Originally Posted by tjr

This is very relevant as ever since I bought my 3.3 last April I've been looking longingly at the 3.6 turbo Speedlines. My car is lowered around 40mm and handles very well indeed with minimal tramlining. My mechanic reckons I will ruin the handling with 18s and recommends I stick with my Cup 1s, but I can't stop thinking about the Speedlines…

So, I've put together details of each option which will hopefully be of use to anybody else looking into this. As far as I can tell none of these require spacers although you can use them to push the wheels out further if you wish.

Option 1:
Cup 1s - 7x17 front ET55, 9x17 rear, ET55.
These are easy to clean but look pretty small in the wheel arches. I would keep these even if you did buy other wheels to maintain originality when you come to sell.

Option 2:
Original Speedlines - 8x18 front ET52, 10x18 rear ET61. N/A new, second hand c.£2-3k ($4-$6k).
These are great but because they are so rare they are often over-priced and/or badly refurbished, or in crap condition and needing an expensive (c.£1.2k, $2.4k) refurbished. If they are refurbished, or need refurbishing, then you are most likely going to lose the important "Speedline for Porsche" laser etched in to the rim, which I’m sure effectively de-values them. In the UK, they seem to need refurbishing every 2 years or so.

Option 3:
RH P Rad - Various sizes, I'm looking at 8x18 front ET52, 10x18 rear ET54. c.£2k new, s/h c.£1k
These are more or less identical to the Speedlines and as far as I can see, being TUV approved, are probably as good if not better quality than the Speedlines. Obviously being able to buy them brand new brings all the associated advantages although I would imagine they will need refurbishing like the Speedlines.

Option 4:
Veloce 3.6 - 8.5x18 front ET52, 9.5x18 rear ET47. c.£1k new, s/h c.£500
These are one piece with the correct 40 "fake" bolts. These are imported from Malaysia by a UK-based company called Performance Wheel Supplies (PWS) under the Veloce brand name. After around 18 months (in UK weather) the bolts seem to lose their lacquer and rust and the lacquer starts to peel from the rims around the bolts. Incidentally, PWS has quoted me over £600 to refurbish them.

Option 5:
Keskin KT2 - 8.5x18 front ET52, 9.5x18 rear ET52. c.£6-800 new, s/h c.£400
These are similar to the Veloces in being 1 piece, but only have 32 bolts. Keskin is a German company and these wheels are I believe TGA/TUV approved for use on 964 Turbos. They appear to have exactly the same problems as the Veloces in that the lacquer comes off the bolts and peels around them.

Cheers,

Tim.