Tommy L Garage

Hi there. Waiting on delivery of a 2015 Cayman S manual. A stripper model with manual seats - which is what I was going after.

My other car is a 2017 BMW M3 which I tracked each year. This year I will be taking the Cayman to the track with my first one being in April. Already have Ferodo Ds1.11 pads on order.

Question: what does everyone recommend for a wider wheel setup for the track? Wheel Size/offset/tire size etc I will be running R888R (or similar). I’m used to 305 rear and 275 front on my M3.

my other thought is to keep it basic and get a set of oem 18 inch wheels and run oem tire sizes...but I wonder if I regret it. I consider myself a fairly decent driver and I have been running in the Advanced group.

The car is sitting on stock suspension but I will be installing X73.

thanks!!!
tommy

Deepbluejh

Honestly, the sky is the limit without some kind of budget. I personally didn't want to drop $6000 on track wheels and tires, so I got a set of 18" 987 wheels (beaters, paid $600 for the set) and put NT01s on them - 245/40/18 and 275/40/18. Overall, the tires were shorter than stock, which gave me about a 6% gearing advantage over OEM 20s. The setup was a hoot, and didn't cost much money. Regardless of which direction you go, 18s or 19s are where you want to be as far as wheels go (tires are more plentiful and cheaper).

245 width up front and 275s in back are about as wide as you can go with X73 on stock wheels without modifying the fenders or running a lot of camber. I personally wanted to leave my car mostly stock, so I left the fenders and control arms alone and stuck with the 245/275 setup.

Cliff3

This article should give you some ideas: https://support.apexraceparts.com/hc...-Fitment-Guide

I bought a used set of 19" HRE FF01's from a friend, so I am running 19x8.5 et50 & 19x10 et40 wheels with 255/35R19 and 275/35R19 Bridgestone RE71R tires.

Kitc2246

I bought Flow One 18x8.5 ($233) and 18x10 ($289) from Tire Rack along with mounted 245 and 275 Hankook RS4s last Spring I bought the RS4s for longevity verses an RE71 . Assuming you are using the OEM drilled rotors you need to consider Sebro slotted. The front rotors will quickly develop heat stress cracks around the holes. When they get close to joining or the edge you need to replace. Since you should be checking your pad thickness often remember to check the front rotors. I ran Zimmerman drilled rotors for three years before switching to Sebro slotted. Have new DS1.11s in the garage. Bought the DS1.11s when FCP Euro added them because of their Lifetime warranty. Since then they have dropped the DS1.11s but have indicated in an email they will honor the Lifetime warranty with and equivalent pad or give me a refund.

If you seriously track you will need to consider adjustable LCAs and/or camber plates to get enough negative camber in the front to especially save the left front outside edge. If you drive to and from the track excess inside wear can be an issue. This extra front camber makes it difficult for a car to be a DD or other serious mileage.

A third radiator is another option to consider. Watch both the water and oil temps. 260-270 oil temps are not uncommon for the 981s on track during extreme conditions.

2013 Boxster S PDK, SC, PASM, PSE, PTV

okie981

Good info from Kitc2246 above. I opted to run Forgeline GS1R, 1 inch wider than OEM front/rear, in 19", with 255/285 tires front/rear. Offset was per BGB Motorsports recommendations, and I bought the wheels through them with a nice discount. You will want somewhere in the neighborhood of -2.5 camber front/rear if you are pushing the car to its limits regularly on track, otherwise you will be wasting a lot of tire life because the outside edges will wear out too quickly. This will require aftermarket front lower control arms with adjustable camber shims and aftermarket adjustable rear tow links. Tire pressure is best when you come off the track hot with pressures in the 34-36 psi range. I ran X73 suspension with GT3 front LCAs and Tarrett rear toe links. I did add the center 3rd radiator after seeing some high engine oil temps (260+) on a 95 deg F ambient day with a 25 minute session on a short bullring 1.3 mile road course. No further oil or water temp concerns after adding that 3rd radiator regardless of track or ambient temps. Be sure to add the OEM coil pack heat shields to protect your coil packs during track day use. They cost $115 total and if you have headers installed they are very easy to put on. With OEM headers they are more of a pain to get on.

txbdan

I run Titan7 18"s 9"/10". Do do you research on what tires and tire sizes you plan to run as availability in our awkward sizing/ratios is limited. Some work out better on 18"s, some 19"s.

bernb6

+1 on Txbdan's comment re choosing your tire diameter first. Some tires, e.g. Nitto's, are available only in 18" for our cars. And smaller diameter tires are generally less expensive. I run Apex 18x9 and 18x10 wheels with Nitto NT-01 245 & 275/40ZR18's with modest negative camber.

Re the Apex wheels, one nice thing about them is that they have a knurled rim to help prevent the tires from rotating on the wheels. Front wheels tend to rotate towards the rear due to braking and rear to the front due to acceleration when freshly mounted while the bead butter used in mounting is still fresh. If they rotate enough, it will throw the tire balance off.

Tommy L Garage

wow lots of great info - thank you!
Looks like I will be going with APEX - that's what I run on the M3.
Also thanks for the coil pack heat shield tip - ordering it now, since I already ordered a set of headers an an exhaust

I appreciate everyone's input and will post photos once the car arrives


Thanks,
Tom

Apex Wheels

Congrats on the stripper 981 Cayman S, Tom! As mentioned, we have flow formed and forged wheel fitments engineered specifically for the 981 chassis, in both 18" and 19" diameters.

For a track-specific wheel and tire setup we typically recommend going with 18" wheels, unless of course there is a specific tire compound that you desire that has better availability in 19's (ex. Michelin Cup 2).

Also, we strongly recommend going with a 9" wheel up front (as opposed to a more generic 8.5"), as they will maximize tire sidewall support resulting in better turn-in, steering feedback, tire wear, etc.

It sounds like you already have experience with our wheels on your M3, but if you have any additional questions please let us know.


18" EC-7R Forged



18" SM-10



19" SM-10




- Ryan