THIS is the famous Prototipo? What a hunk of junk!

[TeeJayHoward]

I finally broke down and installed the Prototipo I ordered almost a year ago. OK, sure... I can now see my gauges. And I guess it looks better than that "gas station knife" looking thing I had on there previously. But compared to the Sparco wheel I took off, this thing feels like a fragile, poorly-build toy. It flexes if you put too much weight on it. It's thin and dainty around the grip. It's like a cheap rip-off of a well known product, which is exactly what I'd think this was, if I hadn't ordered from Momo directly to avoid just that.


Look at this! The leather isn't even one piece. It's a bunch of scraps glued together:



Is this really the Prototipo I've heard so much about?

[tmsautoart]

You got that from Momo directly?!! From Italy? Looks to me like a knock off. There are some YouTube vids that show how poorly they are built.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4DpW5B0O6g

[tmsautoart]

screen grab from a review of a real Momo Prototipo. Looks like there is no seam or patch piece of leather there at the spoke.

[fanaudical]

TJ - The leather on that wheel looks very different than the leather on my ~10 year old Prototipo.

[TeeJayHoward]

Originally Posted by tmsautoart

You got that from Momo directly?!! From Italy? Looks to me like a knock off. There are some YouTube vids that show how poorly they are built.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4DpW5B0O6g

Ordered from Momo.com, who apparently reached out to Weld Racing (the exterior box) to deliver it to me via "MW Company". I didn't go to Italy and pick it up myself or anything.

[tmsautoart]

Originally Posted by TeeJayHoward

Ordered from Momo.com, who apparently reached out to Weld Racing (the exterior box) to deliver it to me via "MW Company". I didn't go to Italy and pick it up myself or anything.

yeah....I didn't think you drove to Italy. Looks like the middle man pulled one over on you.

[Showdown]

I ordered one of the 370mm directly from Momo and it looks the same. It’s pretty flexible, the leather is crap, it’s glued and pretty much a POS.

I suspect, like everything, quality has dropped, prices have gone up and fabrication is likely outsourced.

I’m going to recover mine soon so at least it looks and feels decent.

[DaytonaCoupe66]

There's been a change somewhere along the manufacturing/value chain. Yours may be a knock off - lots of that going on. I've got an old one that is a nice solid piece and is holding up well. Similar to tmsautoart photo

[Showdown]

Go to the momo website and you’ll see that the wheels are no longer wrapped in a single piece of leather; there are patches glued on.

These aren’t knock offs, momo is just making an inferior product than they used to.

https://momo.com/en-us/momo-street-steering-wheels/momo-prototipo.html

[Mark Salvetti]

Originally Posted by Showdown

Go to the momo website and you’ll see that the wheels are no longer wrapped in a single piece of leather; there are patches glued on.

These aren’t knock offs, momo is just making an inferior product than they used to.

Yeah, I saw that too. They make a Prototipo Heritage version that seems to use a nicer leather, but still with the glued pieces on the spokes. Pelican doesn't list this model, but you can find it online.

Mark

[Cairo94507]

I ordered the 370mm Prototipo and was disappointed with the looks and feel when I received it. I sent it out to Dallas Customs and had it double wrapped in their top quality leather and stitched in black. Now it feels like I expected it too and I really like it.

[Dpmulvan]

There are a ton of counterfeit momos being sold just go to eBay and have a look.

[fanaudical]

That's very disappointing that Momo has taken that direction...

[Damon88]

Thank you for posting. I'm literally about to buy one.... Think I will hold off.. Cheers

[bickyd]

I bought a 350 mm prototipo from our host. Don't like it. Really want an old 70's one that is 370 or 380mm but its hard to pull the trigger on two to three grand US. Thanks for posting your picture. i was going to buy one of the new larger diameter wheels but not now.

[mepstein]

Originally Posted by Cairo94507

I ordered the 370mm Prototipo and was disappointed with the looks and feel when I received it. I sent it out to Dallas Customs and had it double wrapped in their top quality leather and stitched in black. Now it feels like I expected it too and I really like it.

I like it.

[Nditiz1]

Edit******** CRAP! Mine DO have the patch work. I guess I never noticed before. Oh well, can't be unseen lol. I'll just live it with. Still a better feel of a 370 in the hand than a 350, also I hate titled gauges.



I have 2 of the 370mm. One directly from Momo prior to the actual release day and then one from a Momo distributor. I have not taken the second one out of the box, but the one on my car is not like yours. I have no patch work. It was identical to my 350mm just larger.

Here was my original post:

https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/1112110-new-370mm-momo-prototipo-here.html

I would definitely send it back or ask for lots of money off to have Dallas Custom fix it.

[70SATMan]

The original Protptipo and other early MOMO wheels also had separate leather pieces around the spoke ends. They were not one piece as has been said above.

Back then they used better quality leather and the ends were skived and glued so well that the edges blended into the rim leather.

The leather used on the new wheels is crap, so thin that it’s basically impossible to skiv.

Night and day differences in the vintage MOMO to todays offerings. That’s one of the reasons excellent ‘60s-‘70s MOMO wheels are sought after and command the big dollars. Can’t speak to the newer wheel alloys. Even the older wheels are light and will flex.

Wheels that MOMO made for marques for sport wheel options are a bit beefier because they had to pass tougher regs than the aftermarket.

[pampadori]

Since 2017 the legit Momo wheels have an NFC chip behind one of the side spokes. You can take your smart phone and tap it on the backside of the spoke to confirm the NFC chip is there.

I agree that they do bend a little bit more than you'd think they would.

[Showdown]

Didn’t know about the RFID chip- thanks!

Good news is that my prototipo is legit

Bad news is that it’s still a POS