Adding spacers with factory 18s

[cky3k2]

I am looking to add spacers to the factory 18" twist rims on my 2002 boxster 2. I would like to add 23mm in the rear and 18mm in the front. Has anyone done this and had rubbing issues?

[oc-boxster]

I have 15 mm rear and 7 mm front. For my taste 15 in the rear is as far as I would go as it puts the tire right about flush with body line. Any more and it would look weird in my opinion. Especially the issue you would have with the tires slinging dirt, water etc on the sides of your rear bumper.

[RandallNeighbour]

Don't forget that spacers are really hard on your wheel bearings and will cause premature failure to some extent or another...

I've been running them on my aftermarket Carrera light 18's to clear the struts in front and brake lines in back and I'm going to sell them for this very reason.

[Perfectlap]

If your wheels are heavy (30 lbs. or more), and you have spacers, you are going to beat up that expensive suspension and the wheel bearings as soon as you start racking up mileage or hit some rough L.A. roads. And I do mean expensive... I think it cost me more to overhaul the suspension on this car than I sold my well modified Miata for.

[cky3k2]

Thanks OC Boxster. What year and rims do you have? I had 2 2003 models before this, both with the 18" carrera rims. I never thought the gap was as much as this 2002 model has. I suspect that the offset was different between these 2 years as the tire size appears to be the same. Can you share any pictures of your car?

With my first 2003 I always though I should space them out just a bit and I never did. I probably would have opted for 7mm and 15mm. With my second one the previous owner put 10mm on the rear. For my taste, I still thought it could have used a bit more, but I left it as is.

But these wheels really look sunken in to me.

[oc-boxster]

I have a 2002 S with factory 18" turbo twist wheels. I do like the look, but like others have posted I do worry about them affecting the wheel bearings and suspension negatively so in glad I saved the original wheel bolts as I may remove the spacers. I just overhauled my suspension to the tune of 3800.00 I don't want to wreck it.

[jaykay]

How are you all ruining your suspension with spacers? Never heard this one before? Wheel bearings will see higher moment loads.

I have 23s and 15s on sport classic 2s and lowered...no rubbing save the slats in front on the front wheels

[geetee]

so all the factory cars that came with wheel spacers are going to ruin their suspension?

many porsche models came from factory with OEM spacers with no issues running for many many miles. Factory spacers ranged from 5mm to 17mm's.
Make sure they are hub and wheel centric and you're good to go

[boxxster]

A reasonably sized wheel spacer is not going to ruin your suspension. There is no difference between adding wheel spacers and putting a wheel on that is the same width and diameter but a slightly lower offset. Either way you're pushing the wheel outwards and it will be putting more leverage on the suspension. If you go with a spacer no bigger than 10-12mm, I can't see there being any problems. You'll still be far better off than the people who put 10 and 11" wide wheels on these cars.

[Perfectlap]

Heavy wheels will ruin your suspension. Heavy wheels with the wrong spacers will punish your wheel bearings AND suspension. If you track or autocross then you definitely need to speak to an experienced professional about your set up. Correctly spaced wheels will not damage your suspension, nobody is claiming that. But all too often I see people buy a second hand Porsche and slap on heavy aftermarket wheels and spacers. The car is now slower off the line and your giving some very expensive parts a premature death.

Are these 18" Turbo twists with rear Boxster fit or are they possibly the solid spoke twists from a 996 Carrera?
If the latter, those are not the lightest wheels, they're nearly 30 pounds.