n00b
 

Hello everyone! I've been 'lurking' on this board for a few weeks now and just purchased a 97 Boxster for my wife. I'm now, of course, looking to put a few mods on it to dress it up a bit for her. I've done searches and looked through the different forums and threads but I can't seem to find a complete answer to the following.

What's the biggest tire/wheel combo I can get on the 97's? With or without spacers?

I've read that they don't recommend an 18" or above because of weight and it's effect on the suspension but since you guys own them and drive them what do you think? It will be a casual driver and will not see the track.

Dont listen to them. Ask Grizzly on this forum. He is running 19"z, and has no problem.

18"s here.. No problem.. 986 lets lower that thing :)

Tuke, this old thread will help you, Grizzly makes the 2nd post and list the size wheel and tires he's using without any spacers:

http://986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11085&highlight=inch+wheels

Hey Tuke,

Welcome aboard. I've been running 19x8s with 235/40s and 19x9.5s with 275/35s (no spacers) for over a year with no issues. Prior to that, I had 18x8s and 18x10s on the car.

The Boxster suspension was beefed up by Porsche for the '98 model year to deal with the increased stress from the larger tire and wheel combinations. Apparently, there were some instances of the rear suspension tearing loose from the unibody on '97s with larger, grippier tires.

From everything I've read, however, I'm confident that you'd have to be pushing the car pretty hard to break the rear suspension. Like yours, my car is a cruiser. Though I wring it out from time to time, it's not a track car, and probably never will be.

The car will take 19x8.5s and 19x10.5s, but I'm not sure what spacers might be necessary to make them work. Contact Carlos at wheeldynamics.com. He's very knowledgeable and sells a pretty nice variety of wheel/tire combinations for Porsche. His prices aren't bad either.

Here's what I have going on...

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...DSC00187-1.jpg

Thanks fellas! I appreciate all the input!

Grizz - Sounds like you and I will have about the same driving habits. I will certainly look into the 19" since that's what I wanted to go to. Have you or did you notice a big diff in the ride after you got the bigger wheels and tires? How about road noise from the change? I expect the ride may get a little more bumpy than the stock 16" but I'm wondering if it's extreme or if the extra handling is worth the minimal drawbacks.

Tuke,

My car had 18s on it when I got it and I stepped up to 19s. I noticed no difference in ride quality or noise. Based on my experience with other cars, stepping up from 16s to 19s will cause a noticeable difference in ride comfort, but not a whole lot of difference in noise on new tires. As those 19s wear they may start to get a little noisy. The handling will be better with the 19s over the 16s because there's so much less sidewall flex. I'm told, however, that the Boxster handles best with 18s. I chose the 19s for aesthetics and didn't notice any handling difference over the 18s.

I wouldn't describe the ride I'm experiencing as harsh by any means. The car isn't rattling my teeth out or anything. I think the ride is comfortable and quiet, but it's not a Coupe deVille. I definitely know I'm driving a sports car.