Chris C.

Anir and all:

Does anyone have experience with (or opinions on) RH German-made wheels? These are 3-piece, supposedly forged, cup style wheels.

Thanks!
Chris C.

Jean-Marc

Mark,
I hear you but I had a tire blow out and the cause was that the rim was 1/2" too narrow for the tire.... This happened at Road Atlanta right when I hit red line of 5th gear in the back straight (139 mph)...
$9,000 worth of damage! I highly recommned to always go to the max rim size possible for the tire width. Granted this was a track situation but still..

Merry x-mas to all from JM in Belgium

Greg Fishman

Jean-Marc,
Curious how they determined that this was the cause of your blowout. I think you had been running the BFG G-Force tires, right? I have seen several guys have problems with these tires, and it looks like the production of them has ceased with the new Michelin Cup Tire as its replacement.
Greg

E. J. - 993 Alumni

Anir,

Had a friend a few years back who had Dymag build a set of track wheels for his Vette - $1100 EACH!

Here is a pic of the Marcos that used to race in all the touring car series with the Dymag wheels. As far as I know, they only make one style wheel - the five star you see here. Beautiful and one of the lightest weight wheels available - would be worth a call to find out if the prices have changed at all.



Here is the link to the Marcos racing page - you might find other pics of these wheels. If I had money to burn, I would definately build a set of these.

E. J.

H20NOO

Fikse FM-10's
225/40 18 F
285/30 18 R


Very difficult to clean but worth it IMO.

MC

Fikse web site

SundayDriver

I was certainly not advocating running a combination outside the manufacturers approved range. 245's are OK for 8" to 9.5" according to the sources I have seen (Bridgestone, Yokahoma, Pirelli). As I recall, all suggest 8.5 as ideal but 8 is an approved width.

Jean-Marc

Greg,
What happened was that when I picked up my wheels at the dealership one of the guys made a mistake and gave me 3 rears of 10" and one of 9.5" (and 4 8" fronts). SO when I went to the track with the 10" on the rear right and 9.5" on the rear left, the left started getting tremendous force on it and gave away... All of this because of a stupid mistake from a technician that did not get picked up by the guy mounting the wheels either....

Jean-Marc

Of course, the guy mounting the wheels was me...

SundayDriver

What a bummer and pretty scary. Overcooking a corner is one thing - you at least have warning, but mechanical failures, hitting oil, etc is a complete shock.

BTW - I have had the same kind of problem with my pit crew - you just can't get good help anymore . I tried docking my pay, but it didn't seem to matter.

RT7

I posted about the Dymag wheels while back, I thought they were made only for the track/racing and not street because of the magnesium material. It can also catch fire easily.

I think the 19" wheels are made for show, I just can't see myself driving with 19" on the street where steel plates and pot-holes are everywhere. By-Design had their cars equipped with 19" wheels during the Porsche fest show.

Peace!
Ron

DCLee

Hmmmn...

All of the wheels pictured here seem to be pretty terrific (dunno about those Dymags, tho... I like to know where my wheel manufacturer is going to be tomorrow in case I need spares).

For the guy who asked about the RS wheels--they are German, TUV, made by RS Alurad, and are usually in the 3-pc. 964 Turbo-S style. I had a set once. Very well made, but a little heavy. Make that a lot heavy.

The Fikses are very light and beautifully made, but are a bit*h to clean and lately the pricing has gotten out of hand.

Speedline-- the real Porsche-spec Speedlines are excellent, but you should know that the cheaper Grade B wheels (Aliseo, etc.) are not the same quality.

Cargraphic-- New wheel from Germany, looks just like a BBS racing wheel I am very impressed with the quality. (Anybody want my spare set with 1k mi?).

BBS-- I'm partial to these for the track. The service from BBS Motorsport can't be beat, and there are always rim halves around.
If you don't live in a snow belt, you might even try these for the street--they make a heavier-gauge rim if you ask for it.

Kinesis/HRE-- never tried 'em, but they seem to be very similar to Fikses, and may even have some common components (haven't confirmed the latter). They're a little chromy-y for my taste (Ouch! Where are my sunglasses?...) but the anodized 5-spokes look pretty good on some 911s.

As always, I go with my overriding dictum: Go with the lightest <insert your part here> you can buy. (That excludes Japanese import junk, tho...)

Lee in D.C.

Anir

I appreciate all the helpful pics, and informative comments. There are a lot of good choices out there.

Anyone got pics of 993-mounted Fikse FM-5 or FM-10s with the race satin anodized finish?

Happy Holidays!

MikeF

Kinesis also makes a 3.6 Turbo style 3 pc wheel...just like the RH Alurad wheels. I have a set on my 964 (18x10's and 18x8's). The centers are true 18" cast, like the RH wheels, so probably not the lightest weight for the track...but boy, they look good and the car handles like its on rails.

I had inquired with Wheel Enhancement about the RH version and they steered me to Kinesis. Apparently the Kinesis outer rims can be easily polished out if scratched...the RH's require replacement. I was disheartened to discover that the center castings are made in Japan...especially considering the price. I spoke with Dave at W.E. and he assures me that these castings are among the best available...that is why Kinesis chose them...btw...Peter at Kinesis (owner) tells the same story. I must admit, the finish is stunning. Any thoughts? Price for the Kinesis version was marginally higher then the RH's ($100 for the set).

Admittedly the all-forged wheels are lighter but more fragile...I hear this about Fikse's more than others.