LiveNupe

Anyone know if the Antera 343 wheels are suitable for track use?

I have an opportunity to buy a brand new set for $1,200. However, the shop that's selling them is known for bling kits and bolt-on performance stuff so I'm a bit skeptical when they say "Sure, these wheels will be GREAT on the track".

To stay within my wheel budget, I can buy these brand new wheels or wait to find a set of used Porshce OEM wheels.

Anyone have any thoughts?????

Larry Herman

Ever had a wheel break on you? If it's cast, it's a POS; for street use only. Don't trust your life to it. Get the Porsche OEM wheels.

Chaos

Call forgeline !

earlyapex

This picture says it all.

Larry Herman

LOL, the perfect spoke design, fat where it can be thin, and thin where it needs to be strong.

earlyapex

LiveNupe, are you still looking for an early 911 to track instead of your 40th?

jrotsaert

Those are very strong words... Porsche's 959 wheels were cast, 996 turbo and 996 GT2 wheels are cast, the hollow spokes on the 993TT were cast, etc etc...
I certainly prefer to use forged wheels when driving but I would not call cast wheels POS.

With regards to the original question, Antera wheels were very popolar on souped up compact cars in Europe about 10 years ago. They were not, at the time, what one would have called top of the line wheels.

Cheers
JM

Larry Herman

Yes they are strong words. I do agree that there are SOME cast wheels out there that can stand the rigors of the track. The question is, how do you know? We broke a 2 year old 5Zigen wheel on our Lancer EVO 8, and it was supposedly a top quality cast wheel. It so happened that at the event was one of our club members father, who makes custom limited production wheels for Detroit. You've probably seen some on Corvettes and other speciality cars.

Anyway he took one look at it and said that it was a classic hub to spoke failure, and it probably would never have made it through the first set of longevity tests that his wheels must endure - 250,000 revolutions with a 45 lb axial load. He also gave us a little primer on wheels, what to look for, and to stay away from tracking cast wheels unless they have been tested. I assume that the Porsche wheels would undergo a similar round of testing. I doubt if any of the tuner wheels do.

LiveNupe

The short answer is no.

The full answer: I decided to wait a year. I'm going to use 2007 to figure where I want to be on the fun/cost scale. I'm not sure which trade-offs I want to make and how much "speed" is worth to me. For instance, should I go with a 2004 GT3 or a 1984 911 that's fully track prepped with roll cage, etc. I also realized that I need to put some thought into which class I'd like to compete in next year.

Choices, choices, choices,......

LiveNupe

By the way guys, I ended up buying a used set of OEM's from a guy who bought some bling wheels. Thanks for the thoughts.

earlyapex

Good choice.

Let us know what you chose to compete in.