Let’s face it, replicas often get a bad rap—and for good reason.
How to spot a bad-quality replica? There are several finer details and nuances to spot when looking for an LMGT style replica for your GTR.
Let’s dive right in 👇
1. Material Matters: Forging VS flow-forming
Always ask if the wheels are flow-formed or forged! Many replica wheels are manufactured using flow-formed technology. This is just a fancy name for a cast wheel.
Flow-forming involves stretching and compressing a cast aluminum barrel to reduce weight and improve strength compared to basic casting. BUT! Flow-forming still relies on a cast base, and guess what? It’s still cast aluminum at heart—weak, porous, and just waiting for a pothole to ruin your day.
We forge our wheels from 6061-T6 aluminum. Forging involves taking a solid block of aluminum and squeezing it under immense pressure until it’s denser, stronger, and ready to handle anything you throw at it.
This process results in rims with better durability and performance, especially under heavy stress or high speeds. You know, the speeds you like :)
Forged rims provide higher strength, and better resistance to damage, and are typically lighter, making them a better choice for high-performance vehicles like the GTR
2. Weight: Lighter Is Better
Our most popular 3-piece size 18x10 weighs 10,5 kg with titanium bolts. (with stainless steel bolts - extra 250 grams are added)
Original LMGTs also weigh 10,5 kg
Most of our competitors rims weigh around 12,5 to 13,3 kg. That's
We are obsessed with keeping our wheels as light as, or lighter than, the originals. The less weight your wheels have, the faster and smoother your car goes.
Why it matters?
Because wheels generate rotational mass - it’s kind of their job. Reducing rotational mass is a cornerstone of high-performance engineering. Lighter wheels improve a vehicle’s acceleration, braking, and handling while enhancing fuel efficiency. Here’s how:
- Acceleration: Less rotational mass means the engine exerts less effort to spin the wheels, resulting in quicker response times.
- Braking: Lightweight wheels reduce the inertia that brakes need to overcome, shortening stopping distances.
- Handling: Reducing unsprung weight allows the suspension to respond more precisely, improving road feel and cornering ability.
- Efficiency: Lighter wheels demand less energy from the engine, which can translate to better fuel economy.
Our forged wheels are engineered to be significantly lighter than cast replicas.
By using advanced Finite Element Analysis (FEA), we optimize the balance between strength and weight, ensuring every gram serves a purpose.
3. Inner wheel clearence: 380mm R35 GTR brakes? No Problem with our LMGT style rims.
One significant difference between Icon's Re-Imagined wheels and many replicas is the attention to inner wheel space.
GTR enthusiasts often face challenges when fitting larger brake kits with aftermarket wheels or competitor replicas. Our LMGT1 Style wheels address this by being engineered to provide more than enough inner space.
Icons ReImagined 3-piece wheel over 3D scanned R35 GTR 380 mm brakes
Our LMGT1 Style wheels are designed to fit even the hefty Brembo 380mm brake kit from the Nissan R35 GT-R.
Unlike many competitors who rely on off-the-shelf designs, our wheels deliver the clearance needed for big brake kits without compromising aesthetics or structural integrity.
Upgrade your brakes without worrying about clearance. Your car’s stopping power will thank you.
4. Respecting Original LMGT design intent
In the world of wheel making, precision isn’t optional—it’s mandatory. It’s a concept many comptetitors simply do not understand 🙂
Things like concave, nr of bolts, hub area design, spokes profile, outeredge thickness and design play a crucial role on how your LMGT will look. Theese are the finer details you should check.
For example. this competitor wheel below has several flaws.
1. Hub area design: Wheel bolt holes should not reach the flat surface of the spoke
2. Random distance between wheelface bolt holes
3. Outer edge of the wheelface is twice as thick as the original LMGT design adding unnencecary weight to the wheel
No name brand competitor
Our wheels are carefully engineered so that the bolt holes never reach the flat spoke surface. We also maintain the original LMGT bolt spacing to avoid the random layouts seen on competitor replicas.
We also made sure to respect the original thickness at the rim’s edge to keep outer profile sleek and lightweight—delivering the classic LMGT look without the unnecessary bulk.
Icons ReImagined wheels are engineered to look exactly like the Original LMGTs
Some areas of the wheel require 0.1mm accuracy, and others demand even tighter tolerances. For example, the tolerance between the wheel face and barrel must be perfect (between 0.1-0.3mm) ; otherwise, you’re left with a wobbly mess.
And don’t get us started on center caps!
Original LMGT caps were made of plastic. Ideally, center caps should be made from the same alloy as the wheels. There are many benefits of using aluminum center caps.
- Durability: Aluminum resists impacts, scratches, and weather better than plastic.
- Heat Resistance: No warping or melting under high braking temps.
- Premium Look: Polished and customizable for that perfect finish.
- Longevity: Built to last, no fading or cracking over time.
Aluminum is resistant to corrosion, especially when treated or anodized (all our center caps are), ensuring the center cap remains in good condition.
But here’s the thing with aluminum center caps - these bad boys WILL NOT tolerate even the slightest play. They need to be very-very-very precise and this is where our competitors often get it wrong. If it doesn’t click together like a Swiss watch, it’s not leaving our shop.
Our center caps fit like a tight glove
4. The LMGT1 concave profile.
Many replica producers butcher it by using off-the-shelf barrels with improper offsets.
This happens when you are limited to fixed lip size, or they choose a bigger lip width. LMGT1's original design favours narrow lip, especially on 9, 9.5, and 10 wheel sets. This forces them to flatten the concave face, turning a masterpiece into a piece of shit.
On the picture below you can also see that the bolts are "drowned" into the wheelface due to the thickness of the outer edge
At Icons ReImagined, we produce custom lips for 3-piece wheels and custom barrels for 2-piece. This is how we can produce precise offsets without butchering the wheelface design and weight of the original LMGT1.
The result? A wheel that looks like it rolled straight out of the 1990s but performs like it belongs in 2025.
5. Warranty: Because We Stand by Our re-imagined LMGT's
Always look, if the producer offers a warranty! We do!
- Structural Warranty: 5 years. If it breaks under normal use, it’s on us.
- Paint Warranty: 18 months. Your wheels should look as good as they perform.
Why Icons Re-Imagined?
Customization options: put your own LMGT Style rims together Why settle for off-the-shelf when you can have something tailor-made?
We offer:
- Different sizes - 18", 19" 20" bot 2-iece and 3-piece construction
- Different widths from 9" to 12 " inch
- Colors: Standard, black, or gold finishes for your bolts—because details matter.
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Bolts: Stainless steel (SS316) as standard or Titanium Grade 5 (Ti-6Al-4V) bolts as a high quality lightweight option.
Read more about titanium bolts
We take inspiration from the original designs of the 1990s, like those by Rays Engineering.
Our goal is not simply to recreate but to honor these designs, blending authenticity with modern performance standards. We made those wheels for our GTRs.