I might be out. I'm thinking of going with a Flik anthricite wheel.
I did a little wheel study, I stripped in some wheels on my car.
Take a look let me know what you guy think.
I took the R90s from the MINI site. Sliver/Anthr./Black

Studog

 

Yep, these are my wheels.

Read all about them here:
http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55639

FWIW the scales I weighed them on returned a reading of 9kg (19.8lb). With coventional tyres they were 18kg (39.7lb), compared to 19kg (41.9lb) for my OEM 16" X-lites with runflats. So they may not be the lightest wheel, but they are lighter than the OEM equivalent.

Oddly enough I wanted to get ASA AR1s, but could not find anyone who could get them to Australia. One of the places I asked found the R90 replicas and while it wasn't the look I was originally after, I was happy enough to get them. Clearly, I am biased, but they do look pretty good. I know they're fakeys (we call them genuine fakeys down under), but in some ways they look better than the original for the reason's Tit mentioned earlier. Purely subjective of course.

Then there's the price issue as well. To get a set with some good rubber, such as Michelin Pilot Precedas (not available in the US mind) it would cost around AU$2300, to buy a set of genuine R90s with run flats would be at least AU$4500, probably a shade over $5K. Half the price, with grippier and more compliant rubber … it's a very good option if you're not fussed about running a replica wheel.

Anyway, there's some more pics below. Feel free to ask any questions.

HTH

Cheers Liam







These last two are from the day the wheels were fitted to my car, 26 June 2004.

 

So, do these come with the MINI wing logo already or is that added?

 

The MINI logo/caps should come with the wheels.

But you can get aftermarket centre caps from somewhere (can't remember the site), just not 100% sure if they will suit the replicas as the cap size is, apparently, slightly different to the OEM R90 caps (ie. the OEM R90 caps don't fit the replica wheels).

 

Well, it looks like I'm out. Alex invited me to Tirerack to measure my JCW brakes. Sorry about the false alarm and good luck with the wheels.

 

So your saying that the R90 replicas won't fit over the JCW brakes?! That's odd, with their extra offset I would have thought there was plenty of room with the R90 fakeys. It's not like the JCW brakes have huge calipers either???

 

you can always use H&R spacers BTW, mark me off the list guys, i found another solution to my wheel dilemna

 

ok guys

i get it
no group buy


can anyone tell me the difference
between this Routecompany wheels and
the ones on Ebay at the moment?
here's the link just in case

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/17x7-...spagenameZWDVW

could you explain the pro's and con's between these 2 wheels
(route vs. ebay)

regards,
CJ

 

It is the same wheel isn't it? Just a matter of who you are buying from and at what price. I think that's right.

 

Yes. That is the Ruotecompany wheel, already in the States for sale by the look of it.

If the price is right and you want them … go for it.

 

Well
I guess no one here on NAM tried the r90 replica from ebay eh?
Well I actually did buy ONE piece to see / check the quality of their wheel.

It is made in Italy, It has ET40 just like Route's but a bit heavier I say. by a pound or two. The quality is exceptionaly good. Its fInish was awesome. The pictures on ebay sucks so bad....... You really have to see it in person to see the quality. Mine had a chip on inner lip so I returned and at the sametime I bought a set of TDR Pr1 with an awesome deal.. which ended my saga of r90 replica.

 

Do they need hub centering rings?

 

Minigolf,
I wasn't saying the R90 replicas won't fit with the JCW brakes. It's just that I am making a trip to Tirerack on Sat and Alex is going to make it worth my while for bringing in the MINI so his techs can measure it up.
I think most any 17" will fit under the JCW brakes but based on the measurements, he may be able to see what 16" rims will fit as that seems to be a common question without alot of answers.

 

seeing those on a blue Mini made me realized that they are a little diffrent. For the price savings, I think they will do fine. I have the original R90 but it came with the car.

 

Thanks powershot.