dtw1

I am considering buying the Italian aftermarket replica 18" turbo twist wheels from Wheels and Caps (ebay seller). I have also looked at Tire Rack's Sport Edition 18" turbo twist clones.

Does anyone have experience with these aftermarket non-Porsche wheels?

I have a 96' - 993 C2 with 17" cups now. Will the 18" wheels make the ride bad? I live in St. Louis and the roads are not great.

mhm993

If they're the mille miglia wheels, they look nice enough but they're god aweful heavy. Heavy enough that I could notice a negative effect, especially in braking. Like 30 pounds or more heavy.
18's are definately less comfortable on busy streets. They're great on the highway and especially the track, but when I'd drive through crazy bumpy places like the exit to the Holland Tunnel in NJ, my teeth would fall out. Admittedly, that was with mp sport cup tires mounted, which made it worse, no doubt.
I was using them for the track. I've gone back to the light oem 17's and I'll save my pennies til I can afford forged 18's.
But 18's do have more bling appeal.
I wasn't satisfied with them,....my two cents.

ceboyd

the replica wheels also seem to bend a lot easier..

I talked to one guy who had issues with his Millie miglia's holding the bead properly no matter what brand of tire he used on them (not sure what that was about but he got rid of them pretty quickly)

Bull

I have track friends that have had the same experience with them bending. In one case, the guy ended up with two bent wheels from simply driving hard and fast on the track....no off course at all! I wouldn't use the after market cheap cast wheels on the track anyway, particularly seeing two break in the past three years.

I would use the factory 17s for the better street ride, and get a good set of forged 18s for the track work.

tam993

I have the Porsche factory "hollow" turbo twists wheels. I think it was the techno package???
On the car since new, no issues with them. Had the car on the track couple of times too.
I don't know if you can buy them any more though. I think they make the car look better than 17"
wheels.

pchak

I just put them on my car. I thought the quality is pretty good for the money, though I wish I could have found Cup wheels instead. They are heavy (about 30 lbs.) but my old wheels were heavy too, so that's a wash for me.

ceboyd

so I guess if you don't take the car to the track, perhaps the replica's won't bend as easily but I think they still bend easier than OEM from what I've seem

CAHRERA

Pchak,

Weren't the Cup wheels you had on your car 18"replicas? I wish Porsche would of made an 18" cup wheels I like them a lot more than the Technology Twist IMO.

Do you or anyone, remember who the Manufactuer is on those 18" Cup Wheels?

Jack of Hearts

Gert Carnewal can get you the 18" Cup Replicas. They are really cool looking, but like every replica wheel, heavier. I've never been able to get the exact weight on them. There also appeared to be an issue with the rear offset...I didn't think it would fit my NB car....

Here are the sizes Gert gave me...he didn't have the weights.

18” Cup II replicas
F: 8.5X18 ET 52:
R: 10X18 ET 47

ceboyd

yes, I talked to someone who sold his 18" cup replica's after fitment issues on his narrow body... he sold them to his buddy with a widebody and they fit that one perfectly

pchak

Scott,
You're right, they were reps. I thought that they were 100M's. I couldn't find a a 10X18 to save my life, so I ended up getting these and putting the other wheels up on eBay. As Jack of Hearts sais, they were heavier. I also found that the rear did indeed have a 47 offset, and it fit fine. Is Gert a parts dealer? I am unfamiliar. I'm kicking myself, if I could have replaced the one rear. I really like the cups.

cheers,
pchak

Jack of Hearts

pchak: Gert is in Belgium but ships to US daily by Fed Ex....always quotes prices shipping included.

http://www.carnewal-europe.com/main.htm

Do you have any idea how much those wheels actually weighed?

ceboyd

I think I saw your auction.. why not just cancel your auction?

pchak

Because I already have the twists on the car. I spent two weeks searching, and over a week for delivery and install. Having the car laid up for a month was killing me! I would have liked to keep the cups, but having new wheels, regardless of style, makes the car look better. The twists are okay-I had 17's on my Boxster.

Well, I have saved the link to Gert's site. As for the weight, I can weigh one when I get home.

Jack of Hearts

Bill...what happened to the wheel you had to replace?

(and let that be a lesson...ALWAYS ask the gurus of Rennlist before you make a Porsche-changing decision...)

The Jack