As I'm waiting for my order (997 C2 Coupe), I'm considering upgrading to 19" Carrera Classics from the standard Carrera III 18" wheels.

I went to the dealership to look at the wheels again in person and saw something that confused me. I was under the impression that the standard rear 18" wheels were 265's and the 19" wheels were either 295's or 305's (depending on which 19" design).

What surprised me was I saw a C2 Coupe with 18" Classic III's with 295's in the rear. I checked it 3 times, believe me, I'm not mistaken on what I saw. They were DEFINITEY Carrera III's (18") and they were 295's.

Are the 2007 18"s different from 2006?? Any idea's?? Is there a 295 option for 18's?? Any insight would be appreciated.

BTW, these are the options I'm getting on the car (slight revision from when I initially ordered):

Bi-Xenons
Sport Seats (non-adaptive, just the plain $760 USD ones)
Floor mats...and that is it.

This car will be a weekend driver and a keeper for me hopefully for a long time. What's your opinion on 18's vs. 19's? Do you think I'll regret not having 19's down the line if I decide not to get them now? Anybody with similar experience regarding this?



-Gerald

 

19".. Definetly 19"...

 

Ditto~~~~~~~

 

It should be cheaper to pay the upgrade now than to try to pick them up later... As far as handling, ride, etc. I'm sure the 18s will feel better since you'll have a higher profile sidewall. Finally, 18s are MUCH cheaper to replace. The rears on my C2S cost $462 each from Tire Rack!

 

Don't do 18's!! The car looks right with 19's. You won't regret your decision. Good luck with the car.

 

Get the Turbo 19" wheels.

 

Classic III 19" IMHO.

 

I think the sport design and carrera classic 19s are great choices..

 

18s are great and unless you are heading to the track, I'm sure the oem sizes will be more than enough for your weekend workout. I have 19s and am looking for 18s. The sidewall is too stiff, there aren't many 19" R-compound options, there's too much wheel vs. tire aesthetically, Porsche racers that have run C2 and C2S back to back have reported the 18s are far superior and should have been on the S, etc. OEM wheels from a C4 would be fine at 8" x 18" front, 11" x 18" rear. Or, CCWheel has a very nice forged wheel for $2600 for a set of 4 at 8.5" and 11" widths.

I'm sure I posted this before, but reportedly the engineers at Porsche were over-ruled by marketing regarding the 19" wheels. Marketing said "we need the Bling of 19s in this media-crazed world..." and they won the argument. So, engineering, knowing 18s are superior, had to adjust things to make 19s work.

Personally, I'd say enjoy the wheels that come with your car... Ask the dealer about the wider tires in 18 - I know there are some variations out there from the factory (I think the Porsche USA site will give you some tire / wheel data). I probably won't change my 19s just because they came with the car - but my track wheels will certainly be the superior 18" format.

 

What you saw was either a C4 or a C2 with C4 wheels. Carrera III 18s on the C4 comes standard in 295. They actually fit the C2 as well and in my opinion looks better as it fills the arches better.

 

WAY: you're absolutely correct! I never thought about C4's having the wider 18's!

Thanks all for your replies.

BTW, anyone know how to add a quotation to a reply? Thx.

 

You're making some excellent choices in your straight 997 with essentially just the Bi-Xenon lighting,--you'll probably get 90% of the performance of an S or X51 S with little money out the door. One thing to consider is the fact that Porsche designed the 997 around the 19 inch wheel. That was their point of departure. As such, they ended up upgrading the suspension from the 996 considerably and that combination has changed the car from the 996 as far as handling is concerned. But, by sticking to the standard 18 inch wheels of the 997 you may be compromising some of that. Give some serious consideration toward upgrading to the 19 inch wheels. I changed my 997S order (luckily in time!) when the Carrera 4s came out with their special Carrera Sport wheels. They are 8.5 x 19 in front and 11.5 x 19 in the rear,--wider back there than even the Turbo! (Although the Turbo track is wider based upon the 44mm+ AWD platform). If you find that you can't stand the 19s I will venture to say that you will have little to no difficulty selling or trading them toward the 18 inch wheels.

To get quotes in your replies look to the bottom right of the block containing the text message that you wish to reply to,--click on that and it will do the HTML work for you.

Good luck.

P.S. What color are you after?

 

Dan, thanks for the info regarding the quotes! So that's what those symbols mean!

Thanks for the info regarding the wheels. I'm changing my mind on a daily basis now regarding the wheels. Yesterday I switched from 19's to 18's then today from 18's to 19's. So I'm leaning towards the 19's today. I've emailed my salesman and asked when the last day of options changes is.

I'm ordering it with Arctic Silver/Black interior. I was originally a big fan of Lapis and then Midnight blue and thought Silver was boring. Then one day I went to the lot to look around and I really "saw" the silver/black combo and just fell in love with it! Somehow it just became clear to me that was the right color for me. This was about 4 or 5 months ago and I haven't looked back since...so I'm pretty confident that I won't have regrets down the line.

 

19" for CERTAIN! i bought my used 2006 C2 with the 18" 5spokes mounted on them and while it looked nice it doesn't look ANYWHERE near as nice as the 19" Carrera Classics that i upgraded to (with 5" spacers, thanks Wheel Enhancement guys!).

i have an Arctic Silver and Black leather and I wouldn't want anything else (for the long haul) with the possible exception of GT Silver or Mexican Blue.

I'm that happy with my auto and its current trim.

 

You wouldn't by any chance happen to have pics before/after the wheel change of your car, would you?? I'd really like to have some big sized pics of an Arctic C2 with 18's and compare them to an Arctic C2 with Carrera Classics 19's (especially if they've been photographed from a similar angle/distance/lighting). Thx.