Best sub $1000 wheel swap for 986?
 

When my jeep sells tomorrow I can finally replace the dated looking wheels on my 97 Boxster.

Someone in my city is selling some 99 911 wheels. It was disappointing to see they look just like mine.

I want to get modern wheels before I buy tires. 18" or 19" might be nice.

I've see some Cayenne wheels that appear to fit. Some newer 911 wheels need spacers?

What and where should I be looking? eBay?

Please post pictures if you did an easy upgrade. Thanks.

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My favorite wheel is the 18" Cayman S wheels, you can find them for <$1000.

I don't think you can put 19" on a 97.

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Porsche recommended against using 18" or larger wheels on the 97 Boxster. Porsche upgraded the Boxster in 98 to accommodate larger wheel sizes by strengthening the body structure.

Will you die from mounting 18, 19, or 20's on a 97? Probably not, but the car wasn't designed for them.

http://986forum.com/forums/performance-technical-chat/27209-rim-size-1997-boxster.html

Be careful updating rims, I've seen 981 rims on older PCars and it just makes the car look very out of whack.

There is the 97 issue to begin with but within that I would suggest staying within the production run of the 993 or 9X6 or possibly aftermarket counterparts from that era specifically.

I've read the debates here. That seems to the consensus although others prove it wrong.

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I bought a set of 2011 cayman wheels with brand new tires for $400, I like to stick with the factory look. They had lots of curb rash and a few marks for that low price so I just took some time to fix them up and love them.

If you have a specific rim in mind, keep an eye out on eBay, Craigslist, 986forum, RennTech, PCA, etc If you don't have a specific rim in mind, also keep an eye out until you see something you like. You should be able to buy almost any set of used OEM rims for sub-$1000. I would stick with a 17" rim, especially if you plan to do any track or autocross. I paid $600 + shipping for my set of 911 10-spokes from eBay.

Not OEM, but you can see all of the styles:
Porsche Wheels from Wheel Enhancement

Of course the Carrera rims look best.

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Just put an offer of $750 on these. I've ruled out 19" based on the debates and 1997 issues.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2017...147e2d2031.jpg

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It's not a debate. ;)
1997 = 17" maximum.

Goodness Gracious, how could anyone make a selection with all those wonderful choices!

The '97 did not have this fix "18” wheel option with rear chassis reinforced to accept new wheels. Rear body structural change included redesigned wheel wells and coil spring mounts, lower engine compartment bulkhead, rear wall crossmember and rear axle mount reinforcements."

Man, I must have missed that somewhere. Can you tell me why? I haven't rode on the 18s yet but before refinishing the wheels I put them on the car, jacked it up and compressed the suspension and I had clearance everywhere. The only spot I came really close on was at full turn in the front as it came very close to the plastic fender liner with only 5mm of clearance with the 235s on the front.

Not to debate that the 97/early 98 isn't weaker than a late 98/99, but I've seen lots of 97 spec boxsters get the living tar beat out of them and the only thing that really breaks on them is the rear subframe. That usually happens when they hit a curb sideways or do some offroading. I'd drive with 19's on a 97 if my boxster was a 97. The reason I wouldn't run 19s is because they weigh a ton and really hurt performance.

And there lies the real world truth....

Fitting larger (read heavier) wheels to a 2.5 Boxster will kill the performance especially the excelleration and mid range pull.
To me that is not acceptable, just because they look good doesn't mean they work well......

Per this thread: "TSB #4407, dated March 4, 1997: " Eighteen inch wheels are not approved for use on Boxsters. Use of eighteen inch wheels on Boxsters under severe conditions may result in structural failures of the body and/or suspension".

So as long as you aren't tracking the car or doing anything really stupid with it I think you should be fine.

Agree...I have an 01 2.7L, and even notice a difference in acceleration between 17 and 18s. The extra weight of the 19s with tires would really affect a 2.5L.

IIRC the story was large wheels, sticky tires and track testing revealed the need for the frame strengthening.

Not to mention the larger the wheel, the less crush space between the pothole and your expensive rim.

The larger the wheel, generally the more unsprung weight and thus the larger load the suspension has to absorb.

And the more expensive the tire.

Your car, your cash, your image, your comfort, your risk.

Thanks for the explanation guys. I am not worried about hurting the acceleration with the slight difference in weight of the 18 vs 17 wheel, it is not like a Boxster has any acceleration to talk about in the first place. I don't track the car and it is not like I am running slicks on it, just a 18 inch street tire that gets slid around a few turns a year so not worried about breaking it and if I do break it, oh well, I'll just fix it.

Imho pretty much all of the OE 986 wheels that aren't twists, look better than twists.

Agiain imho this is your best solution and eliminates any worry regarding offset, clearance, etc.

My '01 now has the double 5-spokes from ''03-04 and they look plenty "modern" to me. The old twists now have winter tires fitted and I can stand them for a few months each year.

I actually found some 03-04 Cayman Boxer wheels for $695. I came to the same conclusion on fit, price and look.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2017...8647b72835.jpg

The tire shop will install some Firestone Indy 500 tires for $548
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2017...640c907684.jpg

This keeps me at 17" and below $1000 for the wheels. This should make my 97 look more modern. Should help handling compared to my bald tires.

This will only be driven on warm, dry days so I'm not worried about all weather ability.

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Those are actually 09+ 987 wheels. I have those on mine and love them. They look even better in person. They are a very rare option and I believe were offered as a winter tire option. They're rare because by that time even 18's were considered small. I'm looking for another set of rears so I can run a somewhat square set up. 235s on the front and 255s on the back with 17x8.5 wheels. There's also another style of 17 inch 987 wheels that look similar but are 17x6.5 and 17x8.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...pspq2nr22s.jpg
http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps8u5zvjmg.jpg

So you think these are actually 17" rims? This is honestly a little important to me as I almost ordered the tires. (if they are 18" ... or maybe 19" I might use them. They look awesome on your car)

Now I need to see if the 205/50 255/40 tire combination will work.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/j_...=w1260-h430-no

He is,saying they are 17"s but from a newer car and are the same 17"s he is running. They are rare because by 09 even 18 was considered small and most folks wanted bigger.

Also have heard good things about that tire, there is a recent thread here somewhere about them.

Also, 225/45/17 is a good front size to go with 255/40/17 backs, 225 is approved on a 17x7 wheel. Helps balance the handling and dial out some of the understeer.

Oh man. I'm more excited. Verified the wheels. Looks like the offsets are the same upfront with my current 17" wheels (55mm). My rear wheels appear to be 48mm offset and these are 40mm.

I might check into the 225/45 tires up front.

Here is what I found on these wheels:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/sZ...=w1436-h850-no

Congrats on the wheels. I have spacers (10mm or 15mm can't remember)on the front of my car. I'm thinking the back could use the same amount of spacers and the front's might look even better if they were pushed out farther. I plan on running the 8.5 in the front, so that might fill up the front better. That's kind of why I'm slightly disappointed you bought those. I was hoping nobody would want them and the seller would take my offer to sell just the rears. Those wheels have really grown on me the longer I have them on.

Maybe the 944 guys can run the 17x7's on the fronts? I'm thinking about selling some of my extra wheels... I'm hoping I can find a home for the fronts...

Usually it's VW or Audi guys that come around and buy my 17x7's.