Porsche Targa Wheels

The other day, the Porsche Targa Heritage Design Edition was announced, and looking at the images, it looked incredibly cool. When I first saw the design of the 992 model, I honestly thought, “Something about the rear feels off…” but over time I got used to it. As for the Targa, the blend of the classic “Targa feel” with a fresh new look is very refined and beautiful.

Looking at the photos Porsche has released of the 992 so far (including catalogs), just like this Targa, they often wear Carrera Exclusive Design wheels reminiscent of the Fuchs wheels, so these wheels must be a top recommendation from Porsche.

By the way, Fuchs wheels are legendary forged wheels first used on the 1967 model year Porsche 911S, designed in the shape of clover leaves.

*Image source: The legendary Fuchs rims

At that time, Porsche needed to equip the new 911S with wheels lighter than the standard 911 to reduce unsprung weight, requiring the wheels to be about 3 kg lighter than steel ones.

Achieving such a weight reduction was a tough challenge for conventional cast aluminum wheel manufacturers, but the only company that solved this was Fuchs. Fuchs wheels were the only wheels at the time that were lightweight yet met all of Porsche’s requirements.

Also, the distinctive cloverleaf design was finalized in 1965 when Ferdinand Alexander Porsche wanted a more harmonious appearance and modified the wheel design submitted by Fuchs.

Records from that time say, “Porsche Junior changed the shape of the five spokes connecting the hub and rim for style and visual reasons.”

Everything has its history, doesn’t it?

Fuchs also supplies wheels to BMW, AUDI, Mercedes-Benz, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Jaguar, Aston Martin, and others, so their quality is well recognized.

Forged wheels are not only light but also strong and contribute to improved ride comfort. Incidentally, my husband also likes forged wheels, and regarding our Panamera’s wheels, he said:

Since the 911 Turbo Design wheels were described as ‘forged wheels,’ I thought 21 inches would be fine and chose them.

However, forged wheels require special high-pressure pressing technology, making the equipment and manufacturing costs high, so they tend to be expensive.

Carrera Exclusive Design Wheels

Back to Fuchs wheels… The Fuchs wheels with design input from F.A. Porsche are included in the Porsche Classic product range. To support historic Porsche models, almost every type of classic Fuchs wheel is available.

Of course, these wheels must meet Porsche’s high standards for quality and safety, and even wheels made in the 1980s have passed rigorous testing at Porsche’s Weissach development center, proving a 30-year service life before being listed in the Porsche Classic parts lineup — quite impressive.

For current 911 models, you can select 20/21-inch Carrera Exclusive Design wheels as an option on Porsche Japan’s configurator. (However, the current wheels are not made by Fuchs.)

(The Carrera Exclusive Design wheels look really cool up close.)

For example, choosing the 20/21-inch Carrera Exclusive Design wheels on a Targa 4 costs 574,000 yen. Definitely a premium price…

Actually, when we ordered our 911 (992) Cabriolet earlier this year, my husband seriously considered the Carrera Exclusive Design wheels but ultimately decided against them. He said:

The 20/21-inch option wheels for the 992 look great, and I wanted to choose the Exclusive Design wheels, but because the wheels are large, the standard brake discs look relatively small and sparse, which bothered me. So if I were to choose option wheels, I’d want to pair them with the larger PCCB discs, but that’s way too expensive, so I went with the standard 19/20-inch wheels.

Indeed, PCCB with these wheels looks insanely cool, but hearing the price freezes you… (around 2 million yen combined). Still, I really want to see a 992 with this combo around the Royu Driveway someday.

*Article and image source: Porsche Newsroom “The Legendary Fuchs Wheels”