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Over the LONG winter break I decided on this season's major mods. This post will be about the one that probably should have been second on the list but was too fun to wait for.
I was making due with my CCW C14 wheels but needed an aesthetic and functional upgrade. BBS was the way to go and the motorsport E88s added to the cool factor with two main functional benefits:
1) They are light AF
2) They are modular 3-piece so any busted bits can be swapped out cheaply and simply.
I don't really need to extol the virtues of these wheels. They are sung loudly in the 997 GT forum, used by many of those track rats and many here too.
Now I could have just rung up Gert at Carnewal across the pond for a fresh set but wanted to try my own at building them.
I went with Turbo More Aggressive which coincidentally was also my nickname in highschool:
Front Center: 0288274 Lips and Barrels: 1.0 / 8.0 ET + 50.0
Rear Center: 0288107 Lips and Barrels: 3.5 / 8.5 ET + 42.0
I sourced parts from mooty, used bits from Bob Woodman (bobwoodmantires.com) and also new bits from Gert when he offered to toss in some freebies.
The centers from mooty were in good shape and originally gold but I decided well in advance that I wanted the BBS silver so I had them stripped and resprayed:
I bought some new parts:
And some used parts that just needed a quick polish:
One big and important note... DO NOT USE SILICONE OR ANY SEALANT TO SEAL THE RIM HALVES. BBS wheels and three piece wheels in general are designed so that if your wheel is leaking at the seam then one half or both is out of true, you have a broken bolt or you have a broken center. It's a huge safety risk to seal the halves together. Don't do it.
The wheels were built and sat in my office until the rubber arrived.
My doorman literally phoned me that my tires arrived, stuck them on a cart and ghostrid them to my floor. Somebody's getting an extra tip come Christmas
I didn't trust any of the yahoo tire shops around downtown Chi with my new jewelry so this yahoo called in a favor to a friend who works for a company that rhymes with Schmesla to have the tires mounted and balanced at their downtown shop. A jack of all trades he did them himself which was fun to see and learn.
Timely post for me. Thank you! Discovered three cracked spokes on my RR CCW C10 at Sebring last Sunday. Time for another GTS to upgrade to a higher quality wheel.
Well done, sir. The E88's are up there amongst my all time favorite wheels! Love everything you're doing with the car. Had to give you a follow on IG as well.
Thanks for the compliments, all. Lots of PMs answered about sourcing parts for these. There are quite a number of options and if you know any Cup teams using 997s you can get barrels and lips for cheap. That pool is shrinking as they upgrade to the 991 chassis and its different BBS offsets and sizing.
Originally Posted by alexisthemovie
Looks amazing, what size tires are you running?
I'm running 245/40 18 in front and 305/35 18 out back. I was running 315 in back last year but didn't like the way the sidewalk flex on 315 upset the car on turn in. 305s tighten that up.
04-20-2017, 05:21 PM
