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I currently have a set of 19x12 + 63 BBS E88s on my car with 305/30/19 MPSS and H&R coilovers. No rubbing and no drama.
19"s are a tough ride every day and I have a set of 18" BBS E88s ready to go, but they have wider lips which I really like and would not like to downsize. The rears are 18x11 +45, which is rather aggressive.
18x11 +45 equates to a 5mm wider wheel on the outside, but will also have a more square/tall sidewall which I'm afraid of rubbing. (305/30/19 vs. 295/35/18)
Anyone with similar setups? No stretched/tiny tires - trying to maximize rubber for ride comfort here.
There's a guy on here that runs 18s on a white 997.2, kind of a Speedline looking wheel from the 993 era, he's in Florida I think...trying to think of his username...
"There's a guy on here that runs 18s on a white 997.2, kind of a Speedline looking wheel from the 993 era, he's in Florida I think...trying to think of his username..."
ATSR is his username. He has got 18's on some old school type wheels. The stance, tires, and wheels and car in general is one of the nicest looks, (in my opinion) on the forum. He lists his wheel and tire sizes in one of his past posts.
This discussion also matters on goals. I wouldn't want to run a skinnier tire to just get a more aggressive offset. If you want to do that, cool but I would want to run the widest possible wheel with the widest possible tire while retaining an offset that is able to push the wheel out to the edge of the wheel well as far as possible. It is a magic triangle though. I think with 997.1, you can get away with the OZ GT3 spec wheels and if you were so inclined, possibly fit a 325 under there. Not my car but:
my understanding of this car is that the wheels are the 997.1 GT3 wheels with 245s in front and 325s in the back. I am assuming NO spacers. To me, that looks really proper but IDK how it would affect handling without a proper alignment and corner balance. Right now I am running the same wheels with 235s in front and 305s in the back on PS4S because I want to trust the smarty pants Porsche engineers over my own desires to be slammed and spaced out to the edges as far as physically possible.
BTW, I feel like my friend's Cup2s on his 997.2 GT3 are oddly wider but are the same sizes as my PS4S. I am also running an RSS 5mm spacer, so my wheels sizes technically match his as a result.
I know I could run a 10mm spacer without issue but this is good for daily driving for me and also what Porsche offered as optional with the 997.1 GT3.
Everything can always be lower too right?
(underground)
(above ground)
OEM GT3 Wheels:
Front: 8.5 x 19" +53 mm offset (RSS 5mm spacer = +48) with a 235 PS4S tire.
Rear: 12 x 19" +68 mm offset (RSS 5mm spacer option to bring the offset down to +63) with a 305 PS4S tire.
So, OZ makes wheels in this size as well but will it look like this?
On coilovers and with custom wheels a lot is possible though. Here is my friend's GT3 on custom 18" BBS with NT01s (no rubs ever) as built and installed by @SupremePower:
Last, I am curious as to your full suspension set up.
If you are on springs with shocks, you will be technically increasing the fender gap right? Will overall diameter change? I am assuming your car will be/look higher, so maybe it will change how the wheel is in relation to the fender? That I do not know. All my comments up to this point is under the assumption that overall diameter remains the same but you will be gaining comfort from the switch to 18s from 19s.
I do know it is easier to make things work the more adjustable you are.
I made the mistake of buying wheels and tires before considering if they would fit with my set up on a previous car I owned. They kinda did but with full compression, they would have scraped, so a master very gently pulled and very slightly rolled the fenders until the suspension could have full travel with no contact.
In the end, it was butter but also cost a lot more than I had budgeted for that particular project.
***oh, and and, last last, sorry...check the availability of tire sizes you want in 18s! You might get stuck where the only options are slicks or R comps!!***
p.s. I have seen some specs for your wheels at:
BBS E88’s
Front-18x9 et50
Rear-18x12 et63.5
CUP wheel specs
Front 9.5x18 ET37 [997.362.136.96]
Rear 12x18 ET30 [997.362.140.97]
Last edited by jamesinger; 09-19-2019 at 07:42 PM.
Reason: addendum sounds smart
I'm on coilovers with 19" wheels that are 25.7" in diameter. The 18"s I'll be going to will actually be a hair taller at about 25.9" or so front and rear.
All I want to do is run 18s with a taller side wall for comfort, while retaining the close tire/fender gap I've had from my BBSs. I don't want to roll my fenders either.
The white GT3 above looks to do the part with what I'm interested in. Chunky 18s on a lowered car.
I'm on coilovers with 19" wheels that are 25.7" in diameter. The 18"s I'll be going to will actually be a hair taller at about 25.9" or so front and rear.
All I want to do is run 18s with a taller side wall for comfort, while retaining the close tire/fender gap I've had from my BBSs. I don't want to roll my fenders either.
The white GT3 above looks to do the part with what I'm interested in. Chunky 18s on a lowered car.
specs on the GT3 BBS wheels pictured on my friend's car above are:
18x9 (+47.5)
18x12 (+61)
but also remember, that massively limits your tire options. My friend was on NT01s, which are great when it is nice out but a handful in the rain.
you can definitely mess around with your setup on those coilovers to an extent.
His is just on GT3 coilovers all OEM, no tricks.
You southern Californians, running sticky tires all year long
yeah, by rain, I mean it is 59f and rains for like 2 hours once a year. Everything else about living here sucks though. lol.
Also, to the OP, I used to make 3pc. wheels at Kinesis back in like 1995. They are not difficult to take apart, change rim sections, and put back together. We used to do that pretty much every day because of damage or people wanting to change up their setups. With proper tools and sealer, you could figure out what rear rim sections to change to make them the exact size you want I assume. In fact, anyone who has 1995-1996 or so Kinesis wheels, most likely had their wheel handbuilt and sealed with my finger tracing the bead! That is worth at least an extra $1k...at least!!
"There's a guy on here that runs 18s on a white 997.2, kind of a Speedline looking wheel from the 993 era, he's in Florida I think...trying to think of his username..."
ATSR is his username. He has got 18's on some old school type wheels. The stance, tires, and wheels and car in general is one of the nicest looks, (in my opinion) on the forum. He lists his wheel and tire sizes in one of his past posts.
Thank you very much for the nice words!
OP - I run the following sizes:
F: 8.5 x 18 ET 49 (with a 5mm spacer)
R: 11 x 18 ET 50
Tires are Michelin Pilot PS2, 235/40/18 and 295/35/18
I don’t have any rubbing, and I think I’m pretty much at the limit. My car is lowered with Eibach springs and I don’t have any other suspension mods.
Actually have the ability to go to a 18x10.5 + 45 with 285/35/18s (Pilot 4S)
295/35/18 MPSS is still readily available.
With an 18x10.5 in the rear, you will find good availability of 265/40/18 tires as that is the stock rear size of my 997.2 C2. Might look a little stretched with newer tires which don't tend to square off as much as older ones but at least there should be plenty of options well into the future.
I run 9x19 et40 and 11x19 et40 but a bit of stretch 235/35 and 295/30s since I thought i would be rubbing since im lowered. I can still put 245/35 and 305/30s on the rear but i need to roll up my fenders
On 18s you can do 285s/295s on 11s if you choose taller tires without the stretch look.
09-19-2019, 01:19 AM
Aggressive rear wheel fitments
