w1234ale

I have a base Carrera without PASM with 18 inch wheels. I'm wondering if anyone that has upgraded to 19s wish the hadn't.

I live in a rural area with very poor roads and am concerned that upgrading to 19 will make the ride to harsh. Lots of frost heaves and broken pavement.

considering BBS ch-r.

So the question is will 19s make the ride harsh and less comfortable.

fc3

My stock wheels are 19 carrera S II, and I run 18 OZ alleggeritas in winter. I have toyed with the idea of going 18 full time because the OZs are lighter, and I think I get a placebo effect that they seem a little quicker, along with a slightly better ride. I just changed back to 19s last week and put new tires on them, and after a week I don't think there is any difference in ride quality at all with new tires.

ATSR

My car came with 19's and I went with 18's full time. In my case, I did notice a considerable ride improvement.

My car doesn't have PASM either and going with the Eibach springs was the first step in the right direction regarding ride improvement. The 18's was the second step. My car is actually comfortable now compared to the wooden feeling that it had with the stock non PASM setup from the factory.

German888

Went from 18 to 19 on my base Carrera and added new BC Racing coil overs at that time. Ride quality was greatly enhanced. Larger wheels/tire made very little impact in my case. Shocks were the bigger contributor.

Iceter

I have an '09 C2 cab. Non PASM. The car came with 18" Carrera IVs. I am currently running Bridgestone all-seasons on the 18" wheels. I purchased a set of 19" Carrera Classics and am running Hankook Ventus V2s on them.

While I do not think the ride on the 19" wheels is harsh, I can definitely say that I feel a difference in the ride between the two and in everyday driving, I prefer the 18" wheels. We've had a couple of very bad winters here and the potholes and frost heaves have increased dramatically. The ride on the higher profile tires on the 18s is more comfortable.

My car is my daily driver and frankly, I don't feel a significant difference in the handling performance between the two sets of wheels and tires. Obviously, if you drive at 7/10ths or above, you definitely would, but I rarely go beyond that level.

Again, I don't dislike the ride on the 19s (and in fact, I will be installing the 19s for the summer this weekend), but to answer your question, there is a noticeable difference in the ride between the two.

w1234ale

Thank you all for the helpful feedback. While I love the look of 19s I may stick with the 18s based upon your comments. The road I drive on are frankly horrible and I wonder too if the higher profile 18s may actually keep better contact with an uneven road--ahh the joys of living in the north.

2011-sy-carreras

I drove my previous car for 10 years (2004 E46 M3 with Dinan suspension and supercharger modifications) with BBS CH 19's for summer tires, and BBS CH 18's for winter tires. Now have a 2011 C2S for 2 years with OEM 19's for the summer and OEM 18's for the winter. I had damaged two of my M3 19" wheels over the years and never my 18's.

The 19's are more for looks and do not feel it added to ride feel on both of my last 2 cars, or increase performance from my experience.

During track days, most hard core drivers I noticed, which I am not (i.e. - go out once, or twice a year), use 18" wheels on e46 M3's and 997-911.

I actually feel 18" winter setups for my current 911 C2S and my last car are better over rough roads and feel more comfortable when driving on city streets on 18" wheels. As mentioned, looks seem to be more of a reason for 19's on our cars in general.

Earlier this month switched my winter setup (Carrera IV 18's) to my summer setup (Carrera S II 19's). The installer could not road force balance my rear tires, one of my rear wheels was slightly out of round and had it fixed before putting on a new set of rear tires to replace my worn out MPSS's.

Don't have any knowledge, or experience with 991 911's using 20 inch wheels, but thinking it could only be trouble with bent rims as you move to a lower profile wheel/tire and drive on badly maintained roads.

Johnny DB

Pulled my car out of storage 2 weeks ago and its storage wheels are the OEM Turbo wheels with the Hankook Ventus V2s. Drove around about a week or so and switched to my summer OEM Turbo wheel with the Michelin Super Sports and there is a big difference to me. The Michelin SS almost made it feel like I went down to an 18" wheel...

r6elmo

^^^ a lot of this will be based on tire and tire stiffness more so than 18s. But if same tire the 18s wil be more comfort. Most track people in the 997 will want the 18s for track usage because you get more feel through the tires, and pricing is cheaper. i also think it looks better (personal choice).

either way i run 19s on the street for my 997/e46 and 18s track

Bruce In Philly

2009 C2S with PASM

I run 18" in winter, 19" in summer. I hate 19" wheels. These big wheel things are just stupid and driven by dopey city teenagers. Big wheels and thin tires are the leopard skinned pillbox hat of the future.... marketing books will have yet another thing to laugh at idiot consumers as they crank up the next big thing. They have nothing to do with performance and everything to do with bent rims.

However..... wait for it ..... I just installed the TPC/DSC PASM software module..... I don't hate 19" anymore. Stay tuned for a review... I want to put more miles on the car.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

platinum997

OEM 18s and went to 19s. No issues but its all in the suspension and tires.

ronvanr

I have C2, no PASM. I run 18s in the winter 19 in the summer. I'll be putting my 19s on in a few weeks, I'm having a local wheel shop repaint them and take out some scratches and scrapes, The 18's are more comfortable, but not by much. My service manager at Porsche said I could run the tire pressure 4 less then recommended at that has helped the ride as much as anything.

Iceter

JohnnyDB, you're absolutely right. The tires have a lot to do with the ride feel and that's why I made sure I mentioned the tires I was running on both sets of wheels. It is entirely possible that the Hankooks have stiffer sidewalls than other, comparable 19" performance tires.

ATSR

Agree with this point as well. The Continental DW that I'm running right now has a softer sidewall compared to my previous 19" PS2's. While the ride improved, I feel that the turn-in response has diminished. Next time I'm planning to get a set of N-rated tires to see if it makes a difference.

MaximumA

I'd say the ride quality on my 9972 improved with the slighter lighter aftermarket 19" OZ Racing rims: 1 kg off each front wheel and 1.25kg off the rears doesn't seem like much but the wheel control was improved. It would be even better with lightweight 18s.