Teamspeed.com - Keithta's White Techart Body Kit w/ HRE 20s

From Kietha-
"So after getting my car back from Protomotive and driving it for about 6 weeks now, I had my 997 TT dropped off at Wheels Boutique in Miami to have the following installed:

Front Wheels: HRE 597 20x8.5 Gloss Black w/ 2.5" Chrome Lip
Rear Wheels: HRE 597 20x12 Gloss Black w/ 4" Chrome Lip

Pirelli 245/30/20 up front
Pirelli 325/25/20 in back

The Techart body kit Type 1 was installed which included:

Front Chin Spoiler
Side Skirts
Rear Air Diffuser
Trunk Wing
GT3 Air Vent
Techart Springs (lower 3/4") (the springs are visibile in the enlarged view of the rear wheel)

To keep unsprung weight to a minimum, my goal was to not exceed the weight of the factory 19" wheel with tire. But since I liked the HRE 597s so much, I took the hit on some extra weight.

In case you guys do not know, the 20" HRE 597 wheels are deisgned to be somewhat lighweight. They are about equal to or less than the weight of the stock 19s. But after wrapping them with a 20" tire the weight does go up some more - but not by much.....

I weighed the stock wheels against the HREs and this is what I came up with:

Stock front 19" with tire inflated: 46.5 lbs.
Stock rear 19" with tire inflated: 56.5 lbs.

HRE 597 20" front with tire inflated: 51.0 lbs.
HRE 597 20" rear with tire inflated: 57.5 lbs

So bottom line,
I am now heavier by 4.5 lbs. per side in the front.
I am now heavier by 1.0 lb. per side in the rear.

Total unsprung weight increase: 11 lbs (spread scross the 4 corners). I hope this isnt substantial enough to slow my drag strip trap speeds down....does anyone on the board have any experience in effecting their 1/4 mile trap speeds with adding a similar amount unsprung weight from a wheel/tire change? I dont care about ET - just trap speed.

As for my impressions regarding how the car feels.......actually better than I expected. Actually, my experiences with adding lowering springs to a vehicle were never positive. Due to a past experience, I expected my car to have a very slight "pogo stick" effect when going over bumps in the road. To my surprise, there wasnt any of that at all. Although a slight difference may actually exist, I didnt notice any change in ride stiffness nor did I feel imperfections in the road any more or any less than before the install.

What I did notice was positive. Less body roll and better cornering due to a lower center of gravity and tightness of the spring. The tires also contribute postively as well.

As far as appearance is concerned....I give the complete setup an "A". The black w/chrome wheel with 4" inch lip against the Yellow calipers look incredibly aggressive! The techart kit "finishes" the car with a far better "visual balance" than what comes on the car from the factory. In the short time Ive been driving it, I noticed that the car is getting more looks and comments on the road as I drive.

So improved handling & appearace...Im pleased thus far. My thanks goes out to the team at Wheels Boutique for the help.

Here are some photos of my car from this afternoon: