My personal favorite for classic look and simplicity is the stock 17" BBS Sport Classic (1 piece).
8.5x 17 ET50
7x17 ET55
These sit a little deeper in the fender than I want. I plan to go with 7mm Front/15mm Rear spacers but so far have kept too busy with other stuff.
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02/bbsA1493088051.jpg
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02/bbsB1493088092.jpg

These are 18 inch rattle can painted Cayman S replicas. Don't remember the offset, though. Could use a little spacer at the front. (Edit: Typo, they are of course 18s, not 19s as I previously had typed. My bad...)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/S3...=w1016-h572-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/rp...=w1016-h572-no

Oh, the tires on the bronze wheels are 225/40-18 and 265/35-18.

Here are the stock 17s, with winter tires:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/IH...=w1016-h572-no

Summer
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1493117157.jpg
Winter

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1493117263.jpg

This summer, I will get the winter wheels painted to this

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1493117310.jpg

car at M030 ride height, front camber -2.5, rear camber -1.8.

Ruf 18" wheels:

front 8.5" wide, ET 58 with 13 mm spacer = ET 45, Continental DW 225/40
rear 10" wide, ET 66 with 21 mm spacer = ET 45, Continental DW 265/35

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1493133687.jpg

OZ 18" wheels:

front 8.5" wide, ET 53 with 7 mm spacer = ET 46, Nitto NT01 245/40
rear 10" wide, ET 40, Nitto NT01 275/35

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1493133747.jpg

Van914, those wheels are beautiful. What are they?

Chuck and Rick have exquisite taste in 2001S Boxsters. :D

Wheel enhancement inexpensive cast wheels
eBay find a few years ago

Thanks folks, THis has been super useful in allowing me to see my options. While I like all of what I see I think the one that would sit nicest with my wife and kid is what Chuck showed...that seems to balance the look I am going for the most. Also, less likely my wife will curb the wheels. Plus, Chucks car just looks stunning with stock wheels.

Another wheel I think I would consider is
http://986forum.com/forums/show-tell-gallery/26711-18inch-2008-cayman-wheels-99-boxster.html

Gemballa Competition
Front 18x8.5 ET46
Rear 18x10 ET40

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...s/DSCN2288.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...DSCN0944-1.jpg

I just bought a 1998 Boxster Base model to be used as an autocross/track toy.

I plan to run RE71Rs (225/45-17 front & 255/40-17 Rear) on the stock 17" wheels for autocross (C Street). I will be installing an adjustable front sway bar this winter.

I'm planning on using another set of wheels and tires for track days. I'm a big fan of the Nitto NT-01. I noticed Radium Kings setup below:

OZ 18" wheels:
front 8.5" wide, ET 53 with 7 mm spacer = ET 46, Nitto NT01 245/40
rear 10" wide, ET 40, Nitto NT01 275/35

I'm loving this option because i already have the 8.5" OZ wheels (ET 53) that i ran on the front of my 997 with the same tire. In the short term, I'm planning to stick with the stock struts/shocks and LCA. Anybody see any issues with this plan?

987.2 Cayman 17" wheels (2009-2012)

17x7 ET 55
17x8.5 ET 40

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1574777977.jpg

Funny story - I bought a 2009 Cayman earlier this year. Turns out, the 17" Cayman wheels I have on my Boxster came from this exact car, sold to me by a previous owner when he replaced them with 19" Lobster claw wheels.

i've actually moved to a 15mm spacer in the front. you may need to take a heat gun to punch out some of the plastic wheel well liner to avoid rubbing at full lock. the only consideration is that is a lot of tire for a base (and probably for an s as well). make sure turning all that rubber doesn't bog you down.

I'm loving the 245/40/18 on the front of my Cayman, front grip for days, but be aware that 245/40/18 won't fit the front of the 986 boxster unless you have aftermarket coilovers (I think TRK has KSport? apologies TRK if I got that wrong) - the 245/40/18 is too tall (approx 25.6" vs 25" for stock) and the tire will majorly hit the lower spring perch of the stock front strut and I don't think any amount of spaces could push the wheel out enough to fix that. I learned the hard way when I tried to run some Cayman wheels I bought that had 245/40/18 and 285/35/18, the back fit and looked awesome, but the front would not and it wasn't even close....

So do you think the 235 on front and 265 on rear is a viable/better option with the stock suspension? That keeps the ratios front-to-back the same as the recommended 245/275 option. Also, the point was made below that I may be going beyond optimum tire size (too much weight/width - too little hp) with the base model 986.

Yes I believe so, The 986 is a lite car & it needs lite wheels & not to much tire so you can slide around a bit. You especially don't want to have taller tires on the rear that will effectively reduce torque multiplication.

Uh Oh!! It looks like the NT01s (my preferred track tire) are only available in a 40 sidewall in the 265 width (265 40 18). That's more than inch taller than stock in the rear! Not good for limited torque on the base model. I guess i'll need to go with the Toyo in 265 35 18.

Have you considered the NT05's? I haven't looked at sizing, so they may have the same limitation.

apologies yes, thanks for catching that. so many variables.

2002 boxster s
 

This is my father son project. Makes teaching stick fun.http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1575598104.jpg