Any opinions on these wheels for my 997S?? I want a strong but light wheel. I know HRE's are great.. I have owned 2 sets of 540R's, however, I happened to stop by the dealer and they had the CM wheels on display and they seemed very light weight. Considering they are so light, are they as strong as the HRE's?

 

Seem stronger

 

If you want light weight go for the CM for sure, much lighter than the HRE's. HRE's are pure looks, not that strong, not that light.
Evan

 

For strong and lightweight... you may also want to consider a set of Kinesis or Fikse wheels.

 

The Kinesis F110 is a good lightweight alternative, or HRE's new Comp series is pretty light also.

 

Does anybody know the weight of the standard 19" Carrera S wheel?? I was told by HRE their 540R series wheels (19") are about 25 lbs. Thanks for the input guys..

 

I always thought HREs are one of the strongest and lightest.

Really??? For pure looks???

I thought their forged steel was superman strong.

 

Look at what most race and track prepped cars are using... My observations show mostly BBS, Fikse, and Kinesis (especialy at the club level). HRE does have the new competition line, but I have yet to see any and its unknown/unproven at this time. The standard HRE's are forged and should be pretty strong, but they are not known for their lightness.

FWIW... My Kinesis K28's were lighter than the hollow spoke Technology wheels I had on my 99 C2.

 

after speaking with CM and other wheel manuf I was told that single piece wheels are superior in strength and weight when compared to multi-piece wheels. Multi piece wheels have several bolts to hold them together which add weight and most of their centers are cast and not forged which add to the weight of the wheel. In addition, accuracy of roundness/alignment (front to back of wheel) is much harder to obtain when bolting together 3 pieces of metal. Kinesis F110 and CM RS98 are single piece 100% forged wheels that weigh only 18 lbs (19x11) whereas the HRE 540R weighs in at a hefty 25 lbs. That's 21 lbs if unsprung weight per wheel and times that by 4 equals 84 lbs!! That's almost two 45 lb plates at the gym. My only question is why do they use multi piece wheels in racing where weight is a huge factor? offset and repair flexibility? Ah.. forgot they use magnesium centers and titanium bolts which contributes to light weight and flexibility. I don't want to knock HRE because I have owned two sets of 540R's and I love them, but now I have become weight-conscience and considering other options. Your continued opinions/inputs are appreciatd. Happy New Year fellow 6speeders!!

 

Single piece wheels are superior in strength and lightness to 3 piece wheels? Most 3 piece wheels have cast centers??? Sounds backwards... you may want to verify that info.

Cast v. forged... they both have their strengths and weaknesses. Generaly speaking, the forged wheels are lighter than the cast wheels. Now a single piece forged wheel, like the Kinesis F110, probably offers the best of both worlds.

 

Here are some links that may help...

Cast v Forged 1

Cast v Forged 2

and one more...
HRE wheel opinions, experience with durability/bending

 

Sloth, what sounds backwords? Maybe that some people say the HRE centers are forged and some say they are cast..... frankly, I personally don't know. Kinesis claims their centers are forged. Can someone educate me please? As I stated, one peice forged wheels are lighter and somewhat stronger.

 

This is the part I was saying sounded backwards. My apologies as I think I miss read your post. Were you talking about one piece forged vs. three piece forged? If so, I agree with your statement. For some reason I was thinking one piece cast wheel vs three piece forged... though I am still lost on the 21lbs per wheel part.

From my understanding all Kinesis and Fikse wheels use forged centers. I am pretty sure that all the HRE centers are forged too (somebody please correct if I am wrong). The better three piece wheels from BBS and OZ are forged, though they also offer some with cast centers. I personaly would not bother with 3 piece cast wheels.

The only way I would swap wheels would be for something stronger and lighter. That being my criteria I would choose the Kinesis F110. Now if only they came in 18" diameter.

Have a good New Years and good luck with whatever choice you make.

 

Based on what? I've seen BBS mag and alu race wheels cracked, and those are regarded to be both light and strong by ALMS Porsche racing teams. I've also seen cracks or bends occur at some point from impact on every high end brand of wheel, 3pc and otherwise. So, what's your statement based on?

 

My statement is based on my year and a half working for the worlds largest Porsche Tuner (Based on # of employees) and hearing of customer experiences. Then throw in my experiences of my familly owning 6 Porsches in the last 4 years (2 996 turbos currently) and with personal experience with both sets of wheels (Have had 1 set of CM's and 2 sets of HRE's). BBS is not involved in this discussion, my comment only says that CM wheels are lighter and stronger than HRE's no other wheel companies involved... Also notice I never said in my post that CM wheels do not bend or crack, all I said is they are stronger than HRE's.
Evan
PS-I am not against HRE (seeing as I own 2 sets), just saying CM wheels are better suited for his needs