[Will]

After a season of DE running SO2's on 17" C2 turbo replica cup wheels, I'm getting ready to buy a set of track wheels/tires. Although I love the look of my current wheels, I've decided not to put R-compound tires on them and use them on the track, since they are not the strongest wheels. Late model wheels from a 964/993/996 ("late offset" wheels) will need large spacers to make them fit our older cars ("early offset" wheels - mine is an '87 Carrera), which is a weaker setup. Yes, you can buy replicas (like mine) that require little or no spacers, but they effectively have a built in spacer - take a look at the deep hub! Again, not the strongest. When you put sticky R rubber on these wheels and tear around the track, it puts an enormous sheer force on the hub. So... what I'm going to do is keep my 17" replicas and SO2's for the street, and buy dedicated track wheels/tires. This seems to narrow things down to two options: (1) Buy a set of 7X16" (front) and 9X16" (rear) Fuchs, say from a 930. This will give the correct offset for our cars, and they are very strong. (2) Buy a custom lightweight forged wheel such as Fikse, Kinesis, or BBS, which are made to suit your particular car (i.e., correct offset - no spacers). Both are expensive options, but I want a strong and lightweight setup.

Will

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'87 Carrera Coupe
'97 993 Carrera S
'96 BMW R1100RT