MetBlk 911

Anyone know how to determine if the 2005 "lobster claw" 997 wheels on my 2001 996 are real or knock-offs? And how much $$$ these go for if real, or fake?



I'm keeping them either way, just curious.

okbarnett

looks normal to me, look on the inside and see if they have a porsche part # like 997 something..

MetBlk 911

Guess I should have googled harder , found MSRP on the OEMs to be roughly $5300, but haven't found the knock-off price, or how to tell if they are real.

MetBlk 911

Thanks. Inside where? The rim edge? Or on the back of a spoke? It can be difficult to see back there.

Ahmet

I'd imagine it'd be hard to read the part #s w/out taking the wheels off. They're generally on the backside of one of the spokes, if you don't want to take the wheel off, a mechanics mirror through the wheel could be helpful. If real I'd imagine a market value of around $1500-2000 used, perhaps ~$1200 for replicas. Mille Miglia (sp?) replicas are horrible btw, so lets hope they're not that. I generally dislike non-stock wheels, but these do look good on your car.

ivangene

wheels off - inner spoke - model number 997.362.156.00 8J19 ET57 and 997.362.162.01 11J19 ET67
(or something to that effect)

ivangene

BTW - you are getting alot of milage out of that pic...

MetBlk 911

Thanks, I've got a mechanics mirror, and now that I know where to look, it should be easier. Well unless the numbers are covered in grime.

What makes the "Mille Miglia" wheels so bad. Tell-tale signs?

MetBlk 911

Yeah, I need some fresh material.

Pac996

It's been around the world more times than most people in here

ivangene

just bustin you - hard to get any good pics in this weather.....may, wet wet wet

Marc Gelefsky

Factory wheels usually have the offset and width on either side of the valve stem.

Van

Due to short cuts made and/or a cheaper manufacturing process, the structural integrity of the wheels suffer. I've seen replica wheels break apart at the spokes on the track under high loading. (Other wheels are not immune to failure, but, in my experience, I've seen more replica wheels fail at the track than any others.)

Replica wheels are also heavier - due to increasing the material in an effort to make them stronger.

A few years ago I had a chance to compare factory 18" turbo hollow spokes with 18" replica 996 GT3 wheels. Rear compared to rear, the replica was 14 lbs heavier per wheel.

However, for regular street driving, I think the replicas are fine. I have my snow tires mounted on replica rims.

Marc Gelefsky

BBS makes quite a few of the OEM wheels for Porsche (They even made the OEM wheels on my old Saab)

Not sure if they made the Lobster forks" but if they did it will say BBS on the back.

redridge

Not a fan of the lobster claws.... but they look great on your c2. +1 on the offsets and width by the stem valves, But they are not always there on some wheels.