Fuch Flashbacks
09-06-2009, 09:19 PM
#1
Instructor
Thread Starter
Fuch Flashbacks
I have had my black 997S for 4 years now and I am thinking about the first real cosmetic upgrades.
On my old 86 911, I had the black Fuch wheels with polished alum rims and I really did like the look of them.
Anybody considered to see what this looks like on a 997? I currently have the 5-spoke wheels (not lobsters) and was thinking of having them powder coated with a fine texture matte black paint. With the way that the spokes transition into the rim, it doesn't appear possible to get that polished rim look that the old Fuchs had.
I know that there are several aftermarket options, but I wanted to keep a semi-stock look to the car, but change it up a bit.
Any pictures of what you have done with your black S are greatly appreciated for generating ideas.
Thanks for your time!
On my old 86 911, I had the black Fuch wheels with polished alum rims and I really did like the look of them.
Anybody considered to see what this looks like on a 997? I currently have the 5-spoke wheels (not lobsters) and was thinking of having them powder coated with a fine texture matte black paint. With the way that the spokes transition into the rim, it doesn't appear possible to get that polished rim look that the old Fuchs had.
I know that there are several aftermarket options, but I wanted to keep a semi-stock look to the car, but change it up a bit.
Any pictures of what you have done with your black S are greatly appreciated for generating ideas.
Thanks for your time!
09-06-2009, 09:44 PM
#2
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If cost is no issue these wheels may soon be available from Porsche:
http://www.themotorreport.com.au/413...-at-frankfurt/
http://www.themotorreport.com.au/413...-at-frankfurt/
09-06-2009, 11:57 PM
#6
Poseur
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Rennlist Member
Sort of like this? A friend of mine is tooling up now to produce these FORGED, single piece and marketed as Fuchs in the USA. Their first tooling is in 19 inch sizes and offset for the 997.
09-07-2009, 01:11 AM
#7
Three Wheelin'
It's a great look - can't wait until either of these are available.
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09-07-2009, 11:35 AM
#12
Not in MA anymore
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Where are the aftermarket companies?!?!?!?!?!
It used to be the aftermarket would be way ahead in regard to customer desires / wants than the factory. It seems they are out of touch with the customers and not being inovative... The first aftermarket company to deliver wheels / bodywork like the new 911 SC will make big $$$.... I for one would love a set of wheels like those......
Matt
It used to be the aftermarket would be way ahead in regard to customer desires / wants than the factory. It seems they are out of touch with the customers and not being inovative... The first aftermarket company to deliver wheels / bodywork like the new 911 SC will make big $$$.... I for one would love a set of wheels like those......
Matt
09-07-2009, 01:53 PM
#13
Poseur
Rennlist Member
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Let me share a little bit of information,--I really can't share much in light of where they are in their production cycle.
Over the past year they have been working on refining the designs based upon the traditional Fuchs windmill design that some of us recall from 1967, when the 911S was first fielded with them. What has been learned is that these older Fuchs forged alloy rims received a lot of hand-fabrication. Just take a look closely at some of these older Fuchs wheels. While the basic process is forging, much hand work is done to complete them, including cutting out the small oval petals and getting just the right finish on them. But what Fuchs was working with before this generation of automobiles was an entirely different suspension and braking system. When Porsche began to radically move the wheels OUT on these cars the offsets changed substantially.
When you shift the offset of the wheel out (relative to the center of the wheel) you lose a great deal of that 'deep dish' appearance that many of came to appreciate and like in the Fuchs like the 15 and 16 inch ones that on the rears were 8 to 9 inches wide. When the offset is moved out, the deep dish look is lost,--and that lokk, I think many will agree, is fundamental to the Fuchs look. To get that polished lip on one of today's cars (997) you will have to carefully accommodate the brake mechanism within the windmill area and produce the appearance of a deep dish through further, careful design. It's really not that easy. When you couple the complex designs (including critical offsets and widths) with the tooling needed to give you the fundamental forged shaping, it gets expensive. Some tooling has only one wheel that it can be used with. You have to pick and chose the wheel sizes and styling carefully before you manufacture that tooling.
The difference herein is with the forging. ANYONE can design and produce a cast wheel today. But when you CAST a wheel you have to beef up wall thicknesses with material in order to maintain the strength needed in a wheel. Thus, cast wheels tend to me heavy,--not popular with the enthusiast. Many of today's forged wheels are 3-piece forged wheels which sound good at first until you realize that the fasteners themselves add a lot of weight, and weakness, to such a design.
Hang in there as Fuchs goes through this process in America. The wheels will be manufactured in Southern California and will focus initially upon 19 and 20 inch sizes. Ultimately, they want to be producing even the smaller Fuchs windmill wheels for the older cars as the metal fatigue in those older Fuchs wheels is starting to take its toll.
It finally took me putting my current Carrera Sports next to my older mint condition 16 by 7 and 8 inch forged Fuchs rims to realize that there is no going back to those tiny things. The Carrera Sports are 19s,--8.5 in from and 11.5 in the rear,--the largest OEM wheel for a Porsche 911 since the 1960s.
Over the past year they have been working on refining the designs based upon the traditional Fuchs windmill design that some of us recall from 1967, when the 911S was first fielded with them. What has been learned is that these older Fuchs forged alloy rims received a lot of hand-fabrication. Just take a look closely at some of these older Fuchs wheels. While the basic process is forging, much hand work is done to complete them, including cutting out the small oval petals and getting just the right finish on them. But what Fuchs was working with before this generation of automobiles was an entirely different suspension and braking system. When Porsche began to radically move the wheels OUT on these cars the offsets changed substantially.
When you shift the offset of the wheel out (relative to the center of the wheel) you lose a great deal of that 'deep dish' appearance that many of came to appreciate and like in the Fuchs like the 15 and 16 inch ones that on the rears were 8 to 9 inches wide. When the offset is moved out, the deep dish look is lost,--and that lokk, I think many will agree, is fundamental to the Fuchs look. To get that polished lip on one of today's cars (997) you will have to carefully accommodate the brake mechanism within the windmill area and produce the appearance of a deep dish through further, careful design. It's really not that easy. When you couple the complex designs (including critical offsets and widths) with the tooling needed to give you the fundamental forged shaping, it gets expensive. Some tooling has only one wheel that it can be used with. You have to pick and chose the wheel sizes and styling carefully before you manufacture that tooling.
The difference herein is with the forging. ANYONE can design and produce a cast wheel today. But when you CAST a wheel you have to beef up wall thicknesses with material in order to maintain the strength needed in a wheel. Thus, cast wheels tend to me heavy,--not popular with the enthusiast. Many of today's forged wheels are 3-piece forged wheels which sound good at first until you realize that the fasteners themselves add a lot of weight, and weakness, to such a design.
Hang in there as Fuchs goes through this process in America. The wheels will be manufactured in Southern California and will focus initially upon 19 and 20 inch sizes. Ultimately, they want to be producing even the smaller Fuchs windmill wheels for the older cars as the metal fatigue in those older Fuchs wheels is starting to take its toll.
It finally took me putting my current Carrera Sports next to my older mint condition 16 by 7 and 8 inch forged Fuchs rims to realize that there is no going back to those tiny things. The Carrera Sports are 19s,--8.5 in from and 11.5 in the rear,--the largest OEM wheel for a Porsche 911 since the 1960s.