I posted this originally on the Wheel & Tire forum but there's not much action over there...

Been looking for some replicas so I can mothball the oem wheels on my Millennium Edition (they're starting to peel). Found these and the price is so low I'm very skeptical. Does anyone have any experience with these?


Link

 

They're inexpensive,--so buy a set and let us know how it works out.

 

i have those on my car. i've put maybe 100 miles on them. they fit well and are no heavier than my OEM carrera 5 spoke. my car is arctic silver and i think it looks nice. aggressive without being over the top.

anyway, they seem strong enough. i drive on rough michigan roads and no bends or cracks thus far.

wish i had seen that ad, those are $200 cheaper than what i paid.

 

I'm going to follow this one closely - those are great looking wheels! Hopefully they're as reliable as the fine print says it should be... If they are, they're on the list for next year. Hopefully this is a deal good enough to be true...

Rudy

 

Gotta be made in China!

 

sold a lot of things and has a very high rating - that doesnt make the wheels good/bad though...

someone ask where the manufacture plant they talk about is...

plus I love these wheels, but not as much on the 996 as the 997's


BTW:
why do you want replicas?
with a millenium edition wouldnt it be best to keep the period wheels, just have them re-done?
do you have pics of the current set up? post them

 

I haven't talked to the vendor yet. Been too busy. But, I would think for the price they must be Chinese made. My main goal was to get the originals off the car to preserve the original finish. But, I've procrastinated enough that it's becoming futile. The right front wheel had another good sized piece flake off last weekend.

I spoke to Wheel Enhancement and they said this finish is not reproducible. I could just refinish these but it wouldn't be the same process. I will not have them chromed. I could have them stripped, polished and clearcoated. Someone locally suggested that I have them polished and clear powder coated. But I haven't seen what that looks like. It's supposedly way more durable and the powder coating doesn't knock down the brightness of the polish too much. Speaking of brightness, I'm not usually into the "chrome" look. But, I've seen other Mill Editions with just plain silver painted wheels and I don't think it looks as good with the exterior paint. That's one of the reasons I like the 997 Turbo wheels. The machined face gives a little of that look without being over the top. I also think the anthracite background of the wheels would subtly pick up some of the exterior color. Here's a couple of the current (stock) setup...you can see how the paint changes color under different lighting conditions.

 

I also spoke with them, they said they are all replica - would not tell where they were made

 

That says alot right there.

 

If they won't tell where they're made then i will pasadena on them. There's a source for these replicas that are made in Italy.

 

I had (still technically have in boxes) italian reps, that manufacturer only made 19s and no longer sells them in the US according to everyone I know in the wheel business, which is not exhaustive but at least extensive. The italian wheels were far, far more expensive, but at that time there were no easily available OEM narrowbody applications (you can now buy the narrowbody parts through the tequipment catalog, less $$$ than before but still alot, but 19 inch only last time I looked)

all the reps are now from china, and from what i hear all from the same factory. they are fine if you're getting 18s for the street, don't stress out, but don't expect too much from $500 wheels either!

 

If you like 'em buy 'em. How can you go wrong for $500. You can't even get a set of Cragar's or American Racing wheels at Pep boys for less than that. You could buy 2 sets at that price. You'd have a back up set available and still have paid less money than 2 OEM rims.

 

actually less than 1 oem rim, retail on one 11" rear is $1300

 

Quick Update--I'm taking a chance on those $500 set of Turbo Reps. I have the wheels and will have them installed this afternoon. I had them spun on a Hunter machine last week and they looked good. One of the front wheels will require a little more weight than the others. That can probably be offset with proper location of the high spot of the tire. The runout was good on all four. I didn't get printouts, but I'll try and get all the info this afternoon and post it up.

 

hope it works out... visually they look nice