Alloys made in China.

[Hurdy]

This is a heads up for all those thinking about buying alloys for your shiny MKV's.

Went down to my local (and respected) alloy dealer yesterday. He mentioned that he only bought alloys made in Germany and Italy and that....in his words

"Chinese made alloys will buckle at the first contact with a plasticine bump!"

He then added that he has stopped re-stocking ZO alloys as they are now made in China and finished off in Europe

Aftermarket VW and Audi Replica's are sometimes made in China too, so check before committing.

My first choice was going to be ZO Ultraleggera's...but not now

Looks like I'll be going for some Schmidt alloys at the mo@

ZO= anagram!!

[The Wheel Man]

The is true in most cases.  the only problme in European wheels is that unless they are Forged they can be prety heavy (this is to get the strengh to pass the TUV) and cost a fortune.  I have come across some god awfull wheels in my time from China and this was reflected in the price (£30 for a 18x7.5  ) but in the same light there are some good ones out there particulary from Taiwan where the quality and production methods are about 10 years ahead.

The move to China for OZ (ZO) was probably to be able to compete with the competition, i would be surprised if the quality has taken a big step down (although i cant be sure) so i am surprised that people are not replacing stock.   

[lsc]

I agree Hurdy, I had a set of Toora 18" five spoke alloys on a previous car, beautiful wheels, but I suspect the alloy used was quite soft as at least one of the wheels ended up buckled causing juddering and vibrations at motorway speeds, they were made in Italy as well. I am also suspicious of those stunning Black R8 copies I've posted a few times as 'Audi Prestige' do not exist, at least on Google anyway, they are probably made in China where nobody seems too concerned about copy write laws. The old saying, you get what you pay for is generally very true.

[Teutonic_Tamer]

Humm, the wheels on the original RS6 were german, and they buckled!

Just need to remember that the wider they go, the more prone to buckling they will be.

Tyres will have an effect too.  Tyres with hard or stiff sidewalls will absorb less, and transmit more force directly to the rim.