OEM RSTT's and Replica's

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vernS3

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Sorry if this is a really silly question, I was just curious to know if there are any noticable differences between the two? Obviously the better the replica the harder it should be to know.

Cheers

Vern.
 
Depends on what you want really. The original RS4 rims had the little ridge around the apeture fade out half way up the spoke. Most reps stay true to this design. I have s-line reps. These are the same as the rims fitted to the s-line TTs and S3s. They have the ridge running all the way around the apeture.

Chris.
 
As chris says, the genuine RSTT's have the ridge running all the way down the spoke and the RS4 replicas only near the top.

Also some replicas have chrome centre caps. My reps came with the better centre caps (i.e matching colour to the wheel) but I think I was lucky!

If you do get the chrome caps, you can purchase new ones from audi and fit them to the reps (with slight easy modification)

Do a search and you will find loads of comparisons / pics etc.

Rich.
 
Also some reps (probably all) aren't "dished" as much as the originals, but definately worth changing the centre caps, here's a before & after on the ones from Rochford, it transforms the wheel having original caps:
RSTTWheelCentreCaps.jpg
 
Wow! thanks for the quick responce!

The information will come in handy when I get round to upgrading my standard wheels.

Cheers

Vern
 
You have to cut away some of the plastic fins on the back of the centre cap. It's totally over-engineered (even by Audi's standards) so you can see why they cost £18 a pop.
 
I took lots of photos while modifying my new oem centre caps to fit, so if anyone wants them, drop me an email to garth.fred@btopenworld.com and I'll send you them
 
The problem with comparing OEM against replicas is that you are comparing one OEM wheel against countless replicas. As you see above some replicas have differences.

The RSTT (i.e. not RS4 replicas but replicas of OEM 9 spoke TT "RS Style" wheels) wheels I had on my TT were fitted with OEM centres that fitted perfectly without alteration. The wheels even side by side with OEM couldn't be told apart.

The give away, apart from the lack of part number under the centre cap was that the paint on the back (i.e. inside) wasn't as good as on OEM.

It seems there are so many different replicas out there now, that passing advice on "replicas" is simply down to to what you personaly have had. Mine were Italian. Many are now not but are stamped Made in Italy.

Ultimately the biggest difference between OEM and replicas is that with OEM you know what you're getting and with replicas its virtually impossible to......but they are much much cheaper.
 
I heard this said before. How do they weigh more ? Same design and size, all type approved to a minimum strenghth. There are probably different grades of ally , but significant differences in weight ? I wouldn't have thought so. 18" reps I had on mine were made by Route Company, or MIM / tecnomagnesio as they are otherwise known. They have "NOT OEM" letter punched into the back of one spoke. Side by side with the genuine wheels, couldn't tell them apart. Assuming Ruote make the OEM wheels then.

Chris.
 
That's the ones I had!

The wheels I have on my S4 are RS6 replicas and they are about 1.5lb lighter per wheel than the OEM ones. As I said each replica is different.
 
audi upgrades
No Ronal make all Audi wheels as far as I know.
With the weight issue someone did some comparisons on here a while back comparing like for like and it did confirm that reps tend to be heavier as they use lower grade alloy which has more of the heavier stuff in it (whatever constitutes the make up of the alloy used in a wheel), but this does make them stronger. Genuine RS4 wheels had to be recalled as they were so soft they were buckling.
It wasn't a huge amount about 20%, but you have to compare apples with apples i.e. a genuine OEM RSTT 18" with a rep 18" etc.
Most people are upgrading from a 16" to 18" so the wheel is bigger, so will be slightly heavier anyway, assuming 2 inches of wheel weighs more than 2 inches of tyre.
 
Ronal makes the wheels but I've been told they out source some of the production and that's where Ruote come in to it.

Regards weight - as I said it depends on the individual replica hence my comment about it being really difficult to compare.

I agree if people are changing sizes then there can be a bigger chance of weight issues.
 
Every time I do a search for Ronal it says they are an american manufacturer. This right ?

Chris.
 
What size are the rims generally? 8 inch? And what tyres then go on them. Do you try and maintain the normal circumference of the original tyre.

Excuse me if these are dumb questions, I have never done anything like this before, but love the look of the RS4s.

Also seen some threads on Spacers. would you need any or not for an S3, currently with standard avus alloys.

Thanks for the help guys.
 
225/40/18's retain the rolling wheel radius (about 1% bigger, which makes the speedo slightly more accurate.
Spacers aren't needed as long as you get the correct offset to fill the wider arches on an S3.
 
I've noticed that most reps are ET35, whereas mine are ET33 and 8.5x18.
IMO the rears need to be spaced out, but the fronts look ok. Got spacers made to do mine but bought 19" MTM reps instead. Waiting for them to come and may try the spacers to see how it looks. New ones are only 8" wide though, so may need spacers, but run 235 width ,so I'll have to watch the arches as its lowered too.

Chris.
 
I have just ordered a set from Rochford... 182 225/40's. ET35 wtih cross driling both ET100 & 112 - so they will fit both the A4 & A3's.

They have just gone down by £50 too - bonus! I ordered mine with F1's - so should be good.

Will post some pics of how it looks when done - I expect them on Thursday - I will take centre cap pics too - see if they need replacing with OEM

Cheers,
Leon
 
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