Recommendations for lightweight, affordable wheels? (and sizes, mainly for track?)

So far, the lightest I�ve found for a reasonable price are OZ Allegerita HTLs. The 18x8.5s are 18 lbs. And 18x11s, for example, are 20.4. Selling for $1456 at TireRack (for two of each size). Anyone know of any lighter options that don�t cost too much more? (Or ideally, less. This should be possible - when I bought track wheels for my BMW I was able to beat OZ on both weight and price (unfortunately, the manufacturer does not do wheels for Porsches).) Also, suggestions re. ideal sizes (widths and offsets) for a 996.2 C2, for mainly track use? (For me, ideal basically means fastest, though if I�d have to sacrifice a bit of speed by reducing rear grip to get a (more) neutral balance, I�d do it.) The car will not be heavily modified, but will have coilovers (probably PSS10s) and, of course, track day tires. Thanks!

I went through a similar exercise for 18" wheels last year, and ended up with the Alleggeritas. Really nice wheels, I like that each wheel comes with a weight cert. They are lighter than some wheels that are substantially more.

As a suggestion, you should be more concerned with strength of the wheel and the reputation of the mfg. Yes, weight is a concern, but remember DE's are not racing and you don't win anything. The difference of a pound or even two is not going to have that much of an effect on your elapsed times. I would be more concerned with a wheel that can stand up to curbs, for example. There are plenty of threads about wheels cracking, etc. Foregeline, CCW, OZ, BBS, they command a price, for sure, but there is a reason. I grabbed a deal on some black VE Innsbrucks.....they are for my street/rain (track) tires, but, I have since found out from someone else on RL that they do not back them if they are tracked........forget about the broken wheel, what about when it happens????? cheap light wheels should be your last concern in a high stress environment......which is why I am looking for another set of ???????? Just my .02 GL

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In what way do they not back them? If a wheel brakes the others, like OZ, would replace it but VE wouldn't? I assume no one provides a complete guaranty, even on the street. If you hit a big enough bump, any wheel will break. Yes, I'd rather buy from someone with a good reputation. The wheels I bought for my BMW were from a manufacturer (DForce) with a very good reputation on BMW forums. Most of all, I'd prefer to buy wheels that are TUV approved, though that narrows the selection down a lot and I don't insist on it.

If I track my car, I'm going to use the 17" set I have for the 968. These things are uber light. I'm sure for the weight, they are very strong. An 18" setup would probably have a hard time matching the weight of these.

I think I have the same wheels, which I believe were the "standard" wheels on the 996.2. And I think that when Porsche introduced the 996.2, they said that the new, lightweight 18s were even lighter, despite wider wheels and tires.

18" OZ Alleggerita would be my choice if I were going aftermarket. They make F1 wheels and sports car wheels for years now. Price is very reasonable.

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Most of the OEM 18" wheels are heavier....but I believe the hollow spoke wheels were slightly lighter. Here's all the Porsche OEM wheel info: http://www.944racing.de/wheelweights.php

or if you can find a set of used set of lightweight 5 spokes (Porsche bbs)

Useful site if looking at OEM: http://www.944racing.de/wheelweights.php What you'll find is that most of the Porsche OEM wheels aren't all that light. Strong, but not that light.

rs10: the thread that I read in RL was that an RL had tracked a VE wheel and when presented the situation to the mfg. there was no warranty coverage due to the wheel being used in the track environment. I understand that CCW, OZ, forgeline, BBS, etc., know exactly how their wheels are going to be used and therefore provide warranty coverage, if a crack, etc appears, due to track usage. I am looking for another set of black track wheels because I do not want to actually test the VE warranty. For street wheels/tires and limited, much lower speed rain/track usage, they will work....for now.

The best combination of weight and strength is the 18" bbs lightweights that came with the 996.2 and I have to admit the best looking

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Love the looks, but they are about 2 lbs heavier than the Alleggerita and typically more expensive.

Thanks for the helpful feedback about which wheels. Any thoughts about sizes? One vendor told me 9" fronts aren't possible on a 996.2 C2, which surprised me as I thought I heard of someone using them, but maybe it was a C4S ... And how about on the rear? Thanks!

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8.5" fronts and 11" rears work great.

I have 18" allegeritas in 8" and 10", and my stock MY02 5-spoke lightweights that came with the 40th. The OZs are much lighter, but the paint scratches really easily and I imagine they wouldn't survive a ton of abuse. The price wasn't bad, though, and they've been great for autocross.

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Yeah, I'd generally expect the wider the wheels, the better for track use. But I'd be a bit concerned that if the rear wheels (and tires) are too much wider than the fronts, the car becomes unbalanced and understeers more. I searched some tire threads a while ago and a few people mentioned that their car became more fun with narrower rear tires. I think I remember at least one guy going down to 265s (presumably on a 996.1), and at least one other going down to 285s (presubably on a 996.2). So with 11" rears, I guess I'd want 295s (or wider?), and I'd therefore want 235 or maybe even a minumum of 245 on the 8.5s on the front - and I'm not sure that works ...

255/35/18 will fit on 8" fronts. 245/40 fits a bit more easily. You can go all the way to 315 on a 10" rear, too.

I use a 235 / 315 combo on 8 & 11" wheels with nt-01. Love these tires but I Can't find 315s any more. On back order for months. I'd decide what tire you plan to use first based on availability and then match the wheels. Rarely if ever do you see wheels on back order.

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depends on how you define fun... I run 8.5 and 11" wheels on my 02 996 PCA J-class race car... fun for me is a well handling car that is fast on track. I run 245 fronts and 315 rears in Nittos, and occasionally run Kumho V710's in 245 F and 285 rear (super fun due to the smaller diameter which acts like a ring & pinion upgrade!). The car only understeers when the tire are corded or heat cycled out - oversteer is a much bigger animal with my car. Regarding tires, I'm sure there are hoosiers that fit, and plenty of slicks, too. I think the 8.5 and 11" sizes are stock GT3 sizes, if that matters any.

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Knfeparty, are these tire widths (245 or 255 front, 315 rear) on the 8 and 10" Allegeritas, on the 5 spoke lightweights, or both? (Presumably both if the offset is the same, but not sure if that's the case.)

When I got my car, it had 225 front and 305 rear on 19" wheels. Way too much under steer and too low profile for anything other than cruising. I quickly replaced the stock wheels with 18" OZs and now run 245 front 295 rear R888s and the balance is perfect. Haven't experienced any problems with the OZs yet. 8.5 front 11 rear

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I have 3 sets of wheels/tires with one 245f/295R and visibly they have a closer contact patch front to rear however the 245 does exhibit slightly increased steering effort. Also to note that not everyone might be able to fit a 245 front without rubbing depending on their wheel/suspension setup.

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Do you think there would be any trouble with PSS10s? If the car is not lowered more than with the X74 suspension (which I believe means 30mm lower than ROW)?

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No trouble with most coilovers assuming your wheel width/offsets are optimal. There's a slight chance you may have to run 3-5mm spacers depending on your wheel/tire configuration. Some 245 sizes actually have a wider "contact patch" than other brands so YMMV.

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Also camber settings can be played around with to allow wider tires. I'm at -2.8 in the front which prevents rubbing. The tire has a lot to do with it also, the r888 has a lot of rubber and is wider than others for the same spec.

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This was on the OZ, but I got the exact same dimensions as the 5spoke lightweights. I ran 5mm spacers in front to keep it off the struts. Front height was the issue; it wants to run the front fender liner above the rad vents, and also the bottom of the spring perch. 245/45 is really too tall, for example. I ran stock suspension in the front with as much camber as I could get, maybe -.7, and the rear I ran -2.0. The rears fit much better than I anticipated.

I went with OZ Allegeritta in 18x8 and 18x10 with 225 & 285 widths. I chose these due to the strength and light weight. I stayed with 18", read they're all around better than 19" for the 996. I ordered these in November from TireRack and took 3 weeks to get the fronts and I'll finally get the rears today. Long backorder on the rears. Seems they don't stock many.

robbieracer, can you post some pics of your car with the new track wheels? Anyone who is willing to post pics of their car on their track wheels would be much appreciated! I'm looking for some lightweight 18 in track wheels myself..

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Here you go. Notice the fronts and rears color don't match. The fronts were manufactured Dec 2013 and the rears Oct 2014. TireRack was great and sending me a new set of fronts and should have them Monday.

^^ Thanks, those look good! I have a C2 in the same color, so that is a good reference. Are you on stock suspension?

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Yes, stock suspension. I'm at 26" from fender to the ground. I'm considering buying Ohlins coilovers, another 1/2" drop would be good and the adjustable settings for AX/DE, but afraid of making it worse (harsh ride on street). But, I can feel the drop of front susp. on corners so would like to tighten it up a bit.

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Which tires are you guys that have the Allegeritta's using? (great pix, Robbie, btw - thanks! ).

I went with Pirelli Rosso for a couple reasons. Was limited in selections with a 285/30, wanted a 200 - 220 treadwear (softer) since I don't drive the car much, and they're a lot cheaper than Michelin PS2.

I'm in the process of dropping back from 19" wheels to 18" wheels. I'm refinishing a set of Sport Techno's myself to do it since they are reasonably lightweight and easy to polish and/or paint. The problem I'm finding is tires. I love the Michelin PSS (after running two sets of PS2s) but they don't come in 30 profile sizes. And while I have ordered 2 more Hankook v12 K110s to replace the rears that were on there, they have been discontinued too and the new v12s do not have the right sizes in 18". It seems to be getting harder to find 285/30 or 295/30 in 18". I'm just hoping Michelin will add more sizes to the PSS if/when they finally obsolete the PS2.

Tire availability is one good reason to go with 19" actually. Far more cars like this using 19 than 18 including the 997 and probably the 991 too.