Doing a bit of driving in the blizzards recently in the new '14 Turbo S. The Turbo II wheels seem to accumulate quite a bit of snow in the wheel wells, throwing them out of balance and causing a lot of vibration to the point that the car can't be driven over 45 mph. It really blows. The wheels were recently wrapped in new snow tires.

Anyway, my mechanic has a set of wheels from another cayenne, I believe an old model GTS. They are also 21", and he suggested I use them for winters. See pic below. My question is, is this snow accumulation problem specific to the Turbo II wheels or to the fact that the wheels are 21"?

I'm hoping this is specific to the Turbo II style wheel and the fact that they are so open and therefore accumulate snow.

Anyone have any thoughts on whether I will experience the same severity of snow accumulation in the wheel wells with this other style?

Thanks.

 

those are the wheels i have. now we haven't had any blizzards but a few snow storms in central pa and i haven't noticed any vibration.

 

Happens to me all the time with 20" wheels, especially when making tight turns in deep snow. I carry a scraper that fits in between the spokes and clean them out. It is pretty common with wider wheels.

 

Like mtnrat said, a wide wheel with low profile is going to pickup more snow than the opposite. It's part of the reason I run a 45 aspect tire for winter (275/45/20), so that I can keep the rim as far off the road as I can.

 

I have the GTS-style 21 inch wheels on my '08 CTT. There can be a bit accumulation on the wheels, depending on the conditions, but so far I have had no real vibration. On the other hand, I tend to be conservative about my speeds on snow and ice as the roads I drive have very precipitous drops as a reward for a mistake.

Cheers,
TomF

 

I've got 20" turbos on my '04 and they collect snow like no other. Beware of scraping compacted snow out of the inside of the wheels as you can potentially knock off wheel weights. I make a very conscious effort to brush/blow the snow out of the wheels before driving as the spinning seems to compact it.

I also am very diligent to not drive through the snow ridge at the end of the driveway, and if I absolutely must, no turning or power sliding.

 

if youre changing wheels for the winter how about dropping to 19s?

 

I already bought the snows for my 21s unfortunately. Didn't realize it would be this much of a problem.

 

good to know, I was considering cayenne turbo but this is a deal killer for me no point in having an SUV that is not 100% great in winter conditions... guess its a range rover instead...

sorry to hear you are having this issue

 

The problem is not with the CTTS. The problem is running wide rims with low profile tires in snow. I run 21" winter tires, but it's mostly for cold temps on freeways.

 

NYC123 the Cayenne turbo can run 18" wheels. It is the turbo S that requires the larger wheels to clear the larger front brakes that only come on the turbo S. No need to handicap yourself with a range rover .

 

yes I know but I have a few cars and put snows on them all and as a rule I dot like to have an SUV where I need to buy a second set of wheels I just like to put snows on the stock wheels and have it work properly... it is an SUV at the end of the day ...

 

The 21" wheels are an option. The standard 19"/20" would not have this problem. :-)

 

This what happends with my wheels when I drive them in snow.

 

Do you drive sideways through the snow?! That's gotta make for a rough ride.