, I never would have put $3000 worth of wheels on my mazda6 (I can barely believe that I did that on the Z), so in that particular case the knock-off manufacturers are not really stealing any market share from the real-deal Volks of the world, because most of the people who bought the knock-offs would not have spent $Volk on wheels in the first place.
By the way ^ ^ Justg0tmy350z, I picked up on your sarcasm as soon as I read your post, mainly because I was going to say the same thing haha.
Seriously though I will say this. My previous car was a mazda6 and on the mazda6 forums you rarely see any RAYS wheels. The occasional Gramlights but that's it. For me, the mazda6 was my first car that I modified and I didn't know a lot about the car modification world before that car. It was basically my starter vehicle as far as modding goes. Along with that I wasn't familiar with most of the car part manufacturers since I was learning as I went. At that time I had heard of Volk and RAYS in general but I didn't know which wheels they made. I had never seen any in person (that I was aware of). At one point this guy got a set of wheels by a brand called ALT. I had never heard of them either. The wheels were polished lip with bright silver spokes, thin 5-spoke design with 2-piece appearance, and around the outer part of the spokes along the lips there were these cool looking slanted rectangles raised out from the metal. The wheels looked awesome on this guy's car. I was actually considering buying a set. Then I traded the 6 for the Z and came on here and realized that those ALT wheels were SF Challenge knock-offs!
Sooooo, my point is that there is certainly a market for knock-off wheels, and part of that market is the car enthusiast on a budget. Chances are good that a guy who buys a $22k brand new mazda6 is going to be in the market for less expensive parts than a guy who spent $30k on a brand new 350z. The other part of the market is people like me (in the past) who don't know that the wheel is a knock-off in the first place. I can tell you this, I never would have put $3000 worth of wheels on my mazda6 (I can barely believe that I did that on the Z), so in that particular case the knock-off manufacturers are not really stealing any market share from the real-deal Volks of the world, because most of the people who bought the knock-offs would not have spent $Volk on wheels in the first place.
Last edited by sry110; Nov 18, 2008 at 12:54 PM.
How do we know which wheel was made first? The GT-F's are not a very old wheel.
Not that I'd saying I'd get the Katana but I think it's kind of silly to think that Volk created every wheel design.
Oh, and I figured it was another Rota thread as well hehe.
Not that I'd saying I'd get the Katana but I think it's kind of silly to think that Volk created every wheel design.
Oh, and I figured it was another Rota thread as well hehe.
This might sound counterintuitive, but I think that repros actually
work to the advantage of the manufacturers. They create a market
for the image. If only original wheels were available the popular
designs would not have nearly the same ability to imprint on the
potential customers. There are two different buyers, people who
want the genuine article, and those who want the appearance of
the genuine article. Together they generate a marketplace. Many
buyers likely start as the latter, and follow up with purchaces of
authentic products. The repros serve as a starter dose.
Just a thought.
work to the advantage of the manufacturers. They create a market
for the image. If only original wheels were available the popular
designs would not have nearly the same ability to imprint on the
potential customers. There are two different buyers, people who
want the genuine article, and those who want the appearance of
the genuine article. Together they generate a marketplace. Many
buyers likely start as the latter, and follow up with purchaces of
authentic products. The repros serve as a starter dose.
Just a thought.
It's thinking like this that totally robs companies, with ingenuity that put time and money into R&D, like Vertex, Volk, Ings, Amuse, Top Secret, and so on and so forth. People don't realize that when you create a market for knock-offs you are STEALING!!!! Just like the fashion industry and entertainment industry have tried to fight counterfiets and pirated material, because it takes away from the originators. The only difference is automotive companies don't try and pass their products off as "Volk", instead just use their design and call it their own. Which to me is even worse, cause now you're not just taking money away, but credit for Ray's work too. But too each their own.
In reality... anyone who truly wants Volks, wouldn't buy the knockoffs.
god those things are designed so half assed...Look at the rain drop shaped indents facing the center cap...they arent evenly spaced around the rim...some of them over lap the lug holes and some dont. This is some of the cheapest craftsmenship I have ever seen....sloppy.
Are we sure these arent chopped....what am I thinking even a 5 year old that just learned photoshop could line those things up correctly....whats the designers excuse??
Are we sure these arent chopped....what am I thinking even a 5 year old that just learned photoshop could line those things up correctly....whats the designers excuse??