FilthyF14

Doug,
I went through the same delima before deciding to buy my '02 Boxster S - no regrets but I'd love to have an early 911 in the garage next to it. No - don't want to buy your SC - maybe after paying down some of my kid's college bills. BTW, on of them has an electric blue Subie WRX wagon.

Daily driver is a beater '95 Honda Civic that is a hoot to drive with no worries and very little expense.
Phil

Doug&Julie

My ideal garage would include a modern middie Porsche for daily driving, a backdated G50 Carrera for "fun", and a Subaru Forester or Outback wagon for "extreme weather" days.

Of course, when you add Julie's wish list...an old Convertible Beetle for "fun" and a luxurious Subaru or Volvo for daily driving, we're going to need a 5 or 6 car garage!

Ah, it's fun to dream...

samluke

Filthy F14, you were asking about the paint quality on the Italian wheels. I have to say that the overall quality, machining, paintwork color everything is identical to the OEM ones. They are very very nice.

Any casual observer wouldn't know the difference. Even a Porsche enthusiast wouldn't know the difference unless he knew what to look for. The paint is excellent, just as high a quality and just as durable as OEM, no chipping issues, OEM centers fit perfect.

They really are excellent, except for the weight.

I actually have one 18X10 ET 65 aftermarket wheel for sale, its a left over wheel that I have.

blinkwatt

That depends on the wheels, the replica Carrera Lights weight only a couple pounds more then the OEM.

Marc Gelefsky

Hey Doug,
A friend of mines sister just gave him her mint 79 Beetle convertible! nice eh?
All he has to do is get it shipped fore California back to NJ.

Also, I agree with you, I lust for a backdated G50 Carrera Coupe!! Mummmm!!

However, I just aint a Subaru fan Audi quattro's for me!

Doug&Julie

Aw man...don't tell Julie.

I'm still considering buying her one for graduation. May not be a convertible though. I can't decide if she'll love me for buying the car or hate me for spending money we should be using to move to Portland!

I get that...I really do. I'd just rather spend less on the Subaru (over an Audi) and have more for Porsches!

samluke

Here's the facts on weight. I have done a lot of research on wheels over the years figuring out the best weight/cost wheel combination. All these weights are for an 18X10 wheel, using the same scales. Wheels vary in weight, and scales may weigh differently but the comparison is accurate. I also just verified an OEM 5 spoke against a replica.

Here's the list from lightest to heaviest.

CCW 20lb
BBS forged one piece 21lb
Porsche/BBS Carrera lightweight 5 spoke 22.6lb
Porsche 993 Turbo twist hollow spoke 24.5lb
Italian replica 5 spoke 26.8lb
Porsche/BBS design/turbo twist solid spoke 29lb
Italian replica Turbo twist 32.7lb

So as you can see the relica wheel is 4lb over an OEM wheel (for an 18X10), but its still a relatively light wheel. Again for street it really doesn't matter. The wheel with the best bang for the buck (in my opinion) if your looking at weight is the BBS forged 1 piece.

blinkwatt

The fronts weight 23lb. Which is only 1 or 2 lbs. off of OEM,the rears weight almost 4 lbs heavier then the OEM ones,is that 10lb. difference worth the extra $1k to have the Porsche name on them? NOPE!

samluke

Fronts are a similar weight difference.

Its the buyers choice, I have used both and no complaints, but I know which I prefer.

I love the fact that the Italian wheels are so cheap, as it forces the price of the used OEM ones down.

There are brand new aftermarket wheels on Ebay for as low as $579 a set for 18's, its fantastic.

OEM have never been so cheap

FilthyF14

Thanks for the great discussion and insight. Thought I had this all decided then took another look at Tirerack and the Moda MD1's are growing on me. Similar in price - not replica's - but I would assume similar in build quality. Any comments on Moda's?
With reference to weight looks like the replica 18's 5 spokes are lighter than OEM turbo twists. Maybe similar to the weight of 17" turbo twists? In any case, close enough for me!

Now about tires....... I like Kuhmo's for similar reasons - bang for the buck. Comments?

In decision is a terrible thing.....

samluke

Your right, the aftermarket guys do a good job of copying, and the additional weight to make up for inferior, material, design, quality, manufacturing process or whatever, is not that much.

When they copied the "lightweight by design" 5 spoke wheel, the extra weight is still within the weight of some of Porsche's/BBS wheels.

I was horrified at the weight of a the Porsche/BBS design wheels that I have used on 944's and Boxsters. Its one heavy wheel. The only wheel worse is the Mille Miglia Cup3 Turbo twist replica wheel at almost 33lb. To make it worse I had one of the Porsche /BBS wheels crack in two places, on the inner lip. That's not what you expect of OEM/BBS wheels.

Dead weight itself is not the importabt factor. Wheel weight is very important, as its unsprung mass firstly which you always want to minimize if possible. Its also rotational mass/moment of inertia as well.
As the wheel diameter gets bigger the moment of inertia goes up even if the wheel weight remains the same. Unsprung mass affects suspension characteristics/response. Moment of interia affects acceleration and braking characteristics of a wheel. In racing every bit counts which is why people pay a fortune to save 1 or 2lbs. For normal street driving, you wouldn't know the difference.

In my opinion Kumho are the best bang for the buck. They give up a little in performance to other tires but the cost and durability make up for it.

I race on Hoosiers, only because of the performance advantage, but always recommend Kumho for value for money.

Rob in VA

I too also fought with the same decision of going OEM compared to replicas. I ended up going OEM because of the known quality and weight savings. I didn't want to take the risk or have the annoyance of problems further down the road.

PedalFaster

Dumb question, but are you referring to the OEM Sport Classic II wheel, which looks like a BBS wheel and may be made by them, or one of BBS's aftermarket wheels?

Thanks,
Steve

samluke

Pedalfaster, no I am referring to the BBR RE wheels, available through Apex SPG

http://apexspg.com/catalog.cfm?Actio...&ProductID=785

They are a forged single piece wheel, and around 20lb/wheel depending on width. They are very light and strong as they're forged. They have 8.5" fronts and 10" rears which are the best combination for PCA clubracing in the stock class as they are the widest allowed. They are also very reasonably priced, and you know that your getting the best with BBS.

The lightest 10" wheel I have found is a Veloce GT1 at around 19lb, but wheels less than the BBS RE cost big bucks.

PedalFaster

Thanks!