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I swapped out the wheels which came on the car. 20's are much too big, especially the rears requiring a 325/25/20 tire is limiting for a DD. I went with Avant Garde Rhuger Mesh wheels. FR 19x8.5 RR 19x11, I gained some sidewall height and less overall weight for each wheel. Huge improvement IMO over the tech art formula wheels. One day I will wash the car real good and take some proper pictures. The pollen drop in TX has been brutal this year.
Looks great. I also am solidly in the camp that believes 20" wheels are too big for the 997 platform. A mesh-style wheel is classic Porsche and is right at home on our cars - good choice.
Looks great. I also am solidly in the camp that believes 20" wheels are too big for the 997 platform. A mesh-style wheel is classic Porsche and is right at home on our cars - good choice.
What side skirts are those?
Thanks! I'm a sucker for 5 spoke wheels but I figured it was high time I run a mesh wheel. I didn't want to go the usuall BBS or HRE route.
I bought this car from a dealership. Doing my HW on it, I found service records and the fact it had a coolant leak no one seemed to want to deal with. The car was sold multiple times at several auctions until a dealership bought it and listed it at 63k with a coolant leak. No one wanted it for that price in that condition obviously... they could not tell me a single thing about the car. They knew nothing, they put 6500 into it to fix a leak (which wasn't the only one I found out). Anyway after I checked it out I found it had a techart badge on the hood, techart formula wheels, techart CF airbox, techart front strut bar, techart pedals, and techart lowering springs. I my self am new to Pcars in general with regard to ownership. I am not aware of any modifications to the side skirts. They are the same plastic as the front lip/ splitter so I assumed thats a factory item.
Thank you sir! OP, now you know the side skirts are GT2 and not original. They look great! I am going to pickup a pair for my car.
Good catch! feels like every day I am finding subtle additions to the car. The ONLY thing I hate about it is whatever lowering spring the previous owner put on the car. If I had to guess based on the rest of the techart stuff they are techart springs. Awful IMO. Suspensions mods are next!
Those Techart 20" wheels are heavy as boat anchors. Logic your car drove bad!
20" works with a 997 but the total weight should be no more than the stock 19" wheels if you care about how your car drives.
My first set of 20" were also way too heavy and I started to hate driving my car. After some months I installed the original 19" again and it was like a totally different car.
After that I thought, like some here, 20" is simply too much. But when I got a chance to buy a set of extremely light 20" wheels I decided to give it an other try.
Guess what? My car drives better in every sense compared to the stock 19".
So my conclusion is, it is not about the size but purely about the weight.
Techart does not make any springs , they are rebranded Eibach springs and there are no better lowering springs than those imo.
Maybe you have H&R?
Yes Eibach makes the springs for Techart and several other brands, but that doesn't mean they are the same spec as the Eibach pro springs. Every company will give their own specs to the manufacturer (Eibach, H&R, etc...) for production.
Unless you can confirm the spring rates on the Techart and Eibach Pro are identical? I couldn't find any specs for the techart springs online. Agreed that if ride quality is indeed that bad, could very well be H&R springs. OP, if you happen to have your wheels off again any time soon you should be able to see some markings on the spring indicating the brand.
I'd echo the DSC recommendation assuming you've still got the PASM shocks/system. Been on the fence about suspension myself as I'm not happy with the stock handling (even with DSC and GT2 rear bar) but don't want to 'ruin' the car's ride and character.
Those Techart 20" wheels are heavy as boat anchors. Logic your car drove bad!
20" works with a 997 but the total weight should be no more than the stock 19" wheels if you care about how your car drives.
My first set of 20" were also way too heavy and I started to hate driving my car. After some months I installed the original 19" again and it was like a totally different car.
After that I thought, like some here, 20" is simply too much. But when I got a chance to buy a set of extremely light 20" wheels I decided to give it an other try.
Guess what? My car drives better in every sense compared to the stock 19".
So my conclusion is, it is not about the size but purely about the weight.
Sure, I suppose if you spent the money for ultra light wheels at 20" you would more or less be fine for non track use. However 20" with so little sidewall just wont handle very well and will raise your wheel rate quite a bit, you combine that with the weight of the wheel and its not a good situation to be in. In my case by changing wheels I got a lighter wheel and more sidewall/ tire altogether. The other issue is the rear wheels at 20x12 means my tire selection is limited to 2 kinds of summer tire only. Rather than manage 8 wheels and 8 tires I decided to step the wheel size down to something that offers more tire options as a whole.
Yes Eibach makes the springs for Techart and several other brands, but that doesn't mean they are the same spec as the Eibach pro springs. Every company will give their own specs to the manufacturer (Eibach, H&R, etc...) for production.
Unless you can confirm the spring rates on the Techart and Eibach Pro are identical? I couldn't find any specs for the techart springs online. Agreed that if ride quality is indeed that bad, could very well be H&R springs. OP, if you happen to have your wheels off again any time soon you should be able to see some markings on the spring indicating the brand.
Had my shop look at the springs, they could not identify them but could say they were not OE springs. I'm just assuming its techart since everything else aftermarket on the car is techart.
04-11-2018, 06:55 PM
New wheels
