CADDY2K.com

Hi,

I'm looking at buying some 18" wheels for my van and I was wondering if any of you had experience of the replica wheels sold by Torque Wheels in Preston.

The do some lovely non branded replica wheels and have good reviews on EBay, I just wanted to do a bit more digging before I bought a set. Please see link for example.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-GOLF-CADD ... 1438.l2649

Cheers Pye

Let us know what you do, they look great!!

Will do

Nice wheels

Hi, I had r32 copies on touran, climbing on a small curb they folded, constantly losing air.

I’d be inclined to stay away from replica wheels, who knows what cheap soft metal their made of, I know the prices can be appealing but you get what you pay for.
I’d go for a good branded aftermarket wheel or buy Originals.

I'll second that, and try and get OEM wheels, ones that are true/not been welded etc

On the other Caddy we have, I went for genuine VW 17" 'New Orleans' ones,
I bought them on ebay as a set of four for £132.00p, and then a single for £37.50p (5 in total) and then spent £200
on a refurb on all 5. So that's £369.50p in total for a full set, which in my book is good value
Obviously 18's or 19's are going to be a tad dearer

Tyres were the dear part, as wanted decent Rubber, so 5 Good Year 205/50/17's all balanced/Fitted/Tracking came in at £599.70p

Cheers for the replies guys. I’m going to pop in to LK Performance tomorrow to see if there’s anything that takes my fancy. I think I’m going to go for 18” as well, just not sure what width to go for.

Most cast wheels, be they VW/Audi replica or not, will be made in china and are not going to be the best quality. Even some of the bigger aftermarket brands are made in China these days. Forged rims are more expensive for a reason. You pays your money and takes your choice.

Having worked at a Mercedes Benz dealership for the last 19 years, judging by the amount of wheels the warranty department throw in the skip, hi end oem wheels are not exactly a guarantee against damage/cracking either.

Personally I put a lot of damage down to how people drive and treat them (and some luck dodging potholes). They’re not designed to be smashed up kerbs when parking, or hit speed bumps at speed, nor are they designed to deal with the shocking road surfaces we have these days.

You make a very good point. Do you tend to fine that it the larger wheels that are cracking that are running a lower profile tyre.

i'm on replica santiagos and 3-4 weeks in no issues.... but i do dread that day i hit a deep pothole

100% the low profile tyres which most cars have these days, along with the poor roads don’t help the lifespan of a wheel at all.

Just fitted 19" Pretoria replicas, on 225/35s just over a week ago, 6 days in, pulling into Sainsbury's hit a medium size pothole at very slow speed, 10 mph max, huge bang! Pulled in and parked got out, and heard a dreaded hissing, closest tire place near me was 2 mins down the road so I slowly drove it there, only midrange they had in was £109, what a heartbreaker, 6 day old tire, gone.
Was told there was a tiny tiny dent on the rim but considering the noise it made when I hit it I was glad it wasn't cracked!
All balanced up fine, thank God!!! with no new weights
Being extra careful now though, when they need changing I'm going for 45s, 35s are just too thin for our appalling roads!

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That’s not good, this makes me think 18” alloys are the way forward so you can run a bigger tyre.

Mines standard height atm, I'm not going mad lowering because I carry a good chunk of weight most of the time, I am very glad I went for 19s because I was comparing to a mates BMW 3 series with 19s and they looked small to his! So I think 18s would have been way too small, 45mm-50mm ish drop with slightly bigger tires, I'm hoping...... Will be fine lol

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