I think everyone on here knows what I think of replica wheels, especially replica Overfinch ones. Not only are they illegal due to an infringement on design rights but they are also made from inferior materials which makes them very dangerous, particularly on heavy vehicles such as Range Rovers.

There's a saying, buy on price, buy twice which I think rings very true when talking about replica wheels. I get phone calls all the time from people who've cracked their 'Overfinch' wheels only to find out they are in fact replica wheels and it ends up costing them more in the long term replacing tyres and wheels.

Enough from me, I'll let these photos of a replica wheel we recently had in from a customer do the talking!

These were fitted to his Range Rover sport and this happened when he was travelling at speed, needless to say he came and purchased a genuine set immediately afterwards..

Eeek  ON THE WAY: BMW F21 M140i
MERCEDES GL350 - Metallic Navy Blue w/Grey interior

GOING: BMW F31 335D MSport+ xDrive Touring
GONE: Land Rover Discovery 4 HSE - Stornaway Grey w/Black Interior (wish we'd kept it )
GONE: BMW F10 520D MSport - Carbon Black
GONE:MY12 RRS SDV6 HSE Sumatra/Ivory/Grand Black Privacy glass

Our resident "replica wheel police" will have you in court for that statement

Jordon - purely out of curiosity (and believe me not to add fuel to the fire), have you ever had original O/F wheels fail in a similar manor  ON THE WAY: BMW F21 M140i
MERCEDES GL350 - Metallic Navy Blue w/Grey interior

GOING: BMW F31 335D MSport+ xDrive Touring
GONE: Land Rover Discovery 4 HSE - Stornaway Grey w/Black Interior (wish we'd kept it )
GONE: BMW F10 520D MSport - Carbon Black
GONE:MY12 RRS SDV6 HSE Sumatra/Ivory/Grand Black Privacy glass

Nothing wrong with them.............

So there's a fact for you guys that was asking for a fact You have been warned.

Beancounter_74 wrote:

Jordon - purely out of curiosity (and believe me not to add fuel to the fire), have you ever had original O/F wheels fail in a similar manor

@ X5pea i said if he named the company, go back to sleep mate. Your input unto this discussion is worthless!!

@ Overfinch....... What else can really be said but Offfft that looks shocking.
Do you know the history of the wheel, where it came from, load ratings, material analysis etc. I hope you managed to trace it and tried to put a stop to the company manufacturing them.
I know your opinion could be slighty biased but don't you agree that some replicas can be of good quality? I'm not implying that they are but from all the wheels sold (you will have a much better knowledge of the figures) that It's only a small percentage of wheels that fail?
There is a guy on here(can't remember his username) that had a set if genuine overfinch wheels that had cracked 3 times, would you say that It's a once off, would they be covered by a warranty?

I'm not looking for alloys at the moment so I am in no way suggesting that reps are of the same standard as your wheels, just curious at the massive price difference.

Does anybody know if you buy alloys from a supplier and you tell specifically what vehicle they are going on if the company would be liable for damages? Sale of goods act, not fit for purpose?

Jordan, can you post a picture of a replica and a genuine supersport wheel side by side so that people can check their own wheels to see if they are genuine or not, because i'm sure there will be some people out there that think they have got genuine Overfinch wheels on that might actually be replica's

Overfinch wrote:

Beancounter_74 wrote:

Jordon - purely out of curiosity (and believe me not to add fuel to the fire), have you ever had original O/F wheels fail in a similar manor

Good question, I'd be lying if I said I've never had a customer's genuine Overfinch wheel crack, they are tested to TuV standards just like manufacturer's wheels but any wheel will crack if it is put under excessive pressure.

However, I've never had an Overfinch or OEM Lane Rover wheel dissintegrate like the replica wheel pictured above, it's usually a hairline crack which causes the tyre to deflate.

Ballsy wrote:

Does anybody know if you buy alloys from a supplier and you tell specifically what vehicle they are going on if the company would be liable for damages? Sale of goods act, not fit for purpose?

I don't deal in replica wheels of any descriptions so I can't tell you the ins and outs of their manufacturing process and testing procedures unfortunately, I can only really speak for the wheels we have produced.

An awful lot of investment goes into producing a wheel, you have R&D costs, tooling costs, various testing and patenting costs, minimum order volumes and you're also running the risk that the wheel may not be a bestseller.

Replica wheels on the other hand do not carry those R&D costs, tooling costs, patenting costs etc as they are just copying an already succesful design. They will also use cheaper materials as they are usually manufactured overseas where there is no legislation on quality control (for example, in Germany parts have to carry TuV approval for them to be sold in that market).

@Ballsy there may be testing in Japan but only certain companies can carry out TuV testing which most manufacturers use as the benchmark so I'd be curious to see genuine certificates stating these Japanese wheels carry TuV approval.

That's my 2 penneth on replica wheels anyway, If you spend circa £30-60k on a Range Rover Sport, why cut a corner when it comes to your wheels and tyres which are the closest thing to the road when you're driving it?

Thanks Jordan - appreciate the honest response on the fact that you've seen some hairline cracks but no disintegrated originals.

Re: your last comment above, completely agree, why spend all that money and cut corners  ON THE WAY: BMW F21 M140i
MERCEDES GL350 - Metallic Navy Blue w/Grey interior

GOING: BMW F31 335D MSport+ xDrive Touring
GONE: Land Rover Discovery 4 HSE - Stornaway Grey w/Black Interior (wish we'd kept it )
GONE: BMW F10 520D MSport - Carbon Black
GONE:MY12 RRS SDV6 HSE Sumatra/Ivory/Grand Black Privacy glass

There are several international standards for wheels:

Quote:

ISO 7141:2005 specifies a laboratory test procedure to evaluate the axial (lateral) kerb impact collision properties of a wheel manufactured either wholly or partly of light alloys. It is intended for passenger car applications, and special vehicle applications where the wheel may impact the kerb, with the purpose of screening and/or quality control of the wheel.

Quote:

ISO 3066:2005 specifies two laboratory methods for testing certain essential fatigue strength characteristics of wheels intended for road use on passenger cars as defined in ISO 3833.

The test methods are

dynamic cornering fatigue test;
dynamic radial fatigue test.

Quote:

ISO 14400:2005 specifies requirements for the use, and general maintenance and safety of wheels and rims, and defines their out-of-service conditions, such as cracked, worn and bent wheels. It is applicable to wheels intended for use on road vehicles as defined in ISO 3833, excepting mopeds and motorcycles, and including multi-piece wheels for trucks.

It would be interesting to get some info regarding material section thicknesses of OE and aftermarket/replica wheels. The pictures posted here by overfinch suggest the material thickness of the replica was quite thin. I wonder if overfinch would like to confirm or otherwise whether the material thickness of the replica was more or less than the same wheel made by them? That would be a start. 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed