golfman

Been looking at these wheels in 20". Price is diffentley affordable. My question is the quality of the wheels at high speed. Does any one have these wheels and what is your impressions? Pics on the car would be nice too.

golfman

Just found these pics don't these wheels look very similar in style. One is chrome and One is silver but style is close.

golfman

I haven't seen the finish in person so I can't say. I am not sure but I think those tsw montage have been around longer. So maybe techart knocked them off. lol

I like the techarts that is for sure. I love the tsw price. lol

golfman

Here is a couple more pics I found to show the finish on the wheel.

stubenhocker

I like the looks of these TSW's, I have been admiring them for sometime....for me considering the abuse wheels face, I am partial to less expensive wheels.
I believe TSW are German made and are TUV approved, so that's good enough for me. I don't think the TechArt's , although very attractive, are worth the premium you pay over something like these.
Just my opinion.

Lozzy997

Cheaper wheels tend to be heavier which impacts handling, seems a shame to compromise the handling of the car to save a few bucks. Not saying all cheaper wheels are heavier, just something to look out for. You pay for light and strong.

golfman

I think the techart are a cast wheel and the weight is something like 31 or 32 pounds. So they are not light by any means, if this is true. Someone else posted that info awhile back. Not sure what the tsw weight. It is worth checking into though.

Lozzy997

Even for 19's 32lbs is overweight, and casting is not a high-end technique for wheel manufacture.

That weight and technology would put them in the cheap and nasty category, if correct.

19's run from mid-teens lbs (magnesium forged) up to 30's and beyond (cast).

Of course casting is not all bad but it's generally down the food chain from forged wheels.

Doesn't sound like Techart are worth what they charge.

This has a bit about wheel technology and then some weights:

http://www.wheelweights.net/

golfman

I used that website very informative. Thanks. They had a set of techart daytona's on it they are cast 18X11 the weight was 28 lbs. The figure I gave earlier was for techart formula 20". Which I heard the weight was 32 lbs. I still think that is probably heavy in comparison to some 20". So based on that they probably aren't worth the money. The only problem I have seen in lightweight 3 pc wheels is they can run out of round. Depending on the quality and the manufactoring of the wheel. That is not really a problem with cast wheels. So unless you get a very good quality 3 pc wheel people need to be careful.

Lozzy997

You're welcome. Someone went to a lot of trouble with that site and it helped me decide for my old STi and S2000. If that weight was for 20's it's not as bad as I thought (but I'm not sure why anyone would put 20's on a 997). Still, for Techart prices I'd suggest there's a lot of better made products out there (and probably some a lot cheaper, like iForged).

Lozzy997

Ah, oops, you are looking at 20's - my bad, got confused.

They'll look good, but they'll do nothing but bad stuff to the handling you know...

No offence intended, everyone has different tastes, makes the World a more interesting place!

Lozzy997

That's not how you spell offense either....jeez.

golfman

No offense taken. Why do you think 20" would hurt the handling of the car. In the wheels industry they call that going +1 over stock. That usually helps with performance. Right?

Lozzy997

For cars built for comfort going 1-2 inches over stock is not a bad thing. They normally have fairly small wheels and higher profile tires. For a car optimized for handling (e.g. the 997S) it was designed for 19" wheels with low profile tires. Increasing the wheel size will increase rotating mass and unsprung weight, additionally reducing the tire profile to keep the rolling radius constant will change the suspension characteristics as there is a less compliant sidewall in the equation (that stiffer sidewall might help turn-in but I doubt it).

Other than the arguable aesthetics (some folks like 'em, some don't) there are NO benefits to going to 20 inch rims. I don't think anyone would argue that.

golfman

I agree with the the aesthetics change. I can't stand how high the fender well is above the tire and rim. I thought of using h&r springs to lower the car. I would think that would change the handling as well. I believe the 20" wheels sit about a 1/2" taller on 30 series tires than the 19" inch stock wheels. So it would eat up some of that fender height.