I got no idea man, the originals were from Ace, but I don't see why the knockoffs would be any worse... it's not like Ace was this awesome forged wheel company to begin with. Go with the knockoffs if you get a better deal!
To me, the color was important, and only Ace had the Hyper Black finish... there was no knockoffs of the Spades back in '2001 when I bought them.
17" is okay I guess. That's my winter setup on the GTI...

LOL.. really, it is!