Monza II replica's??

[Mark_eire]

I'm collecting my Mk5 Gti on Saturday, which some of you already know has the 18'' R32 wheels on it, I've constantly been told that as it's Tornado Red it would look much better with the Monza II's....
Thing is though, am I better forking out for original's or would the replica's look just as good?
Has anybody got any experience of these? Would you know the difference between original's and replica's if they were side by side? Which replica's are best, if any? Ebay???
Sorry for all the questions!!!! lol
Thanks

[JonnyG]

Personally I would go for original 18" Monza II's.   

I've seen your car thread, and it looks a really nice spec with good paintwork       so why spoil it with replicas ?

If you are patient you will eventually find a very good genuine set on E-bay for around £800 with good OEM tyres.  Just setup an e-mail alert for your E-bay search.   Brand new sets with tyres used to go for around £1000.  You could then sell your R32 wheels on E-bay yourself.  There was a guy on Tyresmoke selling his genuine 18" Monzas recently here -

http://www.tyresmoke.net/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/1,2,12,15,22,25,26,27,8/Number/1207454/an/0/page/0#1207454

worth contacting him perhaps to check if they're still for sale ?   They look a good deal with a nearly new set of Goodyear F1's on

Replicas may look OK, but are nearly always distinguishable by the smaller/cheaper looking centre caps, and you will always know they are replicas yourself.  If you buy new replicas you will still have to pay for a good set of tyres (Replicas usually come with a cheap tyre make or will cost a few quid to upgrade to decent tyres). 

[jimGTI-T]

I demanded that VW fitted Monza IIs to my GTi before it left the forecourt and as a result they had to fit replica's.

I havent looked closely at the original VW Monza's to compare precisely but I think mine look pretty original, any thoughts?   

Are the centre caps smaller?

I could probably discover where they came from if you're interesed? 

[joesgti]

yes but your monzas are grey ^^ also normal replicas are fine as long as you treat them first or they WILL corrode, the centers are the same size aswell so the vw centers would fit, also the only real way you could tell the dirrerence is by weight (replicas are heavier) and also serial numbers on the back, oh and make sure the replicas are good, if you buy from ebay make sure you see them first. 

[gazbutmk5gti]

Look for Italian made not Chinese made replicas, Chinese one's are made of cheese, cheese that corrodes.

[maxamus]

I have Monza II reps. Cant say i can fault them interms of looks. You'd be hard pressed to notice they are replicas. VW sell them at £375 per alloy which is £1,500 just for the alloys! Far too excessive!!!

I paid £240 for a set of 4! Thats the same price as getting your wheels refurbed! If they do corrode and get the "worms" i can simply buy a new set as they are that cheap!
Mine have the diamoind cut finish with the darker grey inserts (as per originals)

Heres some pics to judge for yourself:


















The thing is, should you pay for £800 plus for a set of alloys what would happen if you kerbed them........they would need to be refurbed and the 2-tone ones are a barsteward to do. Refurbing an alloys costs in the region of £60 plus....

Replicas may look OK, but are nearly always distinguishable by the smaller/cheaper looking centre caps

centre cap is the same size and should they be of the cheaper sort, you can buy them from the stealers at £20 for a set of 4. I'll be changing my centre caps when i next need new wheels (should have done it when i put the alloys on really but its no big deal).

These are mine: http://www.alloywheels.com/product.asp?P_ID=868&V_ID=3831&strPageHistory=search&strKeywords=5x112%20et42,5x112%20et45,5x112%20et48,5x112%20et50,5x112/57-1%20et42,5x112/57-1%20et45&numPageStartPosition=5&strSearchCriteria=any&PT_ID=all&strSort=Low&Make=Volkswagen&Model=Golf%20Mk5&strSize=18"&searchSize=18"

[Cass]

18" Monza II's are the dogs IMHO. Go for an original set if you can - the Tyresmoke set look very very good for the money, if they're still available

Cass

[stevieC]

Maxamus your copy looks closer to the original monza 2s compared to jims.