I see quite a few posts for wheels, offsets and sizes here and while I understand the differences between them, I'm curious about the thinking behind people's choices and how it worked out.
For example, why would anyone get a 3-piece other than aesthetic preferences?
What are people's priorities when spending this kind of money? Aesthetics, Performance, Pimping?

Money no object, for a car that tracks 50%, streets 50% (not a cruiser) what would one do with performance (weight and strength) and aesthetics (do not really like to see or clean bolts) in mind?

Sizing- stick with 20's or go to 21's with 35's?

Do most reputable wheels allow choice of offsets to get rid of spacers?

Can wheels can be repaired - for curb rash or bending, or are they disposable?

Some wheel designs look too delicate and spindly, anyone ever have issues with the spokes for track use with high G's and striping?

As a cheap alternative, I was even considering and looking for steel wheels (like spares) for slicks, do they even exist for 991's?

Local installer in NY, NJ, CT or mail-order with rubber?

Which leads to opinions on undercarriage hydraulic lifts for light maintenance and multi-car garage storage.

Finally, What's with all the PM business with sellers? Just post prices or a link to a price list, it's hard to comparatively shop if money is a factor and know if it's such a great special deal.

I know it's a lot, Thanks for any thoughts

 

If you are tracking the car 50% of the time you are going to want two sets of wheels. One for the track that will be smaller and with track tires and one larger and with street tires. Generally track wheels will be 18's with the correct offset to clear the BBK. As far as offset, etc, just about any custom wheel company will build your wheel to your specs. Most will tell you what fits the best for performance, best for appearance and the best for a combination of the two. You tell them the car, what you will be doing and they will guide you the rest of the way. In fact t will normally be the wheel place you purchase from and not the maker of the wheels, they don't normally deal with the Consumer directly. So for example if you were to go to an HRE Dealer you would tell them how you want them to sit on the car i.e flush with the fenders, tucked in a bit, whatever you want. You would tell them how wide of a tire you want to go with and they would then be able to determine what offset you would need and if your "dream" concept can be made to accommodate all your needs. So if you went with a wider rim to hold a wider tire the offset would be different then a more narrow rim because it would have to be to get it to appear closer to the fender lip. They will also know how wide of a tire you can go with without causing any rub issues either on the fender or on the inside suspension. They will tell you if you will need to roll your lips, etc. Basically you want to go to the most knowledgable shop you can so you end up with a wheel that fits all/most of your needs and works properly.

I personally suggest trying to find a shop near you instead of dealing with an internet location unless you know exactly what you want. This way if there are any issues it makes it much easier to get them resolved.

I normally run HRE and MHT Wheels, both brands have never caused me an issue and I have had at least 25-30 sets of each. Just about any higher end (reputable) brand will know what will work on a P-Car.

 

Haven't heard of MHT before...checked out their website.

I really like the Niche Zen, and the Niche Scope is pretty cool as well.

 

Dadz
Thanks so much for the info.

My oem wheels are 20" with 245/35F and 305/30R on a widebody 2S
Yes, I would get separate track wheels, but one I can at least drive on rural roads (20 miles) to the track.

What you are saying is contrary to MY logic: that track wheels were larger to have a lower sidewall tire, flex.
Looks aside, I was going to go out 10mm at the rear and 7mm at the front with custom 20" from HRE with their P series (but almost had a heart attack when Laurent from HRE quoted me $2,300 wheel).

However it sounds like you are saying a smaller wheel, that clears brakes are best for track.
16" sounds awfully small (we are talking about 991's here?), wouldn't that mean much higher sidewalled tires?
Do you calculate the tire size to get the same overall diameter as oem wheels?

Thanks again

 

Thanks
They look nice, similar to the HRE P104s I wanted to get.
Do you have them?

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by moje911

Looks aside, I was going to go out 10mm at the rear and 7mm at the front with custom 20" from HRE with their P series (but almost had a heart attack when Laurent from HRE quoted me $2,300 wheel).

Yes, he does have a tendency of causing that reaction Jokes aside, we're assuming Laurent answered the questions you posted here, pertaining to HRE, so please let us know if there is anything else we may help you with.

HRE.

 

Via google I found some older threads that suggest downsizing to 19's with tire recommendations.

Since they're track wheels, I probably will keep the budget down to tirerack OZ's with Toyo or PSS rubber.

Thanks all

 

Not really into doing aftermarket wheels. The potential to void my warranty has scared me off from making that leap. Vic shares the same opinion I believe.

 

Widebody 2s?
Do you have a 5Oth?

A set-up I am considering is:
RE-11 in 245-40-19 / 325-30-19.

Those are the GT3 RS tire widths.

I believe it will work with near stock rear offsets, to keep the 1" wider rear tire inside the fender.

Diameters are a little less than factory 991s, but not enough to effect the spedo by more than about 1 mph at 80.

 

Smaller wheels and tires are lighter in weight, and cost less to re-tire, all things being equal. Less unsprung weight is way better - so you go as light as you can and that means smaller. Large diameter wheels are mostly a fashion statement, not a performance thing. A smaller diameter wheel also gets you closer to the ground (a little less height) so there's that, too. Lower is better for CG and air drag, both. Don't go too small, however as that starts affecting your alignment settings and toe/caster, etc. 19" is good on a 991.

The reality of it all is unless you put a full race suspension on the car, you can never take advantage of the maximum grip you can get out of a R-Compound tires (or slicks), your street suspension is just not firm enough. So the smart money says buy your stylin' wheels for the street, and a set of banged up track wheels in the smaller diameters, enough to clear the calipers. Wider tires also mean more air drag, so you want to keep them tucked in the fenders and not have them hang in' out for a 'cool' look. But pretty soon you're going down that slippery slope of converting your nice daily driver into a track car, and there's a point where its neither a really good track car and not a good street car either, so you have to decide which way you want to go.

When I first started doing track days in the mid-90's, I'd have pretty and new BBS wheels for my track set. Now days, were I do buy a track set (and I don't have them) I'd get a set of stock 19's off EBAY on someone who has a base 991 Carrera set and wants to upgrade - and even better if they have some curb rash on 'em. They're cheap and TUV approved so you know they're strong, and decently light. Stick a set of R-Comps on them and I'd be good to go.

How do you tell the track novices? Most of them run fancy wheels at the DE events, and polish them between sessions...lol.

 

around the barn , we call those riders " all hat and no cattle "

 

Looking at the wheel specs from Suncoast
http://www.suncoastparts.com/product...SCHASSISWHEELS shows the specs, particularly the offsets:
Front: 9 x 20" - 51 mm offset, 245/35 ZR 20 (91Y)
Rear: 11.5 x 20" - 48 mm offset 305/30 ZR20 (103Y) XL

So I was considering a used set of 19s from a 997 TT, or even a set from a Pana with ETs of 60f 61r, both for less than one new HRE.
I wonder if the offsets would work, considering people use 15mm spacers.

Thanks for mentioning the RE-11s, looks like a good option with a lot of sizes from tirerack. I thought about running on 245/35 and 295/35 or 305/30s, not worrying about the diameter and speedo.

 

You probably don't have 15mm of leeway on the front offsets.
I believe 45mm is as agressive as anyone goes, on the front, with a 245 tire.

For the rear, I dont know how much range a widebody has. My guess is that 35mm would be the limit.

Those 60mm Pana wheels would need really big spacers added, to get the tires back out to a desirable location in the fenders.
I would advise against the Pana wheels as you could have better luck with after market wheels.
Look into the Victor Racing Turismo.
I believe they offer the right offsets.
There are other options in that line also.

 

So here is my take, since I deal with customers every day asking similar questions.

3 Piece vs Monoblock
-The 3 piece is a great look however depending on the wheel size/color/wheel style, they might end up making the wheel look smaller than it really is. A monoblock for example, since the spoke goes the entire length of the wheel, a 20" wheel will look like an actual 20" where as sometimes you see a 20" 3 piece, look like a 19".

20" vs 21"
-Good question - Personally, if you go 21", the car should be lowered.... Overall it gives it a better look. Now if you were to go with a 21" 3 piece, it would look stunning, but we have had some people comment that a 21" Wheel is a bit big on the car. On my 991 Turbo S, i went to a 21" HRE P101, and felt as if it looked perfect. Here is a side profile of three 991's we recently did - a 991 on 21" wheels (the black car) vs a 991 on 20" (silver & grey cars) for you to have some more food for thought.

C2 on 20" HRE FF01 (stock suspension)


C2S on 20" HRE P40SC (PASM Suspension - 10mm lower than stock C2S - 20mm lower than C2)


C2 on 21" HRE P101 (TechArt Lowering Springs - 25mm Lower than Stock C2)

Please feel free to give me a call if you have any questions at all about wheels/fitments - I would love to help y'all out more