OEM 997 Turbo wheels on Boxster?
 

Hi everyone,

I'm interested in fitting the factory 997 turbo wheels to my '01 Boxster S. Will they bolt right up? I was told they will not, but I wanted a second opinion.

they will not fit for two reasons:
a) the rears are 11" the widest rim which you can fit at the rear of your box is 10"
b) let's assume for one moment that you have rear fender flares which give you the extra one inch space then you would still need wheel spaces for the inner clearance

In one word fugedaboudit

Thank you. So it seems the 19x11" will not fit without some work, but the other variations will (19x10", 19x9.5")?

I am skating on a bit of thin ice here, but I am not sure if 9.5 in the front will fit.
I believe I have 9" in the front and 10" in the rear

Not sure if 19" rims are supported on a '01 Boxster
I believe with MY 2000 Porsche made the frame stronger to be able to absorb the harder ride resulting from the lower sidewalls of 18" (!) tires, nit sure when they signed off on 19"

Sorry - I was referring to only the rear wheel rim widths when I mentioned 9.5/10 (I was planning to do an 8.5" front or possibly a 9").

I've seen quite a few others with 19" wheels, although that doesn't mean they're okay for usage. I wonder if anyone else has any input as to using 19s.

Ah, OK
but even with 9.5 in the rear you still might spacers, depends on the offset of the rim

A friend of mine ran turbo 19x11 rear wheels on his '98 Boxster. He had to roll his fenders and used spacers but they did fit.

Although it can be done, unless you have wads of cash, I'd advise against it simply because of the cost of tires could put one in the poor house.....IMHO I think 18's are the sweet spot for looks and tire cost and choice.

Plus, you can use the money you saved from not having to purchase 19" tires and lower your car making the 18's look even better and probably have some $$$ left over for the other mods you will eventually end up doing.... :D

I have considerable experience with regard to wheel applications. Rolling the fender notwithstanding, no way, no how will an 11 inch wheel fit on a 986 boxster.

I would be perfectly happy with a 9.5" or 10" wheel in the rear. But are most people running 18s? I didn't realize 19s weren't that popular with the 986 cars.

I run 18s with 8" front and 9.5" rears. No spacers. My guess is that most people actually run with the stock 17" wheels on the 986, and those who upgrade run with 18". The 986 was never designed to run with 19" wheels, but some have done it.

forgive me if I am stating the obvious but not all rims are created equal, it's all about the offset. If a 9.5" Boxster wheel fits w/o spacers this does not mean that a 9.5" Carrera wheel will fit

Absolutely...not all 9.5" wheels will fit without spacers. The offset is important.

I am not an expert (nor do I play one on tv... :) ) but I personally saw the wheels on the car and my friend told me he rolled the fenders and used large spacers for clearance.

Unfortunately, I don't have any better images of the rear end, but these were 11" rears running 315/25/19s. They were Victor Equipment Lemans wheels as seen in the post below.

http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-general-discussions/16614-opinions-rear-spoiler.html

I think it's because when the Boxster first came along, it wasn't really designed to support a 19" wheel. Plus, the added weight and/or cost that a 19" wheel/tire entails is a negative to some with little or no benefit over 18s.

I went with 18" 997 Turbo Replica from Ebay and loved them.

There is absolutely no way that one could fit an 11 inch wheel on a 986 boxster, let alone with a 315 tire. The Lemans wheel is also available in a 9.5 . Perhaps, someone is mistaken on the size.

Maybe they were 9.5s, I never actually measured his rear wheels but I can confirm without doubt that they were 19s and shod in 315s because I distinctly remember the $$$ signs that flashed in front of my eyes thinking about when the time came for him to replace the tires... :)

As to mistaken on size, my friend and the owner of the Boxster told me they were takes offs from a turbo (in the shop he was a technician) for a change to different wheels and that they were 11" wide. I know they were noticeably wider than the 18" Sport Designs I have on my car and I had no reason to doubt him.

It really makes no difference since the OP is more than likely not going to go this route anyway, I was just passing on some info I had. I apologize to the OP for the thread jack and any possible misinformation I might have passed on unintentionally to others, so in closing..... No, 19x11 wheels will not fit on your Boxster.... :cheers:

I ran 19x9" in the front and 19x10" in the rear of my 2000 Boxster. i changed back to the stock 17" rims on the front and rear because my car didn't seem to have the torque to run the bigger rims without feeling noticeably sluggish in lower gears. maybe it's my perception but i can tell a difference in the "seat of the pants" feel between the bigger (heavier) rims and tires vs. the smaller (lighter) rims and tires. running the 19" rims + the a/c was not enjoyable at all. FWIW

Run 18s. I believe 18s are a great compromise for the 986... Great looks and you don't notice the power loss. At least I didn't.

I think some members are missing the point here. Regardless of size, whether they're 17, 18 or 19 inches, when it comes to upgrading wheels, the objective is to reduce unsprung weight and rotational mass. I have a set of one piece forged Champion wheels, the heaviest of which weighs less than 20 lbs. Compared to the 18 inch oem wheels that were on my vehicle, I have shaved off nigh on to 80 lbs !!! With all of the modifications that have been made to my vehicle, this was arguably the most significant in term of improved acceleration, braking, overall handling and performance .