Dennis C

They look really nice, that's for sure. I agree - they look especially good on a black vehicle. Silver too!

2K7TTMIA

The replicas are mostly all manufactured in Taiwan or china,
low pressure cast aluminum plus whatever alloy they have laying around...

They basically paint and clear and off they go to market...

the Carrera Sport Classics I purchased were distributed by Keystone, well known in the aftermarket auto parts. They look very nice, great for DD.
I agree, for street driving, they are well worth the cost;



I wouldn't recommend even getting on an AX or DE with these. Hard driving on the street, you may get away with ..just don't go into any curbs or potholes too hard...

guyrichie

How did your experiment turn out? I'm thinking about doing the same thing. I love the way they look but everyone is so cautious about the Chinese made wheels...

brandon19761

I too considered the replica's but not sure about the weight....

MOVENU

I think the Nexens are Korean not Taiwanese although not 100% sure. I had a set of the N3000 on a 300zxTT I had and was not a big fan. The tires had some
vibration / balancing issues which I found out later was not unusual for this
tire. One of the tires also developed a bubble quickly from not impact or any reason as I recall.
I actually bought another set from Nexen called the (n7000 I think) that
I had on an suv and liked those much better.

guyrichie

As you can see from my avatar, I put the replica wheels on my 993. It looks great and so far, the performance is just right!

Edgy01

Here's the data on the original OEM 997TT wheels which are made in Germany by Otto Fuchs.

Forged Turbo Wheels - 102 lbs, 12 ozs.

8.5x19" 23 lbs. 8 oz
11x19" 27 lbs. 14 oz.


I would suspect that your Chinese knockoffs are significantly higher in weight because they have to beef up the spokes with more material in a casting. Remember the old rule of thumb from Metallurgy 101. Cast will fracture, while forged will bend.

Nearly any Chinese metal shop can melt down aluminum and place it in a casting mold and make a wheel. The investment in dies for forged wheels is very high and clearly takes anything out of China out of the running.

You get what you pay for--or, you pay for what you get.

Also, pay very critical attention to the 996 suspension when you put 19 inch wheels on it. During testing for the 997 cars, Porsche was attempting to economize on things like the suspension and use the 996 suspension pieces, without change, for the 997. As someone elected for the 997 to come out with 19 inch wheels, they found that the 19 inch wheels, with the heavier tires, and stresses upon the suspension pieces, literally beat the 996 suspensions to death. You have elected for cosmetic reasons (which is fine) to put a knock-off 19 inch wheel on your 996. Please put on your calendar the need to check the suspension pieces' torque values much more often. Otherwise, it's not going to be a wheel that lets you down, but your suspension, since it was engineered for the stresses encountered from a 17 or 18 inch wheel. Of course, most 996 owners will suggest that the growth to 19 inches just can't be enough to be an issue--think again. Although Porsche routinely over engineers components, they still managed to trash the 996 suspensions on the 997 cars. You need to do your due-diligence.

Maris66ol

Looks are a matter of taste but IMHO these wheels look great on my black car.

Hurdigurdiman

I have 18" classic 11 wheels on mine. Just replaced my Goodrich tires for 4 new Kanook V12 for total $793. I wont be tracking the car and hopefully these should work well. I was down to the canvas on the Goodrich rears on the inside and the fronts didn't have much left on them. Those tires were on the car when I bought it 17000 miles ago. No idea when they went on new. It's amazing how quiet the ride is now. I think those replica wheels look fantastic and the price is astounding.
I hope they hold up for you. Good luck.