Has anyone ever bought a set of R90 replicas? Their is a company called Wheels & Caps that I saw on ebay anyone ever heard of these guys.
Ramie

 

I saw those too. They look OEM and I went to the site. They have virtually every wheel Mini makes copied. Years ago I bought a set of Lexus wheels and could not tell the difference.I asked on my local club site for opinions and two guys with OEM R90s said they are one piece vs two and claimed they weren't a sturdy as OEM.But at $399 plus shipping?........tempting I think about them alot, but I actually like the look of my S heavies

 

The guys outside the states love them.

http://www.mini2.com/forum/wheels-ty...any-italy.html

I hope this helps.


joe r

 

My dad got some 550i Sport Package wheels (I forget the M model number) reps for his 535i from Wheels and Caps. They look identical and you can't tell the difference aside from the ///M logo decal on the wheels, they can't copy them exact for legal purposes, obviously lol.

One thing to note, one of my dads wheels came bent, it was a slight bend and we didn't feel like having to send back the wheel and wait another week so we just put them on as is. I'm sure they would have exchanged for another with no problems.

 

17x7 R90 wheels are expensive

but 16x6.5 one piece MINI R90 wheels are less expensive and can give a similar look along with 16" tire sizes for more comfort. Not to mention less weight due to 16" size rim.

 

Talk about timing. I ordered a set of these in the past month after a year or so of trying to figure out what style wheels I wanted and went with the r90 knock-offs from ebay. Basically opened them, took a look at each wheel, and called to have them sent back. Pretty sure they were defective. A number of the cosmetic 'rivets' on one of the wheels were not installed properly and were practically coming off, and the paint job on all four wheels was botched. Looking at the wheel dead on, looked basically normal, but look even the slightest amount to one side and you could see the clear-coat had not been sprayed properly with the entire rest of the wheel lacking clear. To the seller's credit, they were very helpful when I explained they had to be defective and they sent me return labels and ended up getting a 100% credit. I offered to exchange them for a set from another manufacturer, but they said they only carry the r90 style from one company, and they are from China, not Italy. The Italian made knock-offs tend to be the only r90 replicas I've read good things about. Should have asked this from the start, but oh well. Now, which wheels?

 

Good to know this.I am soo happy I held out for R90's.

They should be here Friday.


joe r

 

Where can we get the the knock off's from Italy?
Ramie

 

Not sure if you can even get any new Italian replicas stateside or if they even make them anymore. The Italian reps. were made by Route Company or something.

 

i use to run the real R90's and they were very heavy.

probably better getting those replica's if you want to retain
some level of performance...given that those replicas are
22lbs or less.

 

I emailed the the company on ebay selling the replicas.The guy stated they were 20 pounds.I just looked at my fedex tracking numbers & each box packaged is 24 pounds with packing material.So the R90's don't weigh that much more.


joe r

 

had been considering these knock offs til i read about bad quality and made in china.
thanks for the heads yp guys,
Boxcars

 

But that's just 1 case ,has anyone had any good luck with them? Or are they all bad copys!
Ramie

 

I'm about to pick up a second hand set of these tonight....AUD$500 for them with fresh Kumho Ecsta sport tyres! woop woop! They look quite good...in fact, the lip on them is ever-so-slightly more pronounced than the real ones...

BTW, the Italian company that does the knock-offs is called 'ruotecompany' ...minigolf lives near me and he has been very happy with his wheels...

btw, they are et40, so if you are really low you may get slight rubbing depending on what tyre size you choose...

This is a recent photo of his car....

 

were these the one's from wheels and caps? On their site they say they are from Italy

 

Yeah, they were from Wheels and Caps. Not from Italy, said 'Made in China' on box; from a company called Keystone. I've heard the Italian made replicas have 'Italy' stamped on the back. These did not, and I've seen close ups of minigolf's Italian replicas on MINI2 and they looked different than the wheels I received, especially the 'rivets'. When I called to return the wheels I even asked them if they carried another brand of replica r90s and they said this was the only brand they carried. Oh, for they record the wheels were dead nuts 22.3 lbs. each (measured on a digital postal scale, obviously out of the box).

I'd go with ASA AR1's for a similar look, I've also looked at some Enkei Bortex RPM2 wheels, flat face design, look similar to the new MINI Challenge wheels coming out, it's just hard to find them in silver for 17", I've only seen gunmetal or dark silver/black whatever it's called.

Also, I considered the 16" r90s, heavy for 16's (~21 lbs), but they look small in my opinion. Good luck trying to find the Italian replicas. Maybe try and find if Edge Racing is ever going to restock more Flik Wasps or Arctics, they look similar in styling also.