New Wheels!
 

Nothing fancy here, but I'm sporting new wheels and shoes! Check out the pix!
I went with Carrera Lights (replica - scoff if you want) and BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW (they look really mean!).

Do you mind letting us know how much you paid for the replicas?
I have seen them on eBay for around $1k.

These are the ones you see on eBay "Fits Boxster Without Spacers." Buy it Now for $979+shipping. The quality appears pretty good. We'll see how they hold up. The center caps match but look cheapish, so I may replace those with my authentic caps (if they fit -haven't checked yet).

hi jeph, i am picking up the same wheels in the morning here in los angeles except i had mine chromed...who have you been dealing with carlos? how bad are the center caps? and did the wheels and tires fit without rubbing? thanks ..


p.s your car looks great :cheers:

Wow, those are some wicked looking tires! They are more aggressive looking than the tires on my daily driving SUV.

rims are sweet! Those are the meanest looking tires I have ever seen...it looks like they might double as rally tires!

Those are my fav. Porsche wheels. I have a set on a 911 at present and love them.

Nice!

:cheers:

I got my Carrera 5 spokes from Ernie's Alloys in Miami for $1900. No center caps.
Jeph, Are those 9.5 in the back?

Jeph, when it thaws out up there in North Houston :) you should take it out and run your car up to 100+ and see if the car or steering wheel shakes anywhere along the speed range. I'd really like to know how well these rims and your new tires perform under a speed load.

BTW, I'd also like to know if you think the 18's provide a rougher ride than the 17's you had on there previously.

It is my understanding that it will take about 500 miles for the tires to break-in. And as soon as the weather de-crapifies, I shall be able to give a full report. The reason I purchased these tires is because of their impressive rating at tirerack.com as well as just the way they look. They DO look mean, and I love that! A lot of reviews said these things were loud but so far they seem about the same as P Zeros.

I have been dealing with Carlos on the deal, not much, just a few emails here and there. The center caps are just smooth with the logo printed on it (where on Porsche caps the logo is pressed/embedded)... they look fine from standing distance, but un-Porsche-ish from close (washing distance).

One thing to note if you have locking lugs: because the holes for the lugs are so deep on the rear wheels, you either need a special tool getting them on or use just regular lugs.

The wheels are 18x8 front & 18x10 rear Perfectlap. It's close! But it fits and looks fat (and even phat). A locked turn may reveal some contact... haven't really tested yet. I may zip-tie down the brake line in the rear because it's pretty close to the wheel.

http://www.kryzak.com/storage/986-newwheels.jpg
And notice the smoked center brake light -that's LED baby! Pick one of those up on eBay, they're really bright.


The attached photos below show the width of the tires on the car. They are touched up to reveal the tires mostly... and one of them was taken from my phone, so excuse the quality. There is also a center cap photo.

Jeph, how heavy are the wheels? Im assuming they are aluminum?

Jeph, what is the speed rating of your new tires?

The LED brake light looks nice! Thanks for pointing this out.

You should have your bumperettes painted to match your exterior color, IMHO.

10" in the rear with no spacers? That's a first.

For those of you who are interested Road and Track did a very interesting tire shoot out in the last issue. There were a few inexpensive tires that did very well.
And some more expensive Continentals and Goodyears that perforwed in the wet signficantly better than the rest.
I still have my Toyo RA-1's on the car and snow is predicted tonight! Not sure to go for full snows or a winter tire. Nothing worse than driving somewhere when its only raining and then having to drive home in slush while the Boxsters spins out of control.

According to FedEx shipping, the fronts are 23lbs. and rears 26lbs. I'm not sure if they're aluminium or not. They're made in Italy, which I feel more comfortable with opposed to China or Korea, etc.

Speed rating on the TireRack website said "YR" but the tires say "ZR" like in the following (awesome) picture:
http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/bfg/bfg_gforce_ta_kdw2_1000.jpg

I went to the dealership this weekend (Boardwalk Porsche/Audi - Plano, TX). They're nice there (No charge! $). The were able to get my locking lugs on the rear tires -no special tools required. They even zip-tied my parking brake lines (even though they said the gap [distance from the wheel to the brake line] was fine).

These replicas must be pretty accurate... both the service advisor & the technician were suprised these weren't Porsche wheels!

Also, as per RandallNeighbour's request, 100+ runs did not reveal any steering wheel shaking. And the only time I've noticed the ride to be more rough (so far) when compared to 17" wheels is going over bumps and potholes that suck with any sized wheel.

And speeking of speed runs, does a speedometer need to be recalibrated when different sized wheels are used? My speedometer(s) seem/feel inaccurate.

Jeph, your speedometer show's you going slowing than it actually feels like it...right?

[QUOTE=Perfectlap]10" in the rear with no spacers? That's a first.

I have 18X10 rears with no spacers as well. They fit fine. Shift26 has 19X10.5 on his. All depends on the wheels. I am even running a 285/30/18 rears with no problems

What did you end up doing with your old rims trigem2k?

They are listed on ebay at the moment....You can check them out

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1,1&item=8022012672&sspa gename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT

Since we're doing eBay plugs...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-Boxster-Factory-Wheels-Rims-17-Twists-986-NR_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ43957QQitemZ80221531 61QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

eBay is great because anyone in the world can see your wheels for sale. I highly recommend that you deal with users from Canada and the US only,others seen really flaky.

ha. Just inquiring b/c I need to get rid of mine. Expect to see it up there soon as well.

How does steering feel now that you've changed so many variables? Changing a car's track can have a lot of effects on the way it feels and handles. As for the tires, let us know how noisy they are after a couple thousand miles--new tires are always pretty quiet. :D

Looks good, man!

[QUOTE=TriGem2k] Yeah I forgot these look like Porsche factory wheels on the outside but they are totaly different on the inside.

Somebody who knows really needs to answer the question about speedo changes when one goes from 17's to 18's. I want to go from 17's to 18's and would like to know if my speedo will need recalibration.

Logically, if the circumference of the 18 inch tire and the overall height of the mounted tire are the same, the speedo should be accurate.

I have had many cars and many sets of wheels changed. Never needed to reset the speedometer for those lesser cars.

My old wheels found a new home. Have you ever wondered what happens to the stuff you sell on eBay? I made sure my buyer sent me pix.

http://www.kryzak.com/storage/986-oldrims.jpg

Hmm, that reminds me, I need to update my signature image.

He'll be selling his old rims (below), if any of you are interested, let me know and I'll put you in touch with him. I'll post his auction link soon. He said 18s on his 968 were too rough of a ride.

http://www.kryzak.com/storage/986-968.jpg

They look great on..
 

a 968.
BTW, I hope you got some consideration from the guys you bought those 18's from. Your car is pictured on their ebay auctions and I'm guessing their sales will go up after showing that wheel on your car.

You made me do a double take... but that car is not mine. I was gonna send them some pix to use. I was/am pleased with their product.

Hey Jeph, did the dealership happen to mention how much genuine Carrera lights cost when bought out right...not as a factory option?

Don't know how much the dealership charges for Carreras out right. My guess is it's in the $2000+ club.

Love those rims, especially versus the 17" you had. I love the ones you have now but I really like the 10 spoke, really thin looking boxster rims as a second best. Congrats!

You go to a lower profile tire with the larger diameter wheel to offset the increase so no speedo recalibration is needed. Overall wheel plus tire diameter remain the same. Likewise you maintain your final drive ratio.

Everyone needs this tool. Tire and Wheel Calculator. It's simple to use and I think it will answer your questions.

http://www.dakota-truck.net/TIRECALC/tirecalc.html

replicas are almost always heavier than porsche original wheels. you probably aded 10 lbs of unsprung weight to each corner. cars like the boxster are sensitive to this. its like running w ankle weights on. you also have switched to a non porsche appoved tire. im just asking... does it drive well?

Hey TriGEm,

Your ebay link doesn't show the pictures. Did you have the same wheels as the ones in Jephs' link?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Pors...sspagenameZWDVW