What are some light weight 17" Wheels for Boxster?

[steved0x]

Some of the recent threads have got me thinking about this.

The OEM Boxster wheels seem to weigh around (according to here)

Fronts 17x7 18.5 to 20'ish pounds

Backs 17x8.5 21 to 23'ish pounds

(If anybody has better weights please let me know and I'll update this thread)

Spec Boxster rules (pdf, unsure if I have the right/latest version) state that the fronts used have to weight at least 18.5 pounds and the rears have to weigh at least 20 pounds, so this is probably around the lower bound for OEM wheels in Boxster sizes.

Anyway, to get back on track, I saw the following Fuchs wheels that got me thinking..

http://www.fuchsfelgeusa.com/wheel/16600/fuchsfelge-fuchs-17



They are a few pounds lighter - I wouldn't mind a set of 17x8 fronts and 17x9 backs, although I am probably unlikely to buy a set of these for $3,032

Oz seems to make a lot of 18" Wheels in Porsche fitments, but I have never seen any in 17".

Someone like CCW or BBS probably could put together a 3 piece wheel but it would probably cost a fortune.

949racing.com has a popular line of 6ULs in 15" and 17" sizes, and they are supposedly coming out with some 18" Porsche fitments but they are unable to make any 17" in Porsche fitments.

Max PCD is 5x120 for our current 17" 5 lug tools so any Porsche fitments (5x130) would require new tools. For most new variants, we need to find a variety of fitments that can use the same tool to keep costs down. In this case, the market for 5x130 17's would largely be limited to the 986 platform. Probably not big enough to bring costs down to the right level. We made a conscious decision to limit our current 17" tooling to 5x120 to keep weight down. Sorry!

The 18" with various sets of offsets for the Cayman and Boxster and 993/996/997 is right in the sweet spot. We already have plans to begin work on those variants Q2/17 for potential release Q4/17.

To close a long winding post, does anyone know of any lightweight 17" wheels in Porsche/Boxster fitments?

If I had a choice I wouldn't be opposed to a nice light set of 17x8 and 17x9 wheels

[Smallblock454]

How about OZ Ultraleggera. Don't know if they are availabe in the US?

Ultraleggera - OZ Racing

Regards, Markus

[steved0x]

Originally Posted by Smallblock454

How about OZ Ultraleggera. Don't know if they are availabe in the US?

Ultraleggera - OZ Racing

Regards, Markus

Those are nice! Tire Rack in the USA is a dealer, but they only show 18" fitments. I should probably just give them a call and see...

[bwdz]

Oz wheels are considered light for aftermarket wheels but won't be that much lighter than your stock wheels probably 3lbs a wheel at best. Fuchs are extremely light, I recently sold some 16X7 Fuchs from a 911 and they were 13.8lbs a wheel which is even lighter than the 3 piece bbs I had same size as those were 15 and change. I weighed my new 18 inch wheels and got something like 21 and change for the 18X8 fronts and 23lbs for the 18X9 rears. I am weighing them with my luggage scale that seems pretty accurate.

[itsnotanova]

The lightest 17x8.5 wheel is the ten spoke found on 2003/04. I forget exactly what the style is called. 20.5-21lbs

[Smallblock454]

The original Fuchs rims are made of forged aluminium. So if you want light ones you have to go for the original.

Think the OZ Ultraleggera rim is lighter than the Fuchs.

I thinks itsnotanova means the 986 Boxster S II 17" rims. I've a attached a photo.



Regards, Markus

[itsnotanova]

Yes that's the style. Good luck finding some now though. Spec guys are buying them from Asia and Europe because they can't find them here

[WillH]

These are probably good but the price...
52 Outlaw Wheel - 52 Outlaw

[bwdz]

Originally Posted by WillH

These are probably good but the price...
52 Outlaw Wheel - 52 Outlaw

Those are stunning, my favorite wheels now. A little too rich for my blood as I could only buy 2 of them for what I paid for the whole car LOL

[Boxtaboy]

If you want to go all out, you can get these full carbon fiber wheels. We knew this fella who had installed them on his 08 Boxster Special Edition: http://brbs.org/gallery/2009/450/2009-05-28%2012-48-33.jpg

Think he said they were $10K for the set, and are very light. Carbon Revolution

[Nine8Six]

Originally Posted by WillH

These are probably good but the price...
52 Outlaw Wheel - 52 Outlaw

wow, just wow. Cool work

[steved0x]

Fred, next project, billet monoblock forged lightweight wheels, from cad design, prototype, to finish

[steved0x]

Originally Posted by WillH

These are probably good but the price...
52 Outlaw Wheel - 52 Outlaw

Very nice and I think cheaper than the Fuchs if I read it right.

Edit: I read it wrong, they are more expensive!

[Nine8Six]

Originally Posted by steved0x

Fred, next project, billet monoblock forged lightweight wheels, from cad design, prototype, to finish

no shish. Man that shop WillH posted is a dream business model for me. Ah one day... you'll see

There is a guy here in shanghai who does custom car wheels using a 6ton 5 axis CNC (roughly US$1.5million btw). Send him your CAD and you get your 1 (one) piece wheel in the mail 2 weeks later. He has forged AL blanks (stocks) for wheels between 15" up to 23".

Dropping by his shop once of twice per year... fascinating stuff. You want me to draft and CAE you a light wheel in the 17?!

[BRAN]

Originally Posted by WillH

These are probably good but the price...
52 Outlaw Wheel - 52 Outlaw

Ja, the Magnus Walker wheels are pretty cool, or the Harvey Weidman wheels on the Singer 911, they look really nice, too.
..."the wheels maketh the car"... that has always been my design maxime, but to quote correctly, I give that one to Rob Dickinson

So in this case, not form follows function, but function follows form (emotions/looks > weight)
But Fuchs obviously did a great job to combine those. I could never put an ugly wheel for lightweight purposes on my car, even if it would be a track car. I would rather loose, but at least look good

[Topless]

Originally Posted by Smallblock454

Think the OZ Ultraleggera rim is lighter than the Fuchs.

I thinks itsnotanova means the 986 Boxster S II 17" rims. I've a attached a photo.



Regards, Markus

I have 3 sets of these wheels left over from my BSX racing days. I may sell 1-2 sets to get them out of my yard. These OEM wheels are reasonably light and strong which is a good combination. The OZ wheels are also reasonably light and strong.

When chasing wheels for motorsport always insist on light AND strong. Some have just gone for lowest available weight and ended up with badly damaged cars when a wheel failed completely after contact with a race track gator. All of the spokes failed and the motor dragged across the track surface cracking the case. $25k later their car was as good as new (2009 Carrera S). Choose wisely.