what is an 'early' 3.4 996?

[Fast Bug]

I've never seen a set in 17". I run a set of 18" on mine

[RM]

Slippydiff said:

I don’t think the OZ Alleggerita is made in the correct PCD and hub bore in a 17” diameter to fit the 996.
Happy to be corrected though.

Unfortunately, I believe you are correct. They make them in 17” but not for Porsche fitment. A great shame as, aside from being very light, they would look great.

[chappardababbar]

Thank you. I had wrongly assumed the 17 inch OZ would fit.

Next question, I think I want exact same fitment as the OE 17s that the early model years came with, but lighter.

Aside from bespoke manufacture, what are the options?

[Slippydiff]

chappardababbar said:

Thank you. I had wrongly assumed the 17 inch OZ would fit.

Next question, I think I want exact same fitment as the OE 17s that the early model years came with, but lighter.

Aside from bespoke manufacture, what are the options?

The OE 10 spoke 17" 996 wheels weigh 8.2kgs for the 7" ET 50 fronts and the 9" ET 55 rears weigh 9.5kg

The genuine Fuchs in equivalent sizes weigh 7.5kg for the fronts and 7.9 kgs for the rears. They'll cost you close to £3,000 for a total weight saving of 4.6kgs.

I'd wait for a set of OE 17" 10 spoke 996 wheels to come up for sale and spend the money you've saved by not buying the Fuchs on a lightweight battery.

[ATM]

Slippydiff said:

The OE 10 spoke 17" 996 wheels weigh 8.2kgs for the 7" ET 50 fronts and the 9" ET 55 rears weigh 9.5kg

The genuine Fuchs in equivalent sizes weigh 7.5kg for the fronts and 7.9 kgs for the rears. They'll cost you close to £3,000 for a total weight saving of 4.6kgs.

I'd wait for a set of OE 17" 10 spoke 996 wheels to come up for sale and spend the money you've saved by not buying the Fuchs on a lightweight battery.

Yes the OE 10 spokes are my preferred option ... right now. I have 3 sets. Controversial pic below with sunshine roof in the open position.

The only bad news with these OE wheels is the offsets are very inboard. So if you want to get nerdy about weight you need to add the weight of spacers if the look will bother you. Adding spacers also changes the steering feel but that's nit picking.

I currently run standard OE tyre sizes which are tiny 205 50 fronts and reasonably chunky 255 40 rears. The car does feel a bit more under steery if you are not decelerating and then once you turn if you get on the power hard and early again the car will feel like it wants to go straight but that's all part of the fun if you ask me. The car will move around more at sensible speeds and you can definitely feel more stuff going on. The steering feel is a lot interesting too with the smaller thinner lighter wheels up front.

Some people fit 225 45 tyres to these fronts which are cheaper and might give you more steering force but I'm not sure you need that. I guess it depends what you want. I like the way I drive the car a bit slower compared to the massive fat 18 tyres setup because I'm always wandering how much grip I have. Even with these tiny tyres I still have way more grip than my brain or balls can understand. And you will feel the changes in direction from throttle inputs much more with the tiny setup. You can still drive around other cars on the road with these tiny tyres like they are not even moving.

Final thought is braking. I'm not hard on brakes. And again having tiny tyres does make you think more about getting your braking done early. The standard brakes can easily get the fronts chirping and squirming without massive pressure on the pedal.

Ok enough rambling

[Chris Stott]

I don’t think the 17’s look bad, but those off sets are truly terrible… particularly at the front… and little wonder it understeers with 40mm less tyre section and a similar amount less track width.

[ATM]

Chris Stott said:

I don’t think the 17’s look bad, but those off sets are truly terrible… particularly at the front… and little wonder it understeers with 40mm less tyre section and a similar amount less track width.

Totally agree

But with the massive tyres it was just too easy. Turn the wheel without any thought and the car just turned. Now I'm thinking about shifting the weight to the front and then to the back and probably going a lot slower but still loving it just as much or maybe even more.

Could less be more?

[Chris Stott]

It could be.

However (IMHO)… whilst reducing overall grip could be a good thing (making the car more enjoyable to drive), the effect of the changes to tyre size and off set will make a car that already has a bias to understeer even more understeery.

I doubt there’s a huge amount less rear grip with a 255 vs a 265, so you’re just having to work harder to limit/control more under steer… for me, this isn’t fun. I want a car that feels like it wants to rotate… or at least has the option to make it feel like that.

[Slippydiff]

ATM said:

I currently run standard OE tyre sizes which are tiny 205 50 fronts and reasonably chunky 255 40 rears.

Exactly the same type sizes as a 964 RS, which whilst a few kilos lighter, wasn’t a car that understeered.

If IRCC you’re said you’re running old PS2’s, add minimal camber with more than a hint of toe in into the mix and it will result in near “supermarket trolley with knackered castors” levels of understeer.

[chappardababbar]

ATM said:

Slippydiff said:

The OE 10 spoke 17" 996 wheels weigh 8.2kgs for the 7" ET 50 fronts and the 9" ET 55 rears weigh 9.5kg

The genuine Fuchs in equivalent sizes weigh 7.5kg for the fronts and 7.9 kgs for the rears. They'll cost you close to £3,000 for a total weight saving of 4.6kgs.

I'd wait for a set of OE 17" 10 spoke 996 wheels to come up for sale and spend the money you've saved by not buying the Fuchs on a lightweight battery.

Yes the OE 10 spokes are my preferred option ... right now. I have 3 sets. Controversial pic below with sunshine roof in the open position.

The only bad news with these OE wheels is the offsets are very inboard. So if you want to get nerdy about weight you need to add the weight of spacers if the look will bother you. Adding spacers also changes the steering feel but that's nit picking.

I currently run standard OE tyre sizes which are tiny 205 50 fronts and reasonably chunky 255 40 rears. The car does feel a bit more under steery if you are not decelerating and then once you turn if you get on the power hard and early again the car will feel like it wants to go straight but that's all part of the fun if you ask me. The car will move around more at sensible speeds and you can definitely feel more stuff going on. The steering feel is a lot interesting too with the smaller thinner lighter wheels up front.

Some people fit 225 45 tyres to these fronts which are cheaper and might give you more steering force but I'm not sure you need that. I guess it depends what you want. I like the way I drive the car a bit slower compared to the massive fat 18 tyres setup because I'm always wandering how much grip I have. Even with these tiny tyres I still have way more grip than my brain or balls can understand. And you will feel the changes in direction from throttle inputs much more with the tiny setup. You can still drive around other cars on the road with these tiny tyres like they are not even moving.

Final thought is braking. I'm not hard on brakes. And again having tiny tyres does make you think more about getting your braking done early. The standard brakes can easily get the fronts chirping and squirming without massive pressure on the pedal.

Ok enough rambling

This is helpful, thank you. I actually quite like the OE offsets on these smaller wheels. It’s all part of the look and i’m sure it makes a difference to driving dynamics.

OE = 205 50 fronts and 255 40 rears

Do you think I could get away with 205 50 all round? Would this reduce understeer?

[chappardababbar]

I’m loving these I must say. Made to OE offsets. In 17s.

Prolly will weight a ton though.

[Fast Bug]

If you can't get it to rotate, you're not trying hard enough

[Slippydiff]

chappardababbar said:

I’m loving these I must say. Made to OE offsets. In 17s.

Prolly will weight a ton though.

Yep, Rotiform aren't exactly known for manufacturing lightweight wheels ...

[chappardababbar]

I’m loving these I must say. Made to OE offsets. In 17s.

Prolly will weight a ton though.

[chappardababbar]

'

Thoughts?

[Rich_AR]

Recently replaced the tired original (yes original) shocks/struts. The car is nearly at 150k, so these were long over due. The bumps stops where pretty much disintegrated. Always knew buying a leggy project car that this stuff would need doing as I went along. With the shocks i also fitted new top mounts, bump stops, drop links, bearings, bellows etc. Springs are Eibach jobbies, thus i replaced the original m030 B4's with the uprated B8's (which were cheaper than B4' & B6's i found)

Geo to follow soon, but first impressions the car feels transformed.

Edited by Rich_AR on Monday 25th July 02:15

[topgunmatt]

Hi Guys, apologies its been rather hectic lately

Here are a few more pics of the 996, I'm trying to get the advert ready over the next week or so.

[url]

|https://thumbsnap.com/xXqeTj4U[/url]



[url]

|https://thumbsnap.com/zUGCdf1p[/url][url]

|https://thumbsnap.com/kEhgqUM1[/url][url]

|https://thumbsnap.com/bRj4oFSU[/url]

[Orangecurry]

ATM said:

Yes the OE 10 spokes are my preferred option ... right now. I have 3 sets. Controversial pic below with sunshine roof in the open position.

The only bad news with these OE wheels is the offsets are very inboard. So if you want to get nerdy about weight you need to add the weight of spacers if the look will bother you. Adding spacers also changes the steering feel but that's nit picking.

I currently run standard OE tyre sizes which are tiny 205 50 fronts and reasonably chunky 255 40 rears. The car does feel a bit more under steery if you are not decelerating and then once you turn if you get on the power hard and early again the car will feel like it wants to go straight but that's all part of the fun if you ask me. The car will move around more at sensible speeds and you can definitely feel more stuff going on. The steering feel is a lot interesting too with the smaller thinner lighter wheels up front.

Some people fit 225 45 tyres to these fronts which are cheaper and might give you more steering force but I'm not sure you need that. I guess it depends what you want. I like the way I drive the car a bit slower compared to the massive fat 18 tyres setup because I'm always wandering how much grip I have. Even with these tiny tyres I still have way more grip than my brain or balls can understand. And you will feel the changes in direction from throttle inputs much more with the tiny setup. You can still drive around other cars on the road with these tiny tyres like they are not even moving.

For the offset/inboard problem, one option you could try is to get some Boxster 8.5J rears in either the '996 Carrera 2' or rarer Sport Classic, both of which have very similar weights to the 10-spoke..... and put them on the front with the matching 9J rears on the rear.
If you follow me.
Then fit 225/45 to the 8.5J - it is slightly stretched, but that reduces sidewall flex.

There is also a 10-spoke 7J front with an offset of 55, or do you already have those?

But I do agree with you that 205/50 on 7J gives a telepathically good feel to the steering.

Edited by Orangecurry on Sunday 24th July 19:25

[WojaWabbit]

topgunmatt said:

Hi Guys, apologies its been rather hectic lately

Here are a few more pics of the 996, I'm trying to get the advert ready over the next week or so.

Thanks. I'm definitely interested, would like to know a bit more about current condition, history, etc. PM if you're keen to get discussion going.

[ATM]

chappardababbar said:

OE = 205 50 fronts and 255 40 rears

Yes

chappardababbar said:

Do you think I could get away with 205 50 all round? Would this reduce understeer?

As an experiment I tried 4 front wheels with 205 50 on my 986 and the car drove fine. The only time I really noticed the difference was coming off the power while turning and the car felt like it wanted to step out on me.

I also tried 4 rears with 255 40 on my 996. They rubbed a bit on full lock but that was 15mm spacers. So maybe without spacers they would be fine.

I think you might find the rear end of your 996 getting a bit more out of shape easily with 205 on the rear.