- Get loose.
- Is that loose enough? - You're ready.
- I'm ready. - It's ready.
- I'm ready.
All right, we're done.
Cool, good video.
- [Man] The first video.
- First video?
Don't you have Gran Turismo to play?
Get out, go home.
All right, now I think we're actually ready.
You're doing great by the way.
What's up everyone?
I'm Sam,
you probably have no idea who I am.
So who in the world is this handsome devil sitting
in front of you?
Well, let me hit you with some info.
I'm the kind of guy who believes pineapple belongs on pizza,
JDM cars are the bestest cars
and RV's sound better than Jay-Z's.
Also drift cars should look like show cars
and Wiener dogs are the best dogs.
You also don't need a crazy shop
and lift to work on your car.
Also, any car style can be sick as long
as it's executed well and truly expressive
of what the owner is going for.
I'm also kind of opinionated to be honest.
So you'll absolutely hear my thoughts
and I'm gonna tell you how it is.
If your hooptie is clapped, I'm gonna say it.
And that's about the 10 second summary of me.
Before we get started today,
be sure to swing over to fitmentindustries.com
for any of your wheels, tires, or suspension needs.
And if you aren't sure what you'd like,
we even have the largest gallery ever
to find the perfect fitment and setup for your car.
The concept of this series is to tell y'all
if something is worth it or not.
It's that simple.
And also I've been around the block a time or two,
so I know a thing or two about a thing or two,
if that makes any sense.
So today we're talking about rep wheels.
Yeah, first video here
and they gave me a spicy one start with.
So let's define what a rep wheel is to start with.
So rep is short for replica, which is,
I know, some big brain stuff we're starting
over here, right?
Anyways, rep wheels are replicas of other wheels
for usually sought after iconic designs,
either currently in production or out of production.
A rep wheel will usually try to look almost identical
to the real one.
There are a few tiny tweaks here and there,
usually though that's because of the manufacturing process
of the rep wheel being different than the original wheel.
An example of that could be something
like a cast wheel versus a forged wheel
or a single piece wheel versus a multi piece wheel.
We'll get into that a little bit more later.
I gotta come clean though.
I definitely have a set of wheels that look a whole lot
like SSR Viennas, but definitely don't say SSR on them.
You've heard to hear folks, I've got a set of reps.
So if you feel like I'm dogging anything here,
I'm dogging myself.
Before we keep moving, I've gotta say this
because I've seen y'all on Facebook groups,
Reddit, and TikTok, calling wheels reps
just because you haven't heard of them
and they aren't some crazy OG JDM AF wheel.
There are new wheel companies
coming out with original designs.
It's crazy, right?
Like new companies doing new stuff,
those aren't reps
just because you haven't heard of them though.
They're new wheels, new companies doing new stuff
and our iPad just shut down.
So now you've got a little bit learned,
so let's keep on going through this.
So some of the OG brands that are never ever considered reps
according to the Internet are along the lines
of Work, Volk, and BBS.
However, brands,
even the big OG brands I mentioned can be inspired
by other wheels and take some liberties of their own.
For example, the new Volk 21A that was recently announced
has some design similarities to BBS,
pointed out by all of you on the Internet.
I think that new Volk wheel is an absolute killer wheel
and would love to have a set in my R32 Skyline,
but there are similarities that can be seen in that wheel
and something similar to the BBS LM in my opinion,
and also yours from what I've seen online as well.
So if you still aren't following what a rep is,
let's go through a quick example.
The world frickin' loves Pokemon cards right now
and I'm pretty sure this is gonna be the new currency
and I'll be buying lunch
for like a Squirtle card or something soon.
The world also loves to flame people
for opening up fake packs of Pokemon cards,
especially anyone trying to make them appear
as if they're real cards.
It's super cool to have the real Pokemon cards
and super not cool to have the fakes, reps.
Do you kind of see where I'm going here?
But it ain't all about looking cool.
There's some real science and craftsmanship that goes
into making wheels.
Ask me how I know.
We have Anovia.
It's crazy how involved making quality wheels is.
Gels is amazing, he literally designs 'em
like right over there and sits right over there doing that.
So the Volk TE37 didn't
become one of the most popular wheels ever
just because it looked cool.
The TE37 stands for touring evolution, 3.7 kilograms.
Now 3.7 kilograms is about eight pounds of freedom units.
That's super light even with the 15 inch diameter
it was introduced in to go racing,
which was the purpose that wheel was designed for.
There's a lot of R&D that goes
into wheels like the T37
to make them as light and especially durable as they are,
so they can be used on the track
and on the street with confidence.
I track my car personally and I feel much more relaxed
when I drop one of my Volks, Advans, or Works,
off the track compared to those SSR Viennas,
the reps I mentioned before.
That's because of the quality and the durability that brands
with Volk, Advan, and work printed on them
are known for due to the R&D involved
in the creation of those wheels.
Side note, I also just can't wait to run Anovias this year.
They're made to bend, not crack,
by the way, if you haven't heard that.
We've proven this with some of our ambassadors
and I can't wait to give you a firsthand review
later this year.
Speaking of cracks, the quality control
on rep wheels is typically lacking compared
to the real wheels they're designed to look like.
At first glance, you'll notice the finish isn't as baller
as the real wheels.
You might be getting PVD instead
of real chrome that you get on a real wheel.
The paint on that rep also might be a little wavy
and not as deep or durable as you'll see on the real wheel,
and it might crack or flake off a little bit easier.
Beauty is deeper than the skin deep though,
and under that PVD or thin paint is
going to be a whole different set of materials
and manufacturing processes used to make that wheel.
This can get very, very different
from what the real wheel has done
through the manufacturing process.
You might be getting a cast wheel
more porous than Spongebob Squarepants from Bikini Bottom.
That means you have pockets of air that
will make the wheel weak and much, much easier
to crack or even explode.
Seriously, I've seen it.
It's hilarious to watch someone's wheel explode
at the track.
Not cool to be that guy, but it's really funny to watch it.
With that rep you also might
be getting a monoblock cast wheel
with fake hardware on it
to make it look like that multi-piece wheel design
of the real wheel.
That hardware is probably glued on,
bolt heads aren't quite the same
as the real deal on the processes used
to make multi-piece wheels you all know and love.
So what happens when you're ready to move on
and get a different set of wheels?
I'm an enthusiast, I buy and sell wheels like crazy.
I'm selling 'em and trying to get different ones.
Anyways, when you sell those wheels,
you're going to post those reps up for sale
and I guarantee you that you'll get a fraction
of the price you paid to buy those wheels.
Reps just don't hold their value
for the same reasons I outlined above.
Real wheels will hold their value
and sometimes even appreciate in value.
The Blitz 03 is an extreme example
and we've seen prices on those wheels skyrocket lately.
However, I was gonna tell you guys the Blitz O3 is cool...
Top, top secret here,
the Blitz 01 is my favorite Blitz wheel, by the way.
It looks so good and period correct on the proper build.
Blitz O1 is the way to go,
Blitz O3, old news, fight me.
So are rep wheels worth it?
That's what we came here to answer
and why you clicked on this video to watch it.
If you're on a budget and funds are an issue,
I totally get it,
and that does limit your options out there.
And frankly,
if you just don't care about the original design,
I can get that too.
Sometimes the real wheel is out of production
and it's a tough wheel to find.
To each their own, and I get it,
but if you can spend an extra couple of bucks,
there are a ton of non-rep options out there for you
with all the benefits I talked about before,
quality, durability, reliability, and of course,
some better street cred comes with it.
A lot of the major brands out there have a lineup
of wheels falling into all sorts of budget categories.
A few hundred dollars might seem like a lot,
but trust me, just save up those pennies,
put 'em in your piggybank a little bit.
It's worth it.
That will get you into the game
and then you won't regret it.
This was kind of a controversial topic,
and especially for our first video for me on the channel,
but that's what I want us to do and go through together.
I truly appreciate you guys watching this
and this was my first video on the channel.
I never thought I'd get to do this for a job
and I can't wait to see where the series goes.
Don't forget to swing by fitmentindustries.com
to check out all the wheels, tires,
and suspension we have in stock and ready to ship
to you right now.
Peace out, guys, I'm Sam.