wheels and tires: upgrade time!

[Morelli]

Since the 996 turbo front bumper I put on my 986 hangs down lower than the stock front, it has become a challenge to enter and exit certain driveways. Of course, this is the justification I need to upgrade the wheels and tires. I want to go 19". How wide can I go on the front and rear? Anyone upgrade their shoes and experience rubbing?

[jwocky]

Even if you upgrade to 19's, the overall diameter of your wheels+tires has to remain the same or else your speedometer will not be accurate. When you get larger wheels, the sidewall of the tire has to be decreased equally to retain the stock diameter. Only thing you can really do is learn to drive in and out of driveways at an angle.... and hopefully your bumper is made from ABS plastic or polyurethane.

Of course, if your car has aftermarket lowering springs, you could swap those out for stock springs which will raise the car.

Let's see some pics of the turbo bumper!

[Morelli]

I am not above recalibrating the speedo. The car isn't lowered. It's stock height. Also, with the new bumper, those stock rims are way too small...

[jwocky]

Nice garage! Bumper looks great!

You can install a yellow box to compensate for larger rolling diameter, but then you may have problems with rubbing due to the added diameter. Unfortunately, I doubt you'll find many Boxster owners who will be able to tell you from experience how big you can go without rubbing (since I've never heard of anyone increasing the overall diameter of their wheels+tires).

[Brucelee]

This is a slippery slope from a cost, handling and clearance perspective. Proceed with caution and choose your tire/wheel installer with caution!

As they used to say in the software business, "never be a pioneer!"

Good luck!