Planet 9

I am looking to put light weight 19" wheels on a new (2010) Cayman S. I assume the 2010 will use the same wheels as the 2009, but that may be wrong. While price is always a consideration, weight is my top priority at the moment.

Suggestions?

Thanks.

Monoblock forged are usually the lightest for 19" wheels. Champion makes a wide range of choices for reasonable prices, available through Wheel Enhancement. For less reasonable prices HRE and Fikse are also great sources of 1-piece forged wheels. I'm partial to the Fikse Chroma myself. Also interesting are the so-called billet wheels from Gibson (Google them). I'm not sure I'm sold on the looks, though.

Enke also makes a light wheel. I just ordered a Fikse Profile 5. I was told that the Chromas are not made to fit the Cayman but only the 911.

__________________
VIDS
Cayman Turbo 520HP

Thank goodness! That way I won't be compelled to buy a set!

Your best bet for the money will be OZ Ultraleggara's which I think are pretty light and cheap!

I think Champion wheels are another good alternative.

I'm running Kinesis F110's which are pretty light too but out of production now.

I thought ultraleggara was a cigar aging technique? No, really. Hehe

I agree Ultraleggeras are very good for the price point - that's why I have them on my car. I also agree with the above recommendations. In addition, you may want to look at Volk Racing; they are one-piece forged and very light (ran them on my Boxster). -Jeff

I think with the HRE's and Fikse's you will have to spend a lot more. BBS also makes some great wheels that are light weight but they will also be a little more pricey. All good for the money though.

Forgeline has a new one piece wheel.

DPE is coming out with one-piece forge as well. At around $4K a set not exactly a bargain, but still a cheaper than HREs.

I have the Fikse Chromas on my 2006 Cayman S. 19x8.5 and 19x11 (295 rear tire) and look fantastic. They are made for Caymans so offset is perfect no spacers needed and very light. I shopped around and you can get these cheaper than a Champion product. Call Fikse directly.

Oh no!! Chromas do fit the Cayman! How will I resist?

Do you have pictures?

If you truely mean "light" and money isn't a major obstical, you can't find anything much lighter than Dymag CF & magnesium wheels, www.dyamag.com ..... I believe Wheel Enhancement is a US distributor. I think Dymag 19" wheels in Audi R8 fitment (5x112 etc) run @ $2400+ per wheel. I assume Porsche bolt pattern (5x130mm) would be in the same ball park.

But then again, one probably can't find anything much more expensive either.

2nd choice, at least based on TireRack's published weight figues for wheels are probably the Volk T37 Racing Wheels. They seem to be at least a pound or two or three ahead of the BBS & OZ forged wheels.

Last but not least, I think the old mechanic's saw, "You can have light & cheap; or you can have light & storng, but you can't have light, cheap and strong" probably applies.

If all you want "light" for is boulevard crusing, cheap may not be a huge issue, but if you'er planning on going to the track &/or putting sticky tires on light & cheap might be penny wise, pound foolish. Enkie's are relatively light, but I've know personal knowledge or information about how they might compare strength wise vis-a-vis BBS's "forged" wheels.

__________________
'o6 Cayman SArtic Silver/Black leather

I looked down this path also, found the best price/weight (imo) was the Champion RS98 at 18.1 lbs front 19x8.5, 19.4 lbs rear 19x10.

Price was > 1k each. On sale.

I checked the trade-in value with the same vendor on my 19' Carrera Classics ... $700 total.

This kind of scared me off for now, it basically means your > $4k new wheels will loose 83% of their value the second you buy them. The profit margin on these things must be phenominal.

The margins aren't phenomenal, it's just that the used market is small and inconsistent, and for trade-ins you can probably assume you're getting about 50% of the final selling price.

Almost all high-end consumer products have high depreciation rates. Aftermarket wheels are a real luxury, and like all Porsche-ordered options you might as well assume a 90-100% write-off.

Trust me, as someone who sells forged three piece wheels, both retail for a manufacturer as well as having our own private label wheels made here in North America......... the margins are not very good! ..... at all....

Cheers

__________________
www.pacificwesternperformance.com

06 Cayman S
84 911 DE machine
07 VW GTI
09 ZX6R

I saw an Enkei wheel break on someone's 350Z track car. Several spokes detached from the rim. Fortunately, the driver was able to bring it back to the paddock in one piece.

retail sucks, period. most focus groups i've done on high end consumer products all said price is never a consideration up front, that service & quality is most important blah blah blah, but once you get to price it becomes the ONLY consideration when the product isn't unique except your service offering. this is why you'll see a vast majority of the people shop for price, even a group like this forum with higher income levels.

Amen!!

__________________
www.pacificwesternperformance.com

06 Cayman S
84 911 DE machine
07 VW GTI
09 ZX6R

Sorry, I didn't mean to start that one off. Or insult any no doubt honest vendors out there. I should have said that by the time the alloy block gets sold to the wheel oem and then sold to the wholesale business and thence to the wheel shop that the small and fair profits taken along the way have put the product out of reasonable reach. The wheels wind up costing way more than what they are worth.

If you are into racing, or if every thing is about the car, then the reach may still be worth it for some. Reducing weight at the wheels is very benificial, I was just suprised by the cost to value difference. If I find a whole bunch of money laying around, I may still go there ...