Fuchs copies

[DohertyCM]

What is the big deal with Fuchs copies...like the ones in Performance products catalog or Pelican or any other catalog....

What is the down fall?

Are we talking a flaw issue or are we talking a purist concours thing...

If they are the same look then who cares and why?


Some of the knock offs look really nice.....

[DohertyCM]

And quite frankly I would not mind replacing my ratty originals with the new knock offs....

What does it cost to get the originals redone anyway?

[A Quiet Boom]

Well the main drawback is that the factory wheels are forged and known for strength while the copies are usually cast. I had a set of cast copies on my car when I got it, they were fine for the street IMO but I wouldn't trust them at the track. Seems legit to have high quality copies for the street and use your factory wheels for track duty.

[Wil Ferch]

that's the point...and it's been posted a number of times.

It's OK to make a cast knock-off ( inherently weaker) of a forged original ( inherently stronger)..as long as the design gets altered ( made fatter) somewhere along the line. The knock-offs aren't made fatter anywhere therefore they're weaker and can break. Look at pics in Bruce Anderson's performance book and see rims completely removed....torn off... from the spokes !

- Wil

[A Quiet Boom]

Wil, for what it's worth the cast copies I had where thicker, like 1.5 times thicker in the spokes. I never did determine the manufacturer before I sold them.

Which brings up another point. A properly made cast wheel will be thicker and therefore heavier. No a big deal on a street car but it will affect handling and braking.

[pjv911]

They look different and are easy to spot. When I see a picture of a car with fakes I can tell immediately that they are not the real deal. I personally dont like their look and have never used a set of fakies on any of the past and present 40+ 911/912 cars I own/owned. They are not anodized , the spokes have squared edges, the triagle holes are lower and bigger. And the black finish between the spokes is usually crinkle/rough finish with more pronounced gloss. Not smooth and semi flat.
The only thing I would use them for is for a special size (16x9 comes to mind) when polishing and refinishing is in store. Or any size for a rolling chassis im selling. aside from that I wouldnt go near them. They just look ugly by comparison.

Kurt Williams

[Wil Ferch]

If thicker...then the design compensates for the diminished strength..then it's OK..but heavier.

Agreed.....

However, some knock-offs ( brands) apparently were not made thicker...

Wil

[ianc]

What does it cost to get the originals redone anyway?

It depends on how bad they are. I paid $800 to have my 7's & 8's refinished by Harvey Weidman. They were a hideous mess with curb rash, gouges, etc.

For that price, he dismounted the tires and remounted them, welded up the curb rash and turned them down on a lathe, reanodized them, and did a beautuful job repainting the centers and caps black.

For $800, they look like a million!

ianc

[Gordo2]

Who sells 16 x 9 replica's? I've seen them sold on the parts board but haven't found any wheel dealers who sells them new. Am I missing something?

I too have asked the same question with consistent replies:

-Not quite the same look/design - understandably undesirable.

-Cast vs. forged - cast = heavier & weaker. Of note, some counter this by the fact that unless you are buying new Fuchs you don't really know how strong old Fuchs are (stress cracks etc.). Weight and strength are primarily a concern if you are racing... Most concur cast should be fine for street driving.

-Original Fuchs add value to the car; for knowledgable buyers, not the same for repros.

Good luck,

Gordo

[DohertyCM]

Thanks guys....

Appreciate the education...

Chris

[Sweeny Todd]

The issue isn't real or replica unless you're a purist. It's Forged or Cast.

Most wheels are low-pressure cast. A smaller number of typically very expense wheels are forged. Forge wheel manufacturers beside Fuchs are HRE, SSR, Speedline, Fikse, and a bunch more.

Forged wheels are stronger or lighter. OK, what does he mean by that? Take a Porsche five star wheel for example. If I build it using a casting then it's probably about the same weight as the original but not as strong.

But, I'm not constrained to making the wheel in that particular form. If I take a bunch of metal away from the design - make the spokes thinner and more open for instance, then the forged version is still the same strength as the cast wheel, but much lighter.

Lightness is speed. Particularly, the less unsprung weight you have on a car the better it rides and handles. Also, the less rotating mass you have on a car the better it accelerates and brakes.

Remember that removing a lb from your flywheel is like taking 40 lbs out of the car - or something like that. Same deal with the wheel. It has to do with inertia. Rotating mass is different from static mass.

Sorry if that's rambling, but the net effect is that forged versus cast is a performance thing not a bling thing. Spinners are the death of performance and ride.

H

[tonypeoni]

These are fakes and I cant tell them form the real thing all though I am no expert on Fuchs.

[JeremyD]

Like fake boobies - they can be hard to spot - and the good ones usually cost more - but you can tell...