Ray S

Doug,

Stock 18" 986 sizes were 225/265 front to rear. However, I have had good results with 235/265 combo on my 986. It reduces some understeer and makes the car more neutral IMHO.

Good luck with your new wheels!

unklekraker

so what did you end up getting? coz' I was looking at the same thing @ tire rack. right now im using kumho ecxsta...no complain so far

Doug&Julie

Awesome, thanks!

The weather people are telling us we're about to go through our last cold spell of the season, so it looks like I need to get on buying some tires!

perfectlap

those replicas are a good choice for an easy G.
I have the Factory 5 spokes (Ernie's Alloys' Miami $1900).
I wouldn't spend allot of dough on cast alloys the expensive facotory wheels will dent just
as easily as the Italian made replicas. But on the bright side small dents are easy to repair
and not very expensive from a body shop that does that sort of thing.

Now on tires though don't skimp. It's not worth saving $400. There is a big difference in
tire quality and performance for a mere $400-$500. Unless you are going through more than one
set of tires per season I simply do not understand the logic of putting budge sports car tires
on A PORSCHE. Did you hear me? i say A PORSCHE.
That's like spending $20K on stereo equipment and hooking it up to computer speakers, as someone
once noted.

I've used the Kuhmo's and a few other budget tires and flat spotting was a problem which made itself apparent at certain speeds and when the tires were cold....Thump, thump, thump.
Cheap tires may be ok on a slow passenger car with crap brakes but on a high end sports car where the lateral/ long. loads and harder braking are putting allot of wear on the tires, its a no go in my book.
Like puttng spinners on a Rolls Royce.

Pzkw993

This made me smile because the F1 GS-D3s on my 993 will flat-spot if they stand for three days, and the Pilot Sports on my 986S will flat-spot while I'm in the convenience store

Just for the record, however - the Kumho MX is not a budget tire. It's pretty much as fast around a dry track as any of the other big names, and on the wet it's not terrible. I've run more than a few wet laps on a road course in cars with no ABS, using the MX tires, and it's not as bad as, say, a set of Pole Positions near the wear bars It also wears like iron on the track.

From what I understand, the rest of the Kumho line, including the Supra 712, is kind of a budget choice, but the MX deserves to stand next to the F1 GS-D3, Bridgestone Pole Position, and Michelin PS2 as one of the very fastest non-DOT-R tires out there.

perfectlap

yes the MX's are not at all cheap on 18" wheels. I think most people asking about Kuhmo's do so after seeing them on the tirerack.com as a tire choice in a wheel package like the 712's, which I don't consider to be a bargain at all. In my experience they wear out quicker and I found them to be really bad in hotter temps.

unklekraker

doug, do you mean $800 a piece or for the set of 4?

Doug&Julie

$799 for the set of four with painted center caps. Shipping was a little over $100. No tires...yet.

My only complaint so far is the "protective plastic" put on the center caps actually pulled some of the paint off!

unklekraker

is it the WAC site? can you PM me the website and the type of wheels you got. I was looking for something like what you got there

Doug&Julie

I got them off eBay from Eurowheels USA. Here's their most recent eBay ad:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...MakeTrack=true

It looks like the WAC ad is pretty much the same thing. I'm sure the wheels are the same as sold by Eurowheels and Wheel Dynamics. At the time, I couldn't find an ad for Wheel Dynamics in this style of wheel (they do have Cayman 18" replicas for $1k...I considered those because I love my brother's Cayman S but couldn't find an example of them on a 986 Boxster), so I just went with Eurowheels USA. They had a good feedback rating.

Sorry it's not a PM...I thought it info worth sharing.

unklekraker

thanks doug! I just thought you preffer PM that's why I asked I will go check them out...

unklekraker

I saw that one the other day but wasn't sure and then I see that you purchase it...now confident enought to order it how long did it take for shipping it and what tires would you put on it? I was thinking of Kumho or Bridgestone....any suggestion on brand and sizes it wont be use as a regular track car, just for daily driving and some runs with the big boys on weekends....

Oh yah, also..what bolt pattern should I get when I put in my order?
TIA..

Doug&Julie

My wheels arrived basically in a week. They came in two large boxes, each with two wheels in their own boxes inside. The center caps were in one of the boxes.

As for tires, using the Tire Rack website, I've compared a few tires and think I've narrowed it down to three; Bridgestone Potenza RE050, Michelin Pilot Sport, and Yokohama ADVAN Sport. The Bridgestones are the cheapest and have "excellent" overall ratings, but only have "good" ratings in treadwear. They price at $173 for the fronts and $225 for the rears. The Pilot Sports rate just a little better accross the board, but are $218 for the fronts and $298 for the rears! The ADVANs don't have full rating yet, but the owners reports are very good. Again, they're $214 for the fronts and $294 for the rears. I haven't looked to see what Khumho has to offer. I may still...

Not sure what you mean by bolt pattern? My understanding is these wheels should be a direct bolt on, with no need for spacers or adapters. Before shipping, they even sent me an e-mail asking what kind of car I was going to put these on. After sending back that I had a 2001 Boxster 2.7, they just said "Ok, thanks".

Good luck with your purchase! Be sure to post pics, etc. when you get them!

Doug&Julie

Wait, I think I'm getting these:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....speed_rating=Y

(Hope the link works?)

Marc Gelefsky

Doug,

I have the RE050A Pole Positions on my S, I'm really pleased with them.
Sweet wheels! Those are the ones I want but not in the budget with the upcoming arrival of my first kid Oh well