SARGEPUG

Edgy, you are a wealth of Porsche knowledge!

So the cast wheels that Branderman bought are just 2lbs more up front and 1lb rear per wheel. I have a friend that makes wheels in house and says a lot of these companies say they are forged and really they are not. Anybody else have knowledge of this? My friend used to make most of the wheels for Will Castro @ Unique Whips, before Will closed up shop and moved to Miami.

SARGEPUG

+1

Edgy01

The reality on wheels is that if you see them early (and they mimic an OEM design) they are practically guaranteed to be castings from China.

The investment to produce a drop-forged wheel is incredibly expensive--roughly $50K per size/offset.

I know that many will debate the merits of pros and cons of cast versus forged--a little tutorial in that:

(1) One piece foged wheels are historically the lightest in that they can use thinner walls yet retain the strength.

(2) Cast wheels have to beef up their wall thicknesses (weight) to give the strength.

(3) Multi-piece forged wheels have issues with:

a) The fasteners themselves add significant weight
b) The centers are usually 'forged' and thus their claims that they are 'forged'
c) Muilti-piece wheels are much cheaper to manufacture and stock because they assemble the sizes and offsets from the various components to arrive at the wheel needed.
d) Multi-piece wheels will be weaker at the fastener points--where the fractures occur

(4) One piece, drop forged wheels are the most expensive to produce and as a single piece, have no inherent weak points where a fracture can start. The aluminum grain is distorted by the forging process and leads to higher strength.

Keep in mind that when Otto Fuchs started to produce the classic forged windmill wheel for Porsche in the 1967 time frame, the cost to produce that wheel was not too high in that only one or two sizes were made. The 'investment' was substantially lower. With Porsche attempting to impact all the aftermarket wheel businesses in the 1990s and 2000s, they choice of going to cast wheels made designs come to market far quicker than going with a forging.

For those history buffs, keep in mind that the windmill pattern that we have come to know and love from the 60s and 70s and 80s got it's design start from Audi/NSU. The NSU Ro-80 cars had a forged aluminum wheel that is remarkedly similar to that wheel we know today as the Fuchs alloy. (BTW, it was made by Otto Fuchs well before the 911 arrived).

texas911

Backerman, those look incredible! Do they make them in 4S/Turbo offsets?

backerman

They do. I believe its just the rear wheel thats larger.

Edgy01

Sale on the Sport Classic Rims at Suncoast.

http://www.suncoastparts.com/product...newproductpage

Alstoy

That's just evil mate. It's a great deal. I wish they came in 18s though. I would snap them up.

NC 997

That's a helluva deal.. too bad they're made for WB cars only.

I have just about 1,000 miles on my Ruger Classics.. So far, I'm very pleased with the wheels. For the money, I don't know how a guy can go wrong.

BTW, Porsche's Sport Classic's are cast, not forged.

997_rich

Weren't we supposed to see some newcomers to the Fuchs-look field sometime soon? Any new Fuchs look wheels out there? I'm most interested in someone producing 18" fuchs look wheels for the 997. Anyone find anything like that?

Edgy01

There is a set of wide body Fuchs look wheels (The Sport Classic car wheels) available here:

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...mps-tires.html

With nice photos.

I hope to be able to show a set of narrow body Fuchs Racing wheels within the next ten days here on Rennlist.

They make them for both wide, narrow body, and will be producing them in 18, 19, 20 and other sizes.

Hella-Buggin'

What are the chances of seeing a set with the polished blades?

Edgy01

I hope to be able to do that soon as well. I ordered a set with the black centers, just on a whim. But I too, would like to see them with the polished windmill blades. Perhaps photos in a couple of weeks.

Jastx

How are these, from fuchsracing.com...beautiful. Satin silver blades on black centers with satin rims would be my choice.

997_rich

any idea when fuchsracing.com will be coming out with 18"s? they've said coming soon for months.

anyone have a photo of fuchracing on thier car? the photoshop images are great but it's nice to see them in the real worlds in less flattering angles and lighting.

stevepow

Agreed - better, more realistic photos would be nice. The silver cab above looks OK. The pics with the 20s turn me off though. Gotta see some real world 19s and even 18s to get a feel for them. Like the Rugers above - not the best lighting, but I do get a good idea how a car looks with them - pretty nice. And I bet that photo, in an editor, could easily be brightened to show the wheels even better: