Do these wheels fit my 986?

[ArchNL]

Hi all,

I have been lucky to purchase a nice 1997 986 boxster!

With the temperatures dropping, I want to switch to winter tires. I got a chance to buy these 987 wheels and tires, but I'm not sure if they will fit my 986. They are tires from the 987 I believe.

This is the information

Front
6.5Jx17 ET55
205/55 r17

Back
8Jx17 ET40
235/50 R17

From my research, it is not so much a problem of the width but that the height (diameter) is more than is advised. Anyone has experience with these tires?

If they would not fit because of the diameter, fitting smaller tires (e.g. 205/50 r17 and 235/45 R17) would do the trick?

[S50Sinner]

I run square 215/45R17 snows, looks like your 205/55R17 fronts are 1.3in taller in diameter (or 0.65in radius), which is a 5.1% change, nothing crazy. Your rears are 1.7" taller in diameter (0.85in radius), which is a more noticeable 6.6% change. They should clear your fenders, but will have some effect in real-world speed/gear.

My speedometer reads 10% fast, so with your tires, you'll actually be closer to an accurate speed readout. You'll have a little more ground clearance than stock, and a little less torque at the ground, which isn't bad on snow.

That only leaves the question of clearance around the shocks, which shouldn't be an issue, but I can't confirm.

[997_986]

You have to be careful with ET40, attached you will find the official rim and tire list for the 986 and 17" rims. There are restrictions for the MY!

[ArchNL]

Originally Posted by 997_986

You have to be careful with ET40, attached you will find the official rim and tire list for the 986 and 17" rims. There are restrictions for the MY!

Can you explain this a bit more? Also in the picture, what do the positions mean?

[997_986]

This means that ET is "reduced" with spacers (Distanzring) and since you want to drive rims with a lower ET and the footnote says that this only works for vehicles from model year 1998 onwards, it will be problematic.
Honestly, if there is no one here who successfully drives rims + tyres for the 987 on a 986, i would refrain from doing so. There are so many cheap complete sets for the 986 on the market!

[ArchNL]

Thanks for your input! I've decided to look further for wheels that are according to the specifications

[mikefocke]

The reason for the restrictions on the first year '97 Boxster tires is they found structural problems with the suspension when larger tires and aggressive driving were combined. Changes for '98 were redesigned wheel wells and coil spring mounts, lower engine compartment bulkhead, rear wall crossmember and rear axle mount reinforcements.