![\"bbsbb5\"](\"https:\/\/howtokauai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/bbsbb5.webp\")
<\/a><\/p>\nReplica wheels on the other hand are a different, more complicated, breed because while it\u2019s clear these wheels are modeled after existing designs, they actually don\u2019t\u00a0attempt to\u00a0represent their offerings\u00a0as any brand other than their own.<\/p>\n
Take for example the largely criticized brand XXR and their 521\u00a0wheel.\u00a0Yes perhaps a more passive enthusiast might be fooled, but for the most part anyone who knows what an authentic LM looks like isn\u2019t going to mistake an XXR for one.<\/p>\n While it\u2019s blatantly obvious that without the BBS LM the 521 wouldn\u2019t exist, side by side the two wheels are actually disgustingly\u00a0different. The spokes are similar to one another, but the XXRs appear to have a thinner profile over all and extend further into the lip. Additionally the lug holes are slightly offset from the spokes on the XXR, and the faux rivets are in completely different locations (in relation to the spokes) when compared to the assembly bolts of the BBS.<\/p>\n Likely these changes were made by XXR to avoid a trip to the court room but, to play devil\u2019s advocate; what if the designer of the 521 was genuinely inspired by the BBS LM?<\/p>\n No design today is done in a vacuum, and a few designers I have spoken to have confessed that it is very hard to produce a truly<\/em> original wheel design. I mean look at the BBS LM when compared to the CCW LM20, the name alone practically implies where CCW got the inspiration for their different, yet familiar design.<\/p>\n Consider an entirely different example below,\u00a0in the top left we have the original Speedline produced Ferrari F40 wheel while through the rest of the image we have similar wheels produced by a variety of brands.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Moving through the examples each wheel\u00a0gets further away from the original in terms of design, but it\u2019s not a stretch by any means to trace them back to the shoes of everyone\u2019s favorite poster car. Like many replica companies these wheels \u2013none of which are made by companies people identify as \u2018fake\u2019 manufacturers\u2013 come in sizing, configurations, and finishes the original Speedline wheel never did making them much more accessible and versatile. They are also sold at a significantly cheaper price than you could find a used Ferrari wheel for.<\/p>\n Where do the lines between homage, inspiration, and copy exist?<\/p>\n It seems that the brand on the center cap wildly changes people\u2019s opinion of right and wrong. XXR, Rota, Konig, or Fast yield an immediate response of fake, while seemingly blind eyes are turned towards any brand currently\u00a0accepted as \u2018real\u2019.<\/p>\n A bit of a double standard no? Why in some cases are these similarities are considered intellectual theft and in others it is simply the nature of the business?\u00a0\u00a0Pushing aside marketing, social standing and other intangible qualities the most significant dividing factor seems to be build quality. If the company in question is putting out a product that is on par, or better than the original than people view\u00a0design similarities as tolerable.<\/p>\n The thing is more affordable alternatives of popular products exist in every market, not just the wheel industry, and the exact purpose of these replica products is to appeal to customers who can\u2019t afford, or simply can\u2019t justify the cost, of the more expensive alternative. The easiest way for a manufacturer to bring down the final retail price\u00a0is to use a different manufacturing process than the real deal.<\/p>\n Arguing that the manufacturing methods\u00a0used by some of these lower priced companies is on par with that of the more prestigious brands would be silly but, it could reasonably be argued that their production methods are perhaps good enough.<\/p>\n Most people, especially those whose cars don\u2019t see Motorsports competition, would be perfectly fine on a well constructed cast wheel. A big reason that forged modular wheels are so popular today is because, as vain as it may sound, they often just look a lot better than their single piece alternatives.<\/p>\n The fact that these same wheels come with a significantly decreased risk of failure due to rigorous testing is a huge<\/strong> inarguable advantage, but assuming that replica (not counterfeit remember) brands don\u2019t do any<\/em> testing is quite the reach. At the end of the day no brand\u00a0wants to be on the hook for a liability lawsuit, especially considering how hard they are to cover up in today\u2019s internet age.<\/p>\n Despite any brands best efforts however failures are still something that can happen.<\/p>\n Several\u00a0years ago a friend of mine custom ordered a set of authentic\u00a0Work Emotion CR Kai wheels. About a year after purchase a pothole put a small dent and split<\/a> in the lip of the wheel that\u00a0prevented it from holding air. After Work informed him\u00a0that they no longer warranty or repair cast\u00a0wheels he bought a full set of Rotas for the cost of one replacement.<\/p>\n To some people this might seem like a monumental step backwards but in this individual\u2019s\u00a0case the switch made perfect financial sense and to this day the Rota wheel has survived the same roads that sidelined the Work wheel.<\/p>\n Does that make Rota wheels of higher quality than Work? Of course not but situations like this are the exact reason\u00a0why many people can\u2019t justify running \u2018real\u2019 wheels on the street.<\/p>\n This circumstance\u00a0also calls into question the notion\u00a0that all \u2018fake\u2019 wheels are running on borrowed time and guaranteed to fail.<\/p>\n The broken Rota image above is perhaps the go to for people looking to illustrate the potential horrors of replica wheels on and off the track.\u00a0The problem with this example is that it is completely out of context.<\/p>\n If we applied the same out of context argument, using of a handful of documented failures, to every company producing wheels today few would come out unscathed.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
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