tjr

Ah the old question "why do we pay more for European-made goods than the Amercians do." If you look at Porsche's new car pricing, it's probably what, 40% cheaper than in Europe? Well proportionally, their parts cost 40% less too. The US is their biggest market so I can only think that although their margins are lower in the US, the total volumes still make a massive positive contribution to their bottom linne - and it obviously works, as we all know...

I had already thought that some kind RLer could buy them in the US and then ship them over to Europe, but that's a lot of work for somone (as you say they are hardly small!) and I believe we still have to pay VAT and duty even on used car parts if they are brought in from outside the EC.

Unfortunately, I think the cheapest route to new Speedlines is to order them in the US and pay the associated costs.

V

Ok tjr, I got it. I know parts are cheaper over there, but the fact that these are big and heavy ofcourse makes things more complicated.. I'm taking my GF on vacation to the US this summer and I already have a list of parts that I am going to order from the stealer in the US.. How about OEM big ovals for the WB 993? I'd guess at least 100euros cheaper if I buy them there and bring them with me back home. Strange way of sourcing parts for your pcar but thats the way the market seems to be..

Thanks again and have a nice weekend.

tjr

Good plan. Interestingly when I contacted Sunset Porsche (who seem to be the cheapest source of Porsche parts in the US) about new front calipers for my 965, they said they'd have to order them direct from Germany and then ship them to me in the UK for an additional $200, which took way most of the benefit to me. So I suggested they just get them sent straight from Germany to the UK. Needless to say they said Porsche woudn't let them do that...

Ridiculous and not exactly kind to the environment...but it gives you a good excuse to go to the US on holiday!

Have a good w/e.

Freejack

to all you guys in europe:

contact peter of the company cup sport ltd: office (at) cup-sport.de

he has very good contact to the scene, is a porsche driver and I am sure, that you could find a solution for getting fine stuff.

he just sold the kw comp2 to me and also other parts like kerscher wheels.

go for it, buy porsche parts in germany and with the saved money have a good time in the US.

have a nice weekend.
frank

V

Frank this is good info and it also answers the PM I sent you. So, Frank is the guy to contact? So you sourced the Kerscher's directly from him? Is that better than through their homepage? . Can he source OEM speedlines as well?

Freejack

send an email to him, but let him a few days, because he has moved his company last week and he lives out of boxes.

original speedlines are really hard to find, the last I saw were sold by € 2.800.
for me, they are too heavy and, more important, it is more and more hard to find spare parts. means, if you damage them, you got a kind luxory scrap.

frank

cobalt

These would be the first generation speedlines made in 1991/1992. They also had the stem were the casting and wheel come together vs in the center of the opening. These were a different casting than the ones used on the 94 turbo as you mention. This would be a design flaw associated only with these earlier wheels. However, the 94's should crack no more than any other cup style wheel as they are made of the same material and have almost the identical design except for the 965.362.124.01 & 965.362.126.01 models which have the thick center and thin outer part that looks the same from the front.

ferraripete

it never ceases to amaze me as to the extent of peoples willingness to level claims or simply derived assuptions as to the build or performance quality of of a performance part (wheels in this case) in a public forum. we should be very careful as there are certainly lives and business that can be effected and that may or may not be fair.

you state the desire to find 3.6 speedlines and then go on to say that the "heavy and soft" rh wheel would simply not do. i find that funny knowing what i know about rh quality and how they compare to what i had always considered the racing standard (true bbs racing wheels)...the rh 3.6 is a seriously nice wheel and as a true 3 pcs. modular, can be custom sized for nearly any application or offset. additionally, i would be interested in your position on the material differences in metalurgy and manufacturing between the speedline and the rh?

when you describe the wheel as "soft", are you refering to a wheel that will work harden w/ use...let's hope not as that would be laughable not to mention dangerous. whould you bet money that the rims for either could not possibly be supplied by the same manufacturer? i would keep close tabs on my money if i were you!

simply put, you should not let the often uninitiated claims of some people on the web to create what effectively becomes head trash for you, to drive your decision making whether it be wheels or other.

both the speedline and the rh are superb wheels but both will surely succumb to new york style pot holes...with tire profiles where they have gone, they all will take a beating in a new york minute (pun intended!!).

for my money, i do think highly of the rh wheel as it can be ordered as a true custom wheel and can be purchased at GMP peformance. they have been in the business forever and really are super people to work with and would stand by you in the event you were to encounter some odd issue. the principle at GMP also has a good many years running around race tracks in scca and other sanctioned regional and national level events so he really has some basis to handle the rh wheel as a true premium part.

i hope my comments are not taken as a rant but our porsches are obsessions for many of us where we choose parts carefully. we all believe that only best players play! i would place the rh wheel in that category in looks and performance.

best,

peter c. brinzey

pcar964

Peter C. Brinzey, CEO, RH Wheels

LA964RS

I've got a set of 18 Ruf Wheels FS....less than 1000 miles on them + Dunlop Sport Race tires. Lovely bits and look excellent on the 64...PM me.

ferraripete

lol...i wish! my porsche and ferrari would be decked out in cool wheels for sure!

ferraripete

that really does look the business especialy w/ the duck tail!!

aircooler

I have a set of RH wheels, and I will not buy them again.

Sure they look nice, but I think that the Speedline wheels are a much better quality wheel.

I have had problems with "3" of the 5 RH wheels that I have had.

But my main complaint is the total lack of Factory support. The only authorized RH dealer in the US that I can find is GMP, and you will find no help there! GMP will not sell you RH parts, they will only offer to rebuild your damaged wheel... maybe.

When I saw what GMP were selling damaged and imperfect RH wheels on their website for, I had no interest in sending them my damaged wheel (s). Who pays like 85% of new for a damaged/imperfect wheel?

I actually found a Canadian dealer for RH locally, but they did not even know what I was talking about when I tried to explain to them what an RH 3.6 turbo wheels was. I even quoted the RH web brochure.



I will be looking for a set of 3.6T speedline (or "speedline look") wheels in the next year as my 911 project starts to come together. I won't be looking at more RH wheels. I don't have the time to invest if there are any issues, and my experience has shown that there defiantly will be. I would love to try the Kinesis wheels (3 pc supercup?). I know there is Kinesis issues right now with their recent purchase, but hopefully that passes.

cobalt

I will say that the speedlines are a solid wheel compared to the aftermarket brands. Any 18's are tough to deal with, with low profile tires around my area and I recently had a situation where I hit a crack in the road with my speedline and a friend had an RH speedline look wheel hit the same crack and totally mangled his RH without any damage to my speedline. I cannot say the impact was identical but can be fairly confident that the speedlines outer barrel would sustain a higher impact than a comparable RH or Fikse. I have bent one of my speedlines however the impact was so great I was surprised it did not explode. Instead it was a minor out of roundness of the barrel and was easily repaired.

I don't think RH are poor quality and they surely are not cheap Chinese cast wheels, however, their design is such that they are lighter and therefore more susceptible to cracking or bending on poor roads like we have in the NYC area. I have a set of Fikse's that I use for the track and I don't think anyone would say Fikse is a cheap product, however, I would not use them for street use unless I was sure I was going to drive on flat pot hole free roads.

In all for street use I find these cars drive better and one could prevent the likelihood of any damage occurring if we stayed with 17's. Then any of these manufacturers products would be adequate.

You can go with speedlines but at the cost of a set new or used you may be better off buying the RH's and replacing the barrel if it gets damaged and still have $$ left over.

TheOtherEric

To echo Cobalt's comments: I had a set of RH Cup AG wheels and that were a smidge lighter than the speedlines I'm selling, but the rims were far weaker. I hit a modest pothole and got a huge dent in the RH rim. It was ugly.

My speedlines have done fine in city driving.