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Old 02-19-2008, 06:47 AM   #10
husker boxster
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Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Omaha
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Hope you enjoy your birthday present. You are very lucky. Don't be disappointed if the guys in the forum dis your idea. They can be a bunch of traditionalists (not the first word that came to mind but the nicest) when it comes to doing something different with wheels. They totally hated that I put chrome wheels on my previous Boxster but I liked the chrome wheels. And that's my advice to you - do what you want to do and don't worry about what others think.

That being said, you may not be able to find wheels that large for Boxsters (unless you're willing to spend $5K). Porsches have a fairly unique offset (how far in or out the wheel sits) and not many manufacturers make wheels only for Porsche - just too small a market. So your choices are limited. Fewer choices mean higher prices (get used to that with Porsches). Most common aftermarket sets of wheels cost $1200-$1500. If you want 20+, you'll probably have to go with a custom 3 piece wheel which will quickly put you into the $4K neighborhood.

Something else to be careful of - lots of sellers say their wheels fit on Boxsters. What they mean is they'll fit if you put an insane sized spacer on to make them fit. NEVER buy a wheel without knowing what the offsets are. You don't say what year Boxster you are getting, but an early 986 will probably be 50mm front and 52mm rear offsets.

One more thought on 20s. I'm sure you don't care about unsprung weight or moment of inertia, and that kind of stuff. But 20s will put a tremendous pressure on your wheel bearings, which are not a strong point on the Boxster to begin with. In fact, Porsche does not recommend putting 18s on 1997 Boxsters because of the wheel bearing issue (however, there are several forum members who are "cheating death" with 19s on their '97s). Replacing wheel bearings becomes an expensive proposition if you cannot do it yourself. Something to think about.

Welcome to the forum and enjoy your Boxster responsibly.
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