I believe the coefficient of rotational mass is increased by going from 18" to 19"... same case from going from 17" to 18"... your car will lose a little bit of grunt because of the increased rotational mass...

I have 17" and notice the difference between my buddy's 18" 996... I can also feel the difference when I increase psi by 4 on each tire... I think going an inch higher will take away some strait line acceleration... (but if your racetrack is all corners I guess it don't matter much!)

the bigger rims do bring out the muscular lines of the 996!!... does anybody know what the weight of the new 5-spokes is compared to 17" 1999 carrera stock wheels? I know they are lightweight... but does anybody have hard numbers on the 2; with and without tires?

cheers
Peter

 

A few questions about 19" rims:

1. Can anyone post pics of a 996 with 19" rims?

2. Can anyone recommend the best 19" wheels to buy? Is it BBS?

3. Finally, does anyone know if the stock 18s on my '04 996 would fit an '03 BMW 330xi? I'd love to put 19s on my 911 and put the 18s on my Bm'er!

Cheers.

 

Bigger is not always better. IMO 18 and 19 handle about the same and you'll never will be able to tell unless you can drive 10/10 all the time. I think most of us can drive at most 8/10 so the rim size don't matter. 18" is better for the track only because there is more tires with better grip available with 18s. Ride and pot hole damage is the only concern with 19".
Hoops Porsche and Bimmer have different bolt pattern and offset so don't even try. There is no best 19", its more of a personal preference in style. Make sure you get a quality wheel. Most guys use RH, HRE, Kinesis, Fiske, BBS. I think you should start with these companies. I have heard leaking problem with cargraphics so I will stay away from them.

 

Reading through this post, folks seem to be less than enchanted by 19 inch rims. So, why did Porsche decide to use 19" rims on the 997???

I've always loved the look of the 19s, but have held back from putting them on my 996 for the very reasons cited in this thread. Is there something about the 997 chasis that renders it more suitable than the 996 for 19" rims, or has Porsche simply changed it's view of 19" rims?

Gary

 

In regards to Porsche switching to 19"s on the 997....

It's probably in response to many current customers being more concerned about the look than other features.

Sad but true.

 

Good thing you brought this up, the article actually had 19's going the fastest on the bmw 3 series. 17's were the slowest 18's were much faster and 19's were just a tad faster then 18's. However when comparing thep price (19's were about twice the cost of the 18's they used) they picked 18's as the best for that particular car, even though 19's were the fastest.

 

Jetskied: Thank for the info, much appreciated.

Lance:

"It's probably in response to many current customers being more concerned about the look than other features.

Sad but true."

You really think so? I am not disagreeing, but I thought Porsche was ALL about performance, and NEVER did anything just for looks. Any modification always had to be a perfomance plus or neutral; performance steps backwards were not tolerated, I thought. If you're right, what a shame. If, however, 19s are in fact better performering wheels, then hmmm.... may be time to upgrade.

 

Porsche like any car manufacturer needs to stay in business, which means making money. Can now see why they made a SUV. Porsche has obviously worked with tire manufacturers to make high performance tires for their 19" 997 wheels and they have tuned their suspension to work with the larger wheels. Nothing can be taken in isolation. The car's suspension, wheels, and tires have to work together. That said, I would not go to a 19" wheel for performance gains. You're not going to find them. Feel free to make the change if you like the appearance of the larger wheels. After all, it's your money and car. Check out 996TT for pictures. The larger wheels seam to be popular with the forced induction crowd.