Near as I can tell, Porsche began offering center-lock wheels as a street option in 2007, beginning with the 911 Turbo. Today that option costs $3,835 on the standard Turbo, but the so-called RS Spyder wheels are standard on the Turbo S. Other 911 variants now offer them, too.
Porsche touts several benefits: they look clean, they're easy to clean, they represent less unsprung mass and, theoretically, at least, they're far less likely to get stolen. This last point boils down to two reasons: 1) the market for these unique wheels is very limited and; 2) with a special socket and 444 lb-ft of tightening torque in play it takes more than a cross wrench to get these babies off.
Beyond all that, center lock wheels come straight out of motorsports, where one central nut makes pit stops incredibly fast if you've got a swarm of crewmen, air jacks and a couple of $3,000 ported and polished air guns to go with them.
We don't possess such an air gun, but we do have a secret weapon of our own. And we needed it in order to photograph the 2011 Porsche 911 GTS suspension walkaround.
