Hey Guys,

I'm considering a few options for our next car...possibly a new 981S (Boxster or Cayman) although I wish they would bump up the power and give them a bit more torque. I am also considering maybe a CPO 997.2S of some sort.

Anyway, I've been playing around with the configurator on the Porsche website, for the Boxster S and Cayman S. My question is about the wheels. I would go with a set of 20 inch wheels. I like the Carrera S and the SportTechno wheels. The Sport Techno wheels are nearly twice the price. Just curious, does anyone know if they weigh a lot less, or if they are forged vs. cast...or has Porsche just decide one set of wheels looks more expensive?
Anyone know the weight of those 2 styles of wheels?

Thanks and best regards,
Dino

 

Yeah the Carrera S wheel looks great. They say it's a hyper silver type paint, like the old 993 Turbo S. Dealerships also say it is very hard to "touch up" if curbed/rashed.

Actually, the Sport Techno wheel "looks" heavier......because of the size of the spokes....IMO.

Wow, the price of the Boxster has really gone up over the years compard to an early 987. Easy $20 more. Not hard to build one in the mid $80's. That's without PDK and PCCB.

 

For a pricey Boxster check out the Ruf 3800S. If I had an extra $140K kicking around that would be the car for me. At 420 HP it would be a kick in the pants to drive with the Boxster good looks and handling characteristics.

 

Someone posted the weight of the different wheel options here somewhere.

From what I remember from that thread, the Carrera S wheels were definately lighter than Sport Techno's. The weight comparison was for 991 wheels, which are wider, but the result should be the same for 981.

 

I have the Carrera S 20's.

They are:

Front: 8 x 20
Rear: 9.5 x 20

Sport Techno's are:

Front: 8.5 x 20
Rear: 10 x 20

ST's are quite a bit more expensive so I think it's dependent on personal preference. You get a tad bit wider wheels with them, but I am very pleased with my CS 20's. Same tires go on each wheel regardless.

And yes, it's easy to spec out a BS in the mid 80's. I went "all in" on mine and nearly hit 100k pre-tax.

 

Thanks guys,

I guess the additional width of the SportTechno's may go toward explaining why they are heavier. I had wondered if they would be lighter with fewer spokes, but apparently not.

 

Kelderek, can you help me find this old post? Thanks.

 

Quite the opposite. More spokes spread out the stress and allow the wheel to be lighter. The lightest wheels I've seen have a lot of small spokes. Performance-wise, you're also better off with the smallest diameter wheels that clear your brakes, since pneumatic tire rubber is a lot lighter than steel or aluminum rigid wheels.

Wider wheels are going to be heavier than narrow and impact acceleration, but they grip better in the twisties, so it's a tradeoff. If you really want performance, get the cheapest wheels you can get from Porsche, and buy your own aftermarket upgrades instead.

 

Thanks for the info. More spokes spreading the stress and allowing the wheel to be lighter makes sense. Although, from a maintenance standpoint more lots of small spokes are generally a pain to clean. I was mostly curious as to what the rational was for the large disparity in price between the Sport Techno and the Carrera S wheels (so I had wondered if the SportTechnos were particularly light or if there was some other reason for its price).

Thanks again for the info.

 

My 2013 Boxster has the 20" Carrera S wheels in the dark, matte grey finish (I believe it's Anthracite). If weight it your primary concern I believe the aftermarket options are your best bet, I looked at 20" Forgelines that were very lightweight but stayed with the OEM 20s.

Btw, another option in terms of chassis/power is to do what I did. I bought a base 981 Boxster but had BGB Motorsports do their 3.8L conversion magic on it. They install a crate 3.8L 991S motor (400hp), 991 front brakes, some suspension bits, and some custom aesthetic touches. There's a thread here on RL of the conversion they did on a 981 Cayman. I test drove new 991S but really loved the agility and feel of the 981 chassis (I had a 987 Boxster S) but wanted more power. I considered the RUF 3800S which is a great car and obviously carries cachet of RUF, but a lot more expensive plus would have been a ~6mo wait time.

Also hello to another Rhody p-car person...

 

That's one hell of a car. It will eat Carreras for lunch and nibble on a few GT3's for dinner if you're a good driver. Congrats.

Tell us more please. Costing? Warranty? Did you ship the new car to them, or take delivery locally? Thanks.

 

Hi Thanks for the suggestion regarding wheels and the 3.8 Conversion. Very interesting idea.

Hey, did you bring the Minerva Blue 77 930 to Porsche Fest at Larz Anderson Museum of Transport today? Great looking car. I snapped a few photos of it. The 3.0 cars without intercoolers have become very collectible.

Thanks again for your suggestions from a fellow Rhody P-car person. Also, check your inbox I'm sending you a PM.

Best regards,
Dino

 

Thanks. This car certainly exceeds my current capabilities as a driver, though hopefully I'll close the gap in time I'm registered for a DE in Oct with it so we'll see how that goes.

Cost depends a bit on what you want to do on some of the aesthetic stuff (wheels, powder coated calipers, etc). But the base engine conversion, brake setup, and suspension work was in the $20K range total (parts + labor). I looked at new 981s but found a used 2013 with just a couple thousand miles on it that was equipped how I wanted it (Speed Yellow, 6MT, 20" Carrera wheels, few other things) so bought that and shipped it directly to BGB Motorsports. BGB is finishing up this coming wk so I should have the car in ~10 days or so and will put a more comprehensive post w/ photos then.

In terms of warranty obviously the factory warranty on engine, brakes, and suspension is gone. BGB warranties for a year their work and parts and includes in the conversion price a chunk of labor hours at their shop (or reimbursement for shop local to you) if things aren't right. Theoretically the rest of the car remains stock so if something goes wrong with the rest of the car, Porsche warranty should still apply but obviously you'd have to work with your dealer and/or PCNA on this. Also worth noting it's a crate 991S motor, stock ECU, etc... so while you may not get OEM new car warranty it should still be pretty straightforward for a Porsche dealer or indy shop that knows 991s to work on things.

In process pic of my car at BGB below.

Yep, that was me. Responded to your PM and hopefully will see you around Dino.

 

Lee, your Turbo is beautiful, I had a gp white 930 years ago and still miss it ... I was there yesterday with my white over red 991 cab. I moved to E. Greenwich RI recently ... would be great to meet some other Porsche guys down this way.

 

True for me too. As do most Porsches for most owners.