19s on a 97 model

[dsisco]

hey guys,

im looking at upgrading my wheels to 19 victor lemans, are there any problems with running 19s on a base 97,

i read on some sites that they arent recommended by porsche,

anyone here have 19s on there 97

[livin_in_a_boxster]

I have never seen the explanation why, I am interested in putting 18's or 19's on my 98. I am interested in the reasoning, I have tried to look at the tsb's on renntech but could never find any verbiage.....

[Norminhouston]

Originally Posted by dsisco

hey guys,

im looking at upgrading my wheels to 19 victor lemans, are there any problems with running 19s on a base 97,

i read on some sites that they arent recommended by porsche,

anyone here have 19s on there 97

This month's Excellence magazine has a question about that in the tech notes section on page 24. Short answer: don't do it.

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by livin_in_a_boxster

I have never seen the explanation why, I am interested in putting 18's or 19's on my 98. I am interested in the reasoning, I have tried to look at the tsb's on renntech but could never find any verbiage.....

TSB 9701-4407 states 18 inch wheels are not approved and can cause structural failures of body/suspension. It also talks about using non-porsche lug bolts.

[Boxtaboy]

I believe it wasn't until the 98 model yr that Porsche beefed up the suspension to permit the Boxster to handle 18" wheels. 19" wheels were never recommended for the 986 cars, but were options with the 987 debut in 2005. That being said, I doubt you'd have any trouble if you don't drive the car too aggressively. Just look at all the cars out there with 22"...doubt they're approved for double deuces...

[MarkOfZero]

Boxtaboy is correct. Porsche strengthend a few parts in the rear in 1998.

That said, I have a 1997 with 19" rims that I have driven for many miles without any problems, but, YMMV. However, I don't have super sticky tires on these rims. When I autocross, I switch to 17" rims with Toyo R888 tires.

Mark

[JFP in PA]

If you ever saw what can happen from the longer term effects of such large wheels and tires on a chassis not designed for it (cracking near the forward engine bay bulkhead, suspension mount failures) and this on a car that was never driven on the track, or aggressively driven on the street for that matter, you would not do this; it simply is not worth it.

[ekam]

Originally Posted by livin_in_a_boxster

I have never seen the explanation why, I am interested in putting 18's or 19's on my 98. I am interested in the reasoning, I have tried to look at the tsb's on renntech but could never find any verbiage.....

See video:
18" vs 19" wheels/tires comparison

[ekam]

Originally Posted by Boxtaboy

I believe it wasn't until the 98 model yr that Porsche beefed up the suspension to permit the Boxster to handle 18" wheels. 19" wheels were never recommended for the 986 cars, but were options with the 987 debut in 2005. That being said, I doubt you'd have any trouble if you don't drive the car too aggressively. Just look at all the cars out there with 22"...doubt they're approved for double deuces...

It's not about driving agressively... hitting a medium size pothole is enough to do damage when your wheel/suspension is setup like this.

[RandallNeighbour]

I've been running 18's on my car without structural problems, and even took it to the track once with my 18's on it.

Of course, I now have 17's for the track.

There are three reasons that will make you wish you had not put 19's on your 97 boxster beyond the damage it might do to your car's suspension and subframe ....

1. The ride. My 18's are not comfortable compared to the 17's. I can only imagine 19's would be kidney killers.

2. The cost of the tire. Price out 19's before you dive in, remembering that the rears will go out in 7500 miles or less since there's so little sidewall to shoulder all that negative camber.

3. The cost of rim repair or replacement. 19's have something like a 1.5 inch sidewall. One decent sized pothole and you now have a bent rim requiring north of a hundred bucks to repair at the very minimum.

I recommend getting lowering springs and side skirts, which go a very long way toward making the car look more aggressive on 17's or 18's instead of spending far more money on 19's and having a very high maintenance set of rims on the car.

Just my 2¢ worth, but there it is....