Just replaced OEm lobster claws with OEM turbo wheels.

1. are the offsets the same?, as the wheel seems more sunken in and seems to need at least a 10mm spacer...thought oem lobsters and turbo has exact same dimensions.

2. the turbo wheels must be quite abit lighter as the "feel' of the car seems different...front end seems light now...doesnt seem as planted to me...anyone else notice this?

3. perhaps Im looking at the car more critically now but it seems like the car needs to be dropped by a full cm also.

 

That's pretty odd. Depends on which turbo rims. If they are really from a turbo, they have 51 rear offsets and certainly aren't sunken in. They also make them in narrow body offsets, which are 67 I believe. The standard Classics I have are 67 rear offsets. So, which do you have?
The front turbo rims are 8.5" wide versus 8" for the stock rims. When everyone complains about understeer, the wider rim helps to reduce it. This only helps the handling. I noticed it as a pretty significant difference.
Tires. Are the tires different? Type, width, tread depth? This will make a much bigger difference than the wheels.

 

Turbo wheel from a Turbo (i.e. wide body car) or Turbo wheels made for a Carrera (narrow body car)?

 

Agreed. Just made that change and the driving improved significantly, but you have to be naive not to think that the tires are the culprit. I left the Bridgestones sitting on 18" to the traditional PS2 sitting on 305/19".

As I bought used, the offset was the widebody (C4's, turbo and targa models). It does protrude a little on the rear, but not that bad. I thought that the fron wheels were 8" thought... The 8.5 are the Carrera Classic (?) if I'm not mistaken. It's tough to find the narrow body offset.

Overall I thought it was worth it. The car looks prettier and the setup on the rear is fairly aggressive.

Just be careful, a lot of knock offs around, particularly on eBay.

 

I believe that the Turbo wheels are heavier then the Lobsters.

 

If the search feature works forum member Atomic80 weighed the Turbo wheels and if my memory is correct there were roughly 24 pounds. The Turbo wheels are actually a BBS forged wheel . The lobsters are cast .

I took the Turbo wheels off my turbo because I just didn;t care for them . I had them sitting brand new in my garage for almost two years and they were sold . I liked the weight and felt they were a great quality stock wheel but styling never grew on me . They looked somewhat Corvette ish and I really wanted competition step lip wheels on my Turbo .

 

the turbo wheels came off a wide body turbo car supposedly(I have C4S)...the offset were supposed to be 51 and 57mm...the part number seemed to correlate with factory wheels...they werent cheap like the knock offs you see on ebay...but they are used....I put old oem PS2's back on for tires...btw, my camber must be really negative as the rear tires were almost bald in inside and not on outside...have a feeling its more than -2 degrees.

Tried to post pics but 6speedonline wouldnt upload my pics.

Perhaps Im just imagining these things but the "feel" of the car definitely seems different now...the steering feels lighter to me...Im mostly surprised how the handling seems so different from wheel with same dimension but weight must be different and I'm feeling unsprung weight difference.

Just bought me set of 5mm oem spacers...should improve the look abit.

regarding ride height, I'm sure it probably was like this the whole time but I prob didnt look that close before...Ive only had the car for 2-3 months.

 

If you're located in the Portland in the state of Oregon, good to see another local 6speeder here

Tim over at 503Motoring or Jeremy at Matrix Integrated are pretty knowledgeable concerning wheels and their offsets and weights. Nice guys as well if you have any questions.

I do agree with you about the need for a "slight" drop. When I got my C4S, I knew right away the stock ride height was to high. I dropped mine 15mm and feel that it is perfect now. Again, Tim or Jeremy can do a great job.

 

Hi Joe,

who do you think put the wheels on?......I was at 503Motoring on Friday...Tim is a nice guy...how did you drop the ride height?..with coilovers or just new springs?...Im always hesitant to do just new springs as they seem to soften and loosen up with time(its was this way with BMW I used to have anyway) but when I had KW and PSS9 coilovers with previous M3's it never felt this way.

BTW, youre P40's look really nice...hmmm...maybe I should have bought those ....

 

ok, I finally figured out how to upload pics...do the rear wheels not look like they need 10-15mm of spacers???...yes I know car is filthy....oregon rain what can I do?.

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ictureid=10167


https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ictureid=10180


https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ictureid=10167

 

I'm a big fan of upgrading the stock suspension with coilovers. Damptronics if you want to preserve the PASM function. Lots of choices if you don't.
Re the offset, from the photos, I'm surprised that the stock TT wheels fit that well.
FWIW, I just swapped the lobster claw wheels on my car with GT3 wheels and (fairly worn) Cup tires purchased from a forum member. I think they look great, and the feel is enhanced. I'm sure it's a function of the tires versus the wheels, but it's a nice upgrade. I never drive the car in the rain, so I'm likely to stick with the new tire design.

 

I saw these wheels - BTW, not BBS, but FUCHS (http://www.fuchsfelge.de/index.php?id=140&L=1) - on a Targa at the dealer showroom a few days ago. That car came ordered with them and also with the 5mm (almost positive of that size as I inquired about getting a set while looking at this car) spacers. The wheels completely filled out the wheel wells and looks very nice - more spacing would not have worked. FWIW, the Tequipment catalog has a lot of information about wheel sizes and spacers appropriate for each model car.

The factory setup looked right for that Targa, which is also a wide-body. I think if you follow the Tequipment guidelines, the wheels will look good on your car too.

 

Lobster forks are much lighter than the Turbo wheels... the fronts on the lobsters are under 19.5lbs... I'm not sure on the rears, but I estimate around 21lbs...

 

Thanks for the kind words on the wheels. I couldn't decide between the P40's or the 43's but am really happy with these.

Hahaha, funny coincidence on 503Motoring.

I dropped my car with TechArt springs. Since my car has PASM, the drop was 15mm (25mm on cars without PASM) and no problems or issues at all with the PASM continuing to work perfectly. I think it's the perfect drop and even with my GT3 front, I hardly scrap at all (and even then, it's only the disposable lower lip that scrapes). Lots of threads and opinions here on coilovers and springs. For my use and needs, springs were a great choice. I have heard issues with some other brands of springs (especially H&R having issues over time) but have only heard good things about TechArt.

 

I've never heard that before. Can you provide a source? If that's actually true, then the Lobsters would be one of the lightest wheels for the 997, rivaling champions and HRE's
here's a link of some wheel weights
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...im-weight.html