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I have posted a few threads about damage to my L&R front PCCB brake calipers and wheel barrels due to small stones getting trapped between the two. The clearance between the caliper and wheel at the tightest spot is about .220". I had 2 instances of damage in the first 200 miles of ownership of the new car. The first occurred in the first 35 miles and resulted in a deep gouge in the caliper paint that went into the aluminum of the caliper itself. That caliper was replaced under goodwill by the dealer. I drove the car another 200 miles and experienced stone damage to the right caliper and wheel, although I was lucky and the right side was nowhere as bad as the left and I don't intend to do anything about the right side. After the second incident I stopped driving the car while I worked on a solution. This car has centerlock wheels and I came up with these ideas:
1. Do nothing and live it. Everyone on RL knows I am ****/OCD and for me scratched up wheels would always grab my eye when I walked up to the car, so this idea was a non-starter.
2. Develop a deflector that would stop stones from getting trapped to begin with. I tried many iterations of that and everyone of them had some sort of pitfall, so I abandoned that idea.
3. Install different brake calipers that would provide more clearance. While that idea would work I spent close to $9k for the PCCB's and I like the Porsche PCCB OEM look. I did keep this option in the back of my head while I explored other ideas.
4. Purchase and install 21" wheels. I like the look of the car with 20" wheels, and for me 21's only work aesthetically if the car is lowered and I really didn't want to get into that.
5. Find a 20" wheel that would provide more clearance than the OEM wheel. As much as I like the wheels that came on the car, this option is what I landed on. I explored wheels from many vendors and got serious with Forgeline and HRE. Both HRE and Forgeline were excellent to work with and it was a tough decision but I ultimately bought a set of Forgeline VX1R's which I received today. They look similar to the original wheel, and I had them finished in matte black which closely matches the finish of the original wheels which I like a lot with Carmine Red. The wheels are at the dealer to have the tires, valve stems, and TPMS sensors swapped to the new wheels. Before I took them there I mounted the front left wheel took some measurements, and instead of .220" I now have just a few mils less than .500". Forgeline said I'd have 11mm of clearance but I measured a little over 12mm. I look forward to driving the car with the new wheels, and I think the rock problem I had will go away completely or at least become much less frequent. Attached is a picture of the left caliper after the deep gouge, a picture of the VX1R before it had a tire mounted, and my GTS on jack stands. I'll post a picture of the car once the wheels are mounted, and will also report back after I put a few hundred miles on the car with the new wheels. Thanks to all who offered suggestions to me as I struggled through this. Cheers
Any 20" wheel is going to have the same circumference and clearance issue.
That is an incorrect statement. The ID of the OEM wheels is a little under 19". The ID of the Forgeline wheel is 19.5". Visually, without taking any measurements at all, there is significantly more clearance than OEM. Read my post again. The numbers there are correct.
That is an incorrect statement. The ID of the OEM wheels is a little under 19". The ID of Forgeline wheels is 19.5". Visually, without taking any measurements at all, there is significantly more clearance than OEM. Read my post again. The numbers there are correct.
huh - you're absolutely right. I never thought of it that was but I was wrong.
Thank you for this post—this is exactly the kind of info that makes RL invaluable, alongside the peanut gallery aspect, of course.
Nice choice on the wheel—it's going to look great and man does Carmine have pop with all of the black accents. A question regarding information gleaned during your wheel selection process: Curious if you were able to get any sense about additional clearance for PCCB with the BBS FI-R specifically or any Vossen Forged wheel (which is now a supplier to Champion...which has traditionally been VERY picky about its wheel vendors—going as far as using BBS Japan, for instance).
Just FYI, Forgeline will even make you 3 piece 19s that clear PCCBs as well, but clearance is tighter than the 12mm you mention. My friend runs a couple sets- the first set suffered stone scoring, but they were able to open up the second set slightly and he's had no scoring issues with that so far.
Thank you for this post—this is exactly the kind of info that makes RL invaluable, alongside the peanut gallery aspect, of course.
Nice choice on the wheel—it's going to look great and man does Carmine have pop with all of the black accents. A question regarding information gleaned during your wheel selection process: Curious if you were able to get any sense about additional clearance for PCCB with the BBS FI-R specifically or any Vossen Forged wheel (which is now a supplier to Champion...which has traditionally been VERY picky about its wheel vendors—going as far as using BBS Japan, for instance).
Thanks!
pete
Thanks Pete. I was starting to OD on wheel selection and manufacturer and it really came down to Forgeline or HRE. I did not work with the two brands you mentioned although I did work with BC Forged and also LOMA. What sold me with Forgeline was their reputation, pricing, and that they would expedite the order with no up charge for that. I decided not to drive the car after the second incident until I had a fix, and the last time it’s been on a road was well before Christmas. So promising delivery mid January really got my attention.
Flickroll, was there any significant damage to the inside of the wheel? If so, would you mind posting a photo? New wheels are looking good.
ThNks! As bad as the caliper looks, the wheels suffered what I would call minimal damage, scratches that are not overly deep. The oem wheels are still at the dealer but I’ll be happy to take a picture of them after I retrieve them which will be tomorrow or Monday.
01-19-2018, 03:24 PM
Forgeline VX1R's on my 991.2 GTS w/PCCB's
