Review of eBay AP2V1 Wheels
05-08-2018, 12:39 PM
#33
My original plan was to purchase the AP2V3 CR wheels but I couldn’t find them, which is what led me to the AP2V1 replicas in the first place. The V3’s are simple and cleanly designed wheels that look amazing. I will say that I am not unhappy with the look of these V2 wheels and they look better in person IMO. If I decide to run them longer than anticipated, I will probably have them finished in the CR gunmetal paint. That dark silver would look smashing with the Suzuka color of my car. All in all, I am pleased with the look of the car as it is....except for the freshly painted OEM style front lip that is currently being installed. Exterior will be done in an hour. Stoked
05-08-2018, 01:06 PM
#34
My original plan was to purchase the AP2V3 CR wheels but I couldn’t find them, which is what led me to the AP2V1 replicas in the first place. The V3’s are simple and cleanly designed wheels that look amazing. I will say that I am not unhappy with the look of these V2 wheels and they look better in person IMO. If I decide to run them longer than anticipated, I will probably have them finished in the CR gunmetal paint. That dark silver would look smashing with the Suzuka color of my car. All in all, I am pleased with the look of the car as it is....except for the freshly painted OEM style front lip that is currently being installed. Exterior will be done in an hour. Stoked
05-08-2018, 05:33 PM
#35
05-09-2018, 02:43 AM
#36
I posted another thread (Feeling At A Loss) recently regarding wheels for my 2002 S2000. To make a long story short, I purchased a set of the replica wheels from eBay, at the advice of several others, to temporarily get me through until I decide on what aftermarket wheels I want to buy, or piece together a set of CR wheels. I was initially uncomfortable with the idea of the eBay wheels but did some research that alleviated most of my concerns regarding these wheels. This thread is to provide a resource for others that may be interested in purchasing a set for themselves, or to dissuade them from doing so, if the experience proves to be unsatisfactory. I will continue to post updates regarding my experience here as I will be running these wheels through at least this season.
Firstly, yes, they are made in China. I will be the first one to state that products from China can be suspect but lets think about this for a minute. Prada, Coach, Levi's, Lenovo computers, IBM and a multitude of other brand names you use every day are produced there. Lets leave the politics out of it, shall we? The fact is, just because its made there, doesn't mean its poor quality. Then again, doesn't mean its good either! I'm just approaching this with an open mind.
The wheels were purchased on eBay here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Set-of-...=Model%3AS2000
Purchase price was $485.96 and totaled $520 with tax shipped. They have distributors around the country so you may or may not have tax, depending on what state you live in. I reside in Ohio.
The name for the eBay company selling the wheels is Tobacco Road. I did some digging after my bill was from a well known wheel refinishing / refurbishing company called, Wheels And Caps. They are easily found via Google. I decided to dig a bit more and found that Wheels and Caps is owned by a company called, Transwheel Corp. Transwheel was purchased in the 90's by LKQ Corp and has a good reputation from what I have seen in my limited digging. LKQ happens to be the country's largest nationwide provider of collision replacement parts and refurbished engines. They have operations in places such as the UK, France, Canada, Mexico and Central America. I did see notations from a source not affiliated with LKQ stating that they have numerous awards and that several automakers (didn't say which ones, but presumably American given the context and verbage of the source), endorse Transwheel for best practice standards and allow them to perform warranty work for them, including wheel replacement. It is my understanding that any parts sold by either Transwheel or LKQ, must meet all requirements in the countries they sell parts in. All wheels sold by Transwheel and affiliates must meet a host of SAE requirements and all safety standards. All of their wheels have been tested to meet or exceed SAE J2530 and SAE J175 standards. That means Technical Standards for dynamic radial and dynamic cornering fatigue, and impact testing. Transwheel employs Independent Test Services (ITS). This company test their wheels "under conditions that are more extreme than those specified by SAE International." Further, "All three of the fatigue and impact test are performed on each wheel, and at double the required rotation levels for the dynamic cornering fatigue test." If you want to research more deeply, have a go at it. The point is that they wheels cannot be death traps because they meet international safety requirements, are tested and ultimately sold by the nations largest collision parts company. That being said, they aren't necessarily great but not necessarily mediocre. Again, you make up your own mind. I have yet to make up mine.
Ordering: Ordering was easy but you must use Paypal to have the wheels shipped to any address other than the billing address on your credit card. Paypal is safer anyway. I need my wheels shipped to my folks since they are retired and home most days. From the date of order, the wheels were delivered within four days, and only due to a Sunday. The boxes arrived undamaged from the exterior and the wheels were packaged well. I have yet to check all four, but two of them appeared to be in excellent condition. I have not owned a 2004-2005 S2000 but the finish / color looks dead on the pictures of stock rims I enlarged online. The faces appear clean, no cracks, no blemishes, no unevenness. If one didn't look at the back of the wheel, I doubt anyone could tell the difference. I am posting photos below (due to being on my phone, not my laptop) for your viewing pleasure. In one of the photos there appears to be a crack. I assure you there is not. It was dust from the blanket and a Border Collie hair. The dog sheds everywhere. The rims I looked at are spotless and I will check the others later this evening, as I had a carbon fiber OEM lip from Seibon to inspect as well. So far, so good.
Firstly, yes, they are made in China. I will be the first one to state that products from China can be suspect but lets think about this for a minute. Prada, Coach, Levi's, Lenovo computers, IBM and a multitude of other brand names you use every day are produced there. Lets leave the politics out of it, shall we? The fact is, just because its made there, doesn't mean its poor quality. Then again, doesn't mean its good either! I'm just approaching this with an open mind.
The wheels were purchased on eBay here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Set-of-...=Model%3AS2000
Purchase price was $485.96 and totaled $520 with tax shipped. They have distributors around the country so you may or may not have tax, depending on what state you live in. I reside in Ohio.
The name for the eBay company selling the wheels is Tobacco Road. I did some digging after my bill was from a well known wheel refinishing / refurbishing company called, Wheels And Caps. They are easily found via Google. I decided to dig a bit more and found that Wheels and Caps is owned by a company called, Transwheel Corp. Transwheel was purchased in the 90's by LKQ Corp and has a good reputation from what I have seen in my limited digging. LKQ happens to be the country's largest nationwide provider of collision replacement parts and refurbished engines. They have operations in places such as the UK, France, Canada, Mexico and Central America. I did see notations from a source not affiliated with LKQ stating that they have numerous awards and that several automakers (didn't say which ones, but presumably American given the context and verbage of the source), endorse Transwheel for best practice standards and allow them to perform warranty work for them, including wheel replacement. It is my understanding that any parts sold by either Transwheel or LKQ, must meet all requirements in the countries they sell parts in. All wheels sold by Transwheel and affiliates must meet a host of SAE requirements and all safety standards. All of their wheels have been tested to meet or exceed SAE J2530 and SAE J175 standards. That means Technical Standards for dynamic radial and dynamic cornering fatigue, and impact testing. Transwheel employs Independent Test Services (ITS). This company test their wheels "under conditions that are more extreme than those specified by SAE International." Further, "All three of the fatigue and impact test are performed on each wheel, and at double the required rotation levels for the dynamic cornering fatigue test." If you want to research more deeply, have a go at it. The point is that they wheels cannot be death traps because they meet international safety requirements, are tested and ultimately sold by the nations largest collision parts company. That being said, they aren't necessarily great but not necessarily mediocre. Again, you make up your own mind. I have yet to make up mine.
Ordering: Ordering was easy but you must use Paypal to have the wheels shipped to any address other than the billing address on your credit card. Paypal is safer anyway. I need my wheels shipped to my folks since they are retired and home most days. From the date of order, the wheels were delivered within four days, and only due to a Sunday. The boxes arrived undamaged from the exterior and the wheels were packaged well. I have yet to check all four, but two of them appeared to be in excellent condition. I have not owned a 2004-2005 S2000 but the finish / color looks dead on the pictures of stock rims I enlarged online. The faces appear clean, no cracks, no blemishes, no unevenness. If one didn't look at the back of the wheel, I doubt anyone could tell the difference. I am posting photos below (due to being on my phone, not my laptop) for your viewing pleasure. In one of the photos there appears to be a crack. I assure you there is not. It was dust from the blanket and a Border Collie hair. The dog sheds everywhere. The rims I looked at are spotless and I will check the others later this evening, as I had a carbon fiber OEM lip from Seibon to inspect as well. So far, so good.
05-09-2018, 03:19 AM
#37
We all get seduced by bling now and again. It happens to the best of us. I have to fight the urge to do stuff to my car every day. What's wrong with the OEM 16" wheels? Zero. If anything, they are superior. I had people here gently nudging me away from messing around with wheels and tires. With one exception, (BBS JDM 16" wheels), I wish I had listened. I would have saved a lot of money. But, its one of those things that the average guy can do easily, so we all get sucked in. Then we start writing long forum posts out of a deep seated need to justify our purchases. We say what a good deal we got, and how the car performs better now with the new bling. Not being critical, I've done the same thing many times. I've been wondering if maybe its something baked into our genes. 
BTW - I do like the look of the black lugs. Maybe I should order some of those babies. Oh, yea. Actually, I did order some the other day! Bling.
BTW - I do like the look of the black lugs. Maybe I should order some of those babies.
Oh, yea. Actually, I did order some the other day! Bling.
Last edited by rpg51; 05-09-2018 at 08:49 AM.
05-09-2018, 02:01 PM
#38
Your reasoning is fundamentally flawed, as has already been pointed out. Wheels are a safety item on a car and i wouldn't be willing to put my life (and that of others on the road) at risk for saving a few bucks. If the wheels do not have VIA markings on them to indicate they have been independently tested to exceed JWL standards for this specific application, it is simply not worth the risk.
i tried to put together an unbiased review of the wheels I purchased and provided the information I found prior to purchase. I too was skeptical and still reserve final judgment regarding how they hold up over time. However, multiple people here have been running them for more than 5 years without issue. Where are the horror stories? There aren’t any. I leave it to the reader to decide for themselves. I have zero skin in this game. I only provided the information needed to make an informed decision and I think I did a pretty decent job of it and gave the readers a place to confirm what was included. According to LKQ / Transwheel, the production process is the same, the testing is provided and the wheels even weigh the same. Why not require them to be TUV rated instead?
We all get seduced by bling now and again. It happens to the best of us. I have to fight the urge to do stuff to my car every day. What's wrong with the OEM 16" wheels? Zero. If anything, they are superior. I had people here gently nudging me away from messing around with wheels and tires. With one exception, (BBS JDM 16" wheels), I wish I had listened. I would have saved a lot of money. But, its one of those things that the average guy can do easily, so we all get sucked in. Then we start writing long forum posts out of a deep seated need to justify our purchases. We say what a good deal we got, and how the car performs better now with the new bling. Not being critical, I've done the same thing many times. I've been wondering if maybe its something baked into our genes.
—————
Time to go get in my death trap and go for a ride.
Last edited by Brady936; 05-09-2018 at 02:13 PM.
The following 2 users liked this post by Brady936:
99MCoupe (04-02-2019),
kschoenefeld (05-09-2018)
05-09-2018, 02:53 PM
#39
05-09-2018, 03:12 PM
#40
We all get seduced by bling now and again. It happens to the best of us. I have to fight the urge to do stuff to my car every day. What's wrong with the OEM 16" wheels? Zero. If anything, they are superior. I had people here gently nudging me away from messing around with wheels and tires. With one exception, (BBS JDM 16" wheels), I wish I had listened. I would have saved a lot of money. But, its one of those things that the average guy can do easily, so we all get sucked in. Then we start writing long forum posts out of a deep seated need to justify our purchases. We say what a good deal we got, and how the car performs better now with the new bling. Not being critical, I've done the same thing many times. I've been wondering if maybe its something baked into our genes.
BTW - I do like the look of the black lugs. Maybe I should order some of those babies. Oh, yea. Actually, I did order some the other day! Bling.
BTW - I do like the look of the black lugs. Maybe I should order some of those babies.
Oh, yea. Actually, I did order some the other day! Bling.OP is providing his experience to the community & containing it to his own thread.
BRB posting in every thread that everyone needs to buy 17x9 Advans or else they're just lighting their money on fire /sarcasm