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 .

That's a nice objective, but not everyone upgrades to a larger sized wheel on the Boxster to reduce unsprung weight. Some do it for the look of the larger wheel/wider stance, regardless if they gain a little weight/lose some performance from the swap to larger wheels. Not everyone can drop $5k+ on new HRE's, Dymags, or Champions, but still want the look of the larger wheel setup.

I am with you on that.
My street wheels are 18" and my track wheels 17"
Why?
Because I go through track tires like there's no tomorrow and 17" tires are cheaper than 18"

The fact of the matter is, most, if not all, of the "high end" wheel companies (particularly, the ones that you mentioned) begin their line up of wheels starting with size 19. Therefore, for those of us who embrace the concept of less weight/rotational mass, there are few choices but to move up to said size and spend the money. Otherwise, unless one is looking to simply change the appearance of their vehicle, they are better off leaving the oem wheels in place.

Again, your original post implied that the objective for everyone should be to embrace the concept of less weight/rotational mass, but my point was that not everyone necessarily has that objective when sizing up. Some just want to size up for looks, or just want cheap larger looking wheels for asthetic reasons, which is why you see so many replica wheels out there. These type of consumers don't care if they lose a little performance by sizing up with heavier/larger wheels.

In addition, there are wheel companies like OZ and others that offer 18" lightweight wheels too. Just because you buy a larger lightweight wheel, you still have to pair it with the larger rubber, which also is heavier than the smaller sized tire, so you don't always end up on the better end with a larger set up, performance-wise. How many people do you see track their cars with 19" tires/wheels? In many cases, a smaller tire/wheel set up will yield faster track times vs. A large 19" set up. I also distinctly remember an article in Excellence on a Manthey Racing (sp?), prepped 996 with upgraded engine and suspension, and they specifically put 18" wheels/tires on the car because they said that the car performed optimally on 18s.

It seems to me that the premise of this thread began with a question regarding wheel fitment. Subsequently, some members then engaged the topic of wheel size with respect to changes in performance. I reiterate, for those who are performance minded, the goal is to reduce unsprung weight and rotational mass. I understand that under certain racing or "track" applications, wheel and tire size are subject to great debate. However, at no point did I suggest that changing wheels for the sake of appearance was wrong provided that said wheels had the correct fitment . In fact, the only point that I stressed was that there was no way that an 11 inch wheel would ever fit 986 boxster. Lastly, other than the OZ wheel that you mentioned, I challenge you to name a few after market companies that offer a high quality 18 inch wheel that is strong, light weight and reliable and is designed specifically for a Porsche. I know of very few .

Challenge? Lol. What, are we in third grade? Ok, here's a few 18" wheels from decent wheel makers...
HRE: 563R, C95, 593R, 560C
BBS: RSGT 2-piece forged
Volk TE37

I can research some others if you like, but I'm about to go on a 5 HR flight, so we can continue this when I get back if you really want to. IMO, on the 986, 18s work well as a good balance of attributes, and on the 987, 19s work ok. But again, that's off topic.

If you get stuck I will allow you to phone a friend or use a "life line". lol !

I was looking on the Wheel Dynamics website and saw their replica wheels. Does anyone know what size (18" or 19") they are using on the pictured Boxster? I emailed them a week ago and received no reply :/

hot link:

http://wheeldynamics.net/AA%2003-11-08%20310.jpg

I believe that they are 18's.

Thanks for the info. You wouldn't happen to have the weight info too, would you? Do you know the weight of the OEM 997 turbo wheels?

I'd love a set of lightweight Champions but I can't justify spending the coin on a new set. A lightly used set seems hard to find.

Keep in mind, that the oem 997 turbo wheels are a one piece forged design (purportedly made by Fuchs) . Whereas the replica wheels are simply a cast version thereof. The difference in weigh is like night and day.

If you are looking stay with 18's, I came across a Japanese "tuner" awhile back who offers what appears to be a beautiful one piece forged wheel for really reasonable money.
If you like, I can post the link for you and others .

The real OEM wheel is 19"s, but the replicas do come in both 18"s and 19"s.

Yes I am aware. That is why I was wondering what the weight difference would be. Maybe I'll give them a call on Monday and they can give me more info.

Yes I would like more information on the Japanese wheels you are referring to.. thanks!

The Japanese "tuner" that I was referring to is Jubily. I don't know much about them other than it appears that they offer some high quality items; namely wheels and exhausts. Last I knew they had an importer in the US called Zero R International. I'm not sure what their status is, however, I'll post their link . I know in the past Vivid Racing sold their products.

http://www.zerorinternational.com/wheels-parts-store.cfm?page=16&action=detail&prod=25&CatID=7

This is a clip of their exhaust on a 987.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhez8I_VFGQ

and a 986
http://www.zerorinternational.com/porsche-multimedia.cfm