Thanks guys. Great input. I have asked the factory to consider putting in to production the following:

WIDTH OFFSET
7 +49 --- front and rear early 911, 914, early VW
8 +30 --- front 911, front 911 widebody, front 930, rear 911, 914, 944
9.5 +19 --- rear 911, front 911 widebody, front 930, rear 930, 944
11 0 --- rear 911 widebody, rear 930

Very cool.

The 7" +49 is a 911R spec offset. Of all (4) of the sizes listed that will probably be the best seller - mostly to VW folks. Early 911/912/914 guys will enjoy having a 7x17" wheel option to fit non flared cars.

The 8x17 +30 may also fit the narrow '69-'77 911 cars front and rear. The rear will be close and will require some negative camber to fit. The front may require a small spacer or removing the metal strut dust covers and replacing with the rubber VW covers.

The 8&9.5x17" combo for 911 SC and 3.2 Carreras will be a sweet setup. The front may require a small spacer or removing the metal strut dust covers and replacing with the rubber VW covers. The rear may require shaving the spring plate bolts, some negative camber, and heavier rate torsion bars depending on ride height. This combo may be the best seller or slightly behind the 7" wheel in sales.

The 8&9.5x17" combo for 930 cars should be an easy fit.

The 9.5&11x17 combo for 911 widebodies and 930 will be sweet. It'll be a tight fit front and rear but for those folks that are serious about fat Fuchs style wheels these will be the answer to wanting this style wheel at an affordable price. As long as pricing is reasonable I'll be in for a set or two of these in RSR finish.

Another interesting combo - for a late 930 use 8" ET +30 front wheels and 11" ET 0 rear wheels with 235/40 front and 275/40 rear tires. That should be an easy fit with the later style front hubs. Rear spacers would be removed (or a small spacer could be used).

So then, a welded section?

side note; I'm surprised that more people aren't asking about construction (considering the history of compromised imitations)

Exactly what I will be needing at some point, market just got a little bigger!:D

As large a wheel that will fit in an unmodified 1984 narrow body Carrera and I'd definitely give it some major consideration. What kind of price point are we thinking here?

RSR Fitment and Finish
 

Yes I would be keen for 17x9.5/17x11 for RSR widebody in RSR Finish.

I don't think people asked about the process as most people know the Braid are the better of what is available aftermarket.

Brent

Here's an example of 911 widebody 9.5&11x17 fitment from Brent's build thread.

Rear 11x17 ET 0 wheel with 315/35R17 tire:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1307226125.jpg

Front 9.5x17 ET +8 wheel with 255/40R17 tire:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1307226045.jpg

The 9.5" ET +19 wheel proposed by Braid will move the front wheel closer to the inner fender by 11mm, allowing a bit more outer clearance for a 275/40R17 tire and slightly better scrub radius.

Nice setup Brent!

Here's another example of the 9.5&11x17 fitment.

This example has the exact offsets that Braid is considering. 11x17 ET 0 and 9.5x17 ET +19

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1177024921.jpg

Another interesting combo - for a late 930 use 8" ET +30 front wheels and 11" ET 0 rear wheels with 235/40 front and 275/40 rear tires. That should be an easy fit with the later style front hubs. Rear spacers would be removed (or a small spacer could be used).

Kaefer - Is that with no spacers on the blue car? What tires are those on the unpainted widebody?

According to the link that's correct, no spacers.

I believe the tires on the unpainted car are Nitto NT05.

Thanks, i'm thinking I want to go 315's and 245's on my car, seems like 275's would make the slow speed steering pretty heavy, no?

Tires are a personal preference. For widebody cars I've seen 235-275 up front and 275-335 in the rear.

Personally I like running tires on the narrower end of the scale. Lighter weight and usually smaller diameters.

Yes, I believe there are welds involved. But these are not "compromised imitations" of course. Just ask Carlos Sainz.

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...53787317_o.jpg

No numbers on these yet but if one looks at the prices for 15" and 16" and extrapolates............................BRAID USA

Here's a thought: would anyone consider a three piece wheel with hidden screws? Should look just the same. Advantage 1: easy custom offsets. Advantage 2: might actually happen.

Disadvantages : ???

Sounds good to me. Currently the best (and most expensive) 17" Fuchs style wheels are built this way.

Absolutely! Price might be the only downside (from a sales standpoint).

ditto for the 9.5 and 11x17 on SC's. But also with an inch of space for big brake calipers.

Hal

+10

turbo offsets 9" & 11" and 8"&9" Carrera offset Carrera offsets must clear Turbo calipers or large calipers. I like the RSR finish or option for polish lips and custom colors.

Paul- I chatted with you about this a few years ago. 17's would be a no brainer. I would probably order 2 sets right away. Getting proper race rubber on 17's has been a dream of mine. I'm limited to only one tire manufacturer right now, on very old wheels. I do not trust Fuchs anymore since finding a crack. It would open a whole new experience for early cars.

Thanks for all the input. very encouraging. I think I might have some news next week.

The Ruf Classic (Yellowbird wheel for those who don't know what the Ruf Classic is) wheels are:

17x8 front with ET +30mm
17x9 rear with ET +17.7mm

Those would be some wheels to get made. Easy to cast, strong, but hardly any market, so probably not a chance. :)

Ruf Classics are good wheels (made by Speedline) but they are seriously heavy. ~28 lbs is my recollection. Similar sized 17 in. three piece racing wheels like Fikse, Kinesis are less than 20 lbs each. +8 lbs per corner of unsprung weight is a huge amount.

hmmm. welds.

I have no doubt that welded aluminum wheels can give some serviceability --some tough miles-- but how many compared to a one-piece forged Fuchs....

IOW, yeah, there will be compromises. Welding aluminum means creating a 'heat affected zone' along the weld. That area will be softer than the parent (forged/spun) material.

...and Aluminum has no stress endurance limit to design to, so, you will likely have fewer cycles (miles) with a welded solution. (assuming the same loading.)

OTOH, if they give say 60%+ life cycle but cost 50%(-) of the fully forged, then it's a win.

Someone told me yesterday that the Fuchs are a welded construction too. I'm a little sceptical however.

The construction of Fuchs wheels has been well documented. -no welds :)

That's what I thought.

Lindsey Racing, CarsRUs (Gary Stratton = "sonjay" here on Pelican) and Trudesign have been making welded Fuchs for a very long time. They have held up to the abuse of track driving/racing quite well. Quite a few Pelicans have these wheels and i'm not sure we've seen a problem yet.

I'm not saying island is wrong about the welding. I'm just saying in practice the wheels are holding up pretty good. Braid's rally wheels indicate that too.

Oh, the rally wheels hold up allright:

http://www.teamilluminata.com./Shop/...09040small.JPG http://www.teamilluminata.com./Shop/...09043small.JPG

He still uses the wheels. Can't say how much of the car is still in circulation.

Here is a picture that could help with offsets/ width ideas.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1348843441.jpg

Wow... Looks great Al :eek:

Cool picture Chad. What is the zero end of the tape measuring from? Hub mounting surface I assume?

Thanks,
Kevin

Flat part of the inside chassis.

I'm a customer for 9x11x17 in RSR finish!

That's great Uptheorg.

BRAID want me to estimate initial sales. I think they are going to insist I purchase all of the first run.

Who else is interested and at what specs? I know it all depends on price etc but they should be consistent with our 16" offering plus an inch in dollars ;)

This picture is geat Chad. What I'd really like to see though is a table showing all the various 911 (or others) fender permutations with the widest tire and required offset. I bet it's out there somewhere.

I cant take credit for it, I got it from Dave at TRE. It helped me figure out my wheels/tires from my race car.