Well, I pulled the trigger..

[edevlin]

I have wondered about putting a light weight tire on my 18" aftermarket Carrera wheels. Does anyone have a recommendation for a lightweight tire? BTW, my stock 17" wheels with Michellins weigh in at 48 lbs for the rear, my aftermarket Carrera wheels with Falken 512 tires weigh in at 51 lbs.

Ed

[MartinJ]

Nice choices.

I ended up with 19s on my car. It was not my first choice but everthing else on the car was just what I wanted so I bought it.

With the 19s I have found the ride to be firm but not a huge difference from the 18s.

I did run into a pot hole a few weeks ago and lost a tire (expensive for 19s and my reasone for prefering the 18s initially) I was not going fast but it felt like the car had taken a 1 foot drop!. I expected to loose a rim and a tire but I only lost a tire. When I took the wheel off I carefully loooked over the rim and could see no damage I was surprised, I took another look when the new tire was fitted (I don't like to fool around with bad tires or rims) and all was okay, the tire shop could not see any problems either.

So the moral here is as follows:
1. The car looks better with bigger rims!
2. The rims are surprisingly tough so go with what looks good to you.

[SD987]

As a former owner of a 987 base with the OEM 17s, I highly recommend keeping the 18s with your order. Not only are the 17s some of the most aesthetically challenged rims I've ever seen, they're a pain to keep clean, and the ride with the 18s is no worse and arguably better.

Upgrading to the OEM 18s after delivery is also much more expensive then buying them as original equipment. The 18s are very much in demand from other 17 buyers looking to upgrade. In case you were curious, the trade-in value of the 17s is @$100.00, which pretty much illustrates the collective opinion of them. The weights for the two size rims are as follows, and the rotating mass isn't nearly as much as the 19s would be:

Standard 987 17" wheels are 18 - 6 (18lbs 6 oz) on the front, 19 - 13 on the rear.

Standard 987 18" S wheels are 21 - 11 and 22 - 14.

[eslai]

The difference in mass can also be shrunk a little bit when one calculates the weight of the tires into the overall weight. 18" tires are going to be a little less heavy than their 17" counterparts, if the other dimensions are the same.

I wouldn't stick with the 17's, myself.

[z12358]

Congrats, John!
Keep the 18s.
Z.

[chiefsalami]

Congratulations! I'm almost identical to you in my cars, except a generation back in each case. I have a 2002 Boxster S and a supercharged 2004 VW R32. In my case, I definitely like the styling of the older better than the newer. Just my personal preference, though.

[John Y]

Thanks everyone, for your enthusiasm and input; I'm keeping the Boxster logo, and I think I'll leave it in the stock color. Still on the fence about wheel size, though from the weight info in this thread, it doesn't sound as though I would notice the increase in rotational mass with the 18s. I may need to try to set up a back-to-back drive with my dealer...time to give my salesman a call anyway and see what the cutoff date is.

[John Y]

Originally Posted by SD987

As a former owner of a 987 base with the OEM 17s, I highly recommend keeping the 18s with your order. Not only are the 17s some of the most aesthetically challenged rims I've ever seen, they're a pain to keep clean, and the ride with the 18s is no worse and arguably better.

SD987, did you have PASM with either car?

[MikenOH]

performance of the base 987 too quickly. this car really does get around a auto-x course very well, even better with PASM.

One of the guys in our club--I think Tom is on this board--turned in a time that was only 1/2 second slower that a 944 turbo. He was on street tires and the 944 guy was on Victoracers.

At Mid-Ohio, I certainly was not the slowest my run group--the one above novice--and spent most of one lapping session chasing and passing a 996 C4. With the 07 you'll get a few more HP and VarioCam +.

[John Y]

Originally Posted by MikenOH

performance of the base 987 too quickly. this car really does get around a auto-x course very well, even better with PASM.

One of the guys in our club--I think Tom is on this board--turned in a time that was only 1/2 second slower that a 944 turbo. He was on street tires and the 944 guy was on Victoracers.

At Mid-Ohio, I certainly was not the slowest my run group--the one above novice--and spent most of one lapping session chasing and passing a 996 C4. With the 07 you'll get a few more HP and VarioCam +.

Mike - thanks, and I don't discount it at all; while I probably won't track the car, if I didn't feel it was enough for me (and I own a couple of pretty torque-happy tuned, turbocharged cars) I certainly wouldn't have taken the plunge. But I'm pretty confident that in it's own way, the VC Plus 2.7l engine will be enough to keep me happy - the rest of the car doesn't exactly hurt, either!

The only issue I have is the 17s v. 18s, and it bothers me that I can't make up my mind. I like the supple, fluid ride on the 17s, and I think they will provide all the handling dynamics I can use, especially since as I said, I don't expect to be going to the track. On a car whose major selling point is handling, I doubt that Porsche would standard-spec wheel and tires that let the car down. I also like the fact if anything, the 17s will probably add to the car's fun factor by making the car "feel" stronger, especially powering out of curves, since the engine will not be over-matched by the wheels/tires. Though I am not in love with their appearance, I do think they look much better when I see them in person as opposed to photos. If I go for the 17s, I am thinking about the factory 5mm spacers as a nice, safe, conservative way of improving their overall appearance by moving them a little more flush to the fenders.

Although in an earlier test drive with 18s the ride was fine, it was a long time ago, and I think the car may have had PASM and been in "Normal" mode. But I love the look of the 18s, too. I also supect they are just light enough and the motor jsut torquey enough that it really won't feel lifeless or "locked down" as you try to accelerate while turning. Question for those with 2.7l engines and Boxster S 18s (or the 17s, for that matter) - how easy is it to spin/chirp the rears in different situations?

GREAT articles in the November issue of 'Excellence' for those who haven't seen it yet, about the 07 Boxster and S, and the Cayman, raising many of these issues.

OK, this ramble is over! Thanks for the input as always, guys.

[SD987]

Yes John Y, I have PASM on my current S with 19s. I don't auto-x the car but frequently drive on the street as if competing in an auto-x .

I'll let you in on a little secret. The base 987 with 17s is just as fun to drive as the S with 19s and the handling feels just as good if not better. I say feels better because it feels lighter and more tossable. Is it going to turn in a faster auto-x time? No, but that's not down to the handling factor.

Do I notice a difference with PASM? Yes, the car definitely hunkers down and there's also a slightly different response in the throttle (this is without Sports Chrono) that doesn't get mentioned much. Could I in good faith recommend PASM to a 987 buyer? No, because I don't think it provides a $2000 premium to the handling characteristics of the stock suspension.

You may also want to check out the updated Porsche configurator. It's been mucho-modified.