Dan in Pasadena

I want to find some C2's and have always assumed I should find thereal things. Tirerack has "MilleMiglia Cup 2's" but I assume they are a lot heavier than the factory rim. Does anyone know? Does anyone have experience with both? A legitimate concern or much ado about nothing?

Rich Sandor

More than the weight is the fact that the MilleMiglia's are softer and prone to bend more easily, or go out of round, in other words.

But yeah, they are a bit heavier. Maybe ~5 lbs per wheel, depending on the width.

K27

I had aftermarket twists and now have factory C2, big difference in unsprung weight, you can really feel it in the steering.

AWolf

I would say that it is a legitimate concern especially if you are talking about an n/a. The unsprung weight from the wheels seems to make a little bit of a performance difference and expecially when you start going 17in+ rims, it can start to slow you down.
-Andrew

starr944

Dan-

Here's my story - and I'm sure you'll find others will disagree - yet I am speaking from my own experience.

I have a set of 18" Mille Miglia Cup 2 wheels on my 1988 NA. I drove the car before and after mounting them and noticed very little difference in performance. Previous wheels were 15" PDs. Sure they weigh more, but you have to ask yourself what your intent is. If you are racing, go with a lighter wheel like an OEM or a high-end wheel like BBS or Gembella. If you are a casual driver/cruiser, I doubt you'll see any difference in performance.

I am very happy with mine - I don't believe they offer the Cup 2s in an 18" size anymore though. I drove the car 50+ miles today (mostly highway) and I have no complaints whatsoever. If there was a change, it is so minute that I couldn't notice it. Now of course, the vehicle does have a firmer ride with the 18s (225 Front - 265 Rear) but that is to be expected.

That's my experience. Now I'm sure there will be others to follow who will say that Mille Miglias suck and they weigh a ton. But after all, they still run just over $1000 for a set - compare that to $4000 for a set of BBS or Gemballas in the same size. Plus I don't race - everyone that cuts on them is a racer. Believe me, with the right size pot hole, even $6000 wheels bend.

Friendan

Yeah I can vouch for that too starr, I had 15" PD's too, then I went to 17" Cup 1 MM's...it felt alot better to me...though I haven't been able to sample OEM wheels...
I figure if I'm ever that heavily involved in racing or autoxing (which I very well might be one day) I won't even think twice about getting some proper OEM or forged wheels, because I will want to perform my best and I'll want to invest in that. Right now I just want to look at and drive my car as is.

IPSC

I have a set of Mille Miglia Cup wheels in 17 inch and I will say that I notice NO differance between them and the 15 inch phone dials they replaced. As for bending I have two that were bent due to a monster pot hole I hit in the dark and the rain. Now I will say this it wouldn't have mattered what rims I had on. I am sure OEM rims would have bent. It was one of those jarring shake your molars loose pot holes. Now the one bad thing is pro wheel straighteners won't touch the Mille Miglias as they are cast. I took mine to a local machine shop who did a really good job and only charged me $20.00 a rim. Then I refinished them myself with some Wurths and I am back in business. The car I run them on is an 87S and it has yet to run on a track. I will probably run my first DEs in the S. I am in the process of aquiring either a turbo or an S2 and I will probably get a set of OEM cup rims for that car. That is my experince so I hope it helps in your decision.

IPSC

washington951

i have replicas and have had them be the victim of potholes a couple of times and then repaired. so i can say that they are soft - softer than OEM, i can't say as i can't make a first-hand comparison, but that is one of the complaints that i've heard. they look great and the PO had em on when i bought the car. even if he hadn't done the switch, i would have anyway.

Its_Lobelt

I have the same wheels as starr944 but they are OEM with a 993 part num stamped on them. I didnt notice too much of a difference. One thing though tire rack screwed me when I got the tires and they gave me 235's for the front on a 7.5 in wheel. IT looks ugly as hell.

Rich Sandor

Well for the record, I switched back and forth between my 16" Fuchs and 17" Mille Miglia Cups and the difference between the two is night and day.

The Cups are much heavier to turn and track more easily. But that is also because of the increase tire width, not just weight.

Luis de Prat

I put factory Cup1s on my 951. Twice the cost, but lighter and stronger alloy. The Cup1s have 964 factory numbers. They're also "period correct" for these cars, which I prefer.

Chris_924s

Makes me think. anyone have a spare set of D90's I could use for the track?

what do you guys do with your old wheels?

and to stay on topic- what is the weight difference betweeo NEM and aftermarket C2's ?


Maybe it's just cheaper to buy an 944S and swap wheels..

C5Driver951

I've had both factory Cup1s and MM Cup1s on my cars and most definitely prefer the factory wheels. My MMs had to be repaired for roundness after spending some time at the track. The other set was a set of 17x8/9.5 cup wheels I purchased from G&W motorsports. These were awesome. Not exactly light, but very strong.

I still think the Cup1s are the best looking 944 wheels.

Additionally, I know of more than one set of MMs that had the centers crack out of the wheels after heavy track usage. This is unlikely on the street, but make sure you are checking when used at the track.

xsboost90

dont know how much this counts but i painted nine44's mmc2's and they seem pretty light compared to my boxter twists. On my car the difference between the twists and the phonedials is definitly nite and day. I love the stickiness of the 255's and the 17"s look great, but i imagine on the track they would slow me down a bit.

Luis de Prat

washington951's avatar and Rich's sig pic are perfect examples of this (see above posts).