it also depends on the machine that's used to work the barrel on 3pc wheels. thus MOST 3 piece wheel are very tight (18"), unless you change offset, which with certain circumstances are less optimal than rubbing. all 2009 and 2010 car cars have slight rubbing as rubber wedge bn caliper and barrel. that i am not worried about. if you are remotely fast enough on track, you have a lot more damage on brake ducts from car buttoming out, rear fender road rash (no matter how much clr film you have, i once had 6 layers on top of each other, 1 race was all it took to put rash on the paint under 6 layers of 3M film).

now if you go with 18" one piece forging, you will gain a little more clearance with identical offset of 3 piece wheel simply b/c of how the barrels are spun out.

there are MANY factors on how wheels fit.
every wheel has advantage and disadvantage, so take your pick and decie how you plan to damage your car ;-)

oh, the lighter the wheel, the more likely it will bend. NO exceptions. i have bent just about every type/brand of wheels out there. if you use the heavy oem wheels, it' s much harder to bend them, but of course they wt a bit more.

my buddy, pete has your wheels on his spyder. looks nice.

 

Thanks for all the input! Making for a tough decision. Both the BBS and the Tech 1 wheels are gorgeous!

 

Thanks for the kind words.
As to the direct relationship between wheel weight and tendency to bend, I disagree.
Strength can certainly be affected by mass, I do concede this. However, our experience has shown that the quality of the alloy used combined with the engineering prowess of the manufacturer are far more important factors.
Admittedly, we have an advantage. We can make the exact shape forging we want for each application. We can also use the alloy we want and heat treat into it the properties that we want.
We call it "weight optimization". It is a careful balance between high strength and low mass. We use the TUV test standards for every wheel we develop.

It is rare when someone bends one of our wheels. Thankfully.

 

indeed, you response is more complete

alloy and manufacturing prowess matters a lot.
i was trying to say that given similar quality, then wt has impact on strength. say if your shop were to make two wheel models, with similar design and such, but one used slightly more metal than the other, then that can be made a bit stronger. or look at BBS, the magnesium wheels were lighter than alum (until now), but the mag wheels really need a lot of inspection every event b/c you never know when they will kaput. but while they lasted, they are very very light.

i haven't bent CCW one piece forging YET. john is challenging me to

when i drive pete h's car when he turns his head around. i'll try fly it off T5 at laguna and i'll report back if i get his wheels out of round

 

Hey!



I can say I have Forged Alloys on my C4S which I tracked and they were very durable. I had bent 2 OE wheels on my RS by an off with a very small rut while off the brakes/gas (Sunset at Buttonwillow). So I think the OE wheels are soft. I was able to have them bent back out.

A set of the Forged Alloys centerlocks are here now and going on my RS for the rebuild so will give them the track test soon enough.

The Spyder heels have held up perfectly so far. Very durable finish, the anodized.

 

It appears from several PMs that I need to reconfirm some fitment info about the 18 inch wheels we make for the 997.
First, this is a unique pair of forgings designed by us for this one application. The wheels are available in 5x130 or centerlock, in the the correct offset for both narrow and wide body cars. Wide front wheels (9.5 and 10.0) are available on special order.
The wheels are engineered to fit with standard brakes, PCCBs, StopTech and Brembo calipers. This wheels have been test fit with ALL of these combinations and are guaranteed to fit, without spacers or any of that nonsense, or your money back.
I hope this clears up any confusion.