MGW-Fla

Hello all, My current wheels are the 16" Cup factory wheels with offsets of 7x55 & 8x52, as shown in my pic below.
Looking at a set of 17" Sport Classics, which I know should fit just fine, I just wanna make sure I'll be ok with sizes & offsets of 8.5x50 & 9x55 without any fitment issues?
Thanks!

968Geb

Factory 17" wheels for the 968 were 7.5" et65 front 9" et55 rear. They also offered 8" et52 front and 9.5" et?? rear wheels as part of a "winter setup". Hope that helps.

tamathumper

If it helps, here's what I compiled last year when looking for wheels.

Standard wheels

Early C2 5-Spoke
7 x 16 ET55 944.362.114.00
8 x 16 ET52 944.362.116.00
-or Cup Replica
7.5 x 17 ET65 965.362.124.05
9 x 17 ET55 965.362.128.00
-or later
7.5 x 17 ET65 993.362.124.05
9 x 17 ET55 993.362.128.00
Winter use
8 x 17 ET52 965.362.126.01
9.5 x 17 ET68 965.362.128.05
-or later
8 x 17 ET52 993.362.126.00

Turbo S standard wheel

8 x 18 ET52 965.362.136.01 Weight (25.38 lbs)
10 x 18 ET61 965.362.140.01 Weight (26.75 lbs)

blue44

that front wheel is unusual, use this calculator - http://www.s4play.com/Tire-Wheel%20C...Calculator.htm - to check / compare the fit ( and let us know )...

Donn

RajDatta

Also, there are certain boxster wheels that don't clear the wheel bearing cap. Something to be aware of.

steve g

I apologize if I am taking this question one step further but what would be the ideal offset for 8.5 and 10.0 x 18 inch wheels ?

odb812

You shouldn't have any clearance problems with the body or suspension. I've put my 17x9 et55 996 10-spokes on the front of my car with 255s and they fit fine. You'll be 5mm closer to the fender, but you're going to have ~6mm less wheel on either side.

The 8.5" wheels didn't come on the front of the 996 or 986, so I'd imagine you wouldn't have problems clearing the bearing covers but you may want to double check. If they are made for the smaller bearing caps of the 996/986 ~5mm spacer is needed. The 7mm ones from paragon-products work great.

What size tires would you use? Is this for on the cab? 255s all around with otherwise stock suspension would make a fun car to drive.

chudson

Steve - for what it's worth I'm running 18 x 8.5 ET 47 and 18 x 10 ET 62. IMHO the fit is as perfect as I'm ever going to need.

tamathumper

The Boxster S II wheels I chose required a 7MM spacer, as will some others. If 10MM or larger, the spacers should definitely be hub centric, and even at 7MM you must use a longer wheel stud to get sufficient thread engagement. The 7MM spacers required 60MM (if you can find them), or I had to buy 66MM and cut them down.

Edit: updated to indicate spacers less than 10MM don't have enough room for the lip to make them hub centric, sorry for the confusion.

odb812

I don't want to be controversial or derail the discussion here, just make sure the OP gets the right stuff he needs, but hub-centric spacers are not going to work if spacers are needed. The whole reason one would need spacers is that the bore on the center of the wheels is smaller than the cap on the hub. Any hub-centric spacer made for a 968 is going to require the same center bore for the wheels as the diameter of the bearing cap and the wheel will not fit over the spacer. The only way a hub centric spacer would work is if a custom one were made with the back opening sized for a 968 and the front part that extends into the wheel bore sized to fit a 996/986. I'm not sure that's even possible on anything thinner than 10mm. If having a hub-centric spacer is that important to you, you may consider something custom like these guys make: http://www.motorsport-tech.com/wheel_spacers.html For what those cost, you're probably better off having the wheels bored out on a CNC to fit the car.

FWIW I don't use centering rings on my non-Porsche track car anymore and all it means is I have to hold the wheel up while I thread the lugnuts and I have to be thorough in torquing down the wheels, which I do before every session anyway.

MGW-Fla

Thanks for all the input.

Yes, they are for the 968 Cab, going to have them powder coated satin black; planned to have the lip of the wheel & the calipers match the Speed Yellow on the body. Wife doesn't like the idea of the wheel lip being yellow, but that doesn't kill the idea.

Initially thinking of 235/245s up front & 255s in the rear, but I actually did think about something the same all around in the 255 range.

Also took a pic of a set of black powder coated Sport Classic IIs 18" that I saw this weekend at a DE that went on a Cayman. Was just short of begging him to sell them to me.

Any opinions on whether to paint the center caps to match in all black, or have the Porsche crest in their colors?

odb812

It's just my opinion, but good high-temp wheel paint and high-temp clear will be just about as durable as powdercoat plus you can touch up minor scrapes without repainting the whole wheel and it will be easier to do the yellow lips.

255s all around is going to give you a lot more front grip which is good for both handling and braking but is going to give the car more tendency to oversteer. You want some more oversteer because I feel the 968 pushes a bit more than I like from the factory, but the 255s may give you more oversteer than you want on the street. Two good options would be the 255s all around with an M030 front anti-sway bar and keeping the stock 16mm rear bar and maybe a little more neg camber in the rear, or just doing the 245s up front. Since your wheels are staggered, you're not going to want to rotate front to back, which is typically one of the reasons for going with a square tire setup.

If it were me, I'd do the wheels in solid satin black. I'd start with the plain silver and black center caps and paint the silver part satin black and the black part speed yellow.


Edit: Sorry for the giant image, I grabbed the URL from a much smaller thumbnail of it.

MGW-Fla

Yea, I was planning to paint them all along till I saw the powder coated ones this weekend. Was thinking that might be more durable for the long term. I will weigh the cost of each method. Also wondered about the difficulty/cost of powder coating just the lip in a different color. The ability to be able to touch up is very impt. I also like the idea of a custom paint match of the center caps too.

Probably will stay slightly staggered with the tires front to rear, or would end up slightly smaller than the 255s all around. I really want those on the rear for the wider look of the stance of the car. But thought the 255s up front might not work as well.

968gene

my $0.02 is that powder coating wheels is not the preferred method by many "experts" because the baking process, if not well controlled, can cause the alloy wheel to be weakened, "they" say. Have you considered "black chroming"? It may be easier to clean, durable, and enhance the look of your cab. You may grow tired of a a bad-boy matte finish.

MGW-Fla

I have a set of 18" Kinesis K28R wheels that at the time were the only ones they had made in their "Black Chrome" finish. I call it Smoked Chrome.

Here's a pic of them on my 968 when I put them on to get an idea of the look. The offsets with the wheel width made the tires sit out too wide on the car without fender flaring. I took them right off.

I love those wheels(as does everyone who ever sees them in person). They looked ok on my 968 cab, but I didn't like the overall look of the finish with the body color.

Thats why I chose the Sport Classics(like the SPIIs also). Gives me that same overall look of the wheel design.

Great info on why not to go with powder coating, looks like a quality paint job is the answer.