Type_LT

I'm looking at a set of 16" rims for winter on my 05' Boxster Non-S, will 16"'s from a 98' fit on my 987?

Best,

Nick

ATL986

The 16 inchers should fit without problem. Boxters had the same bolt pattern, and the non-S brakes should fit in a 16. Hope this helps.

Type_LT

ATL986

Thanks, I thought so myself however wanted to double check.

I just purchased a used set of 16" double spoke rims from a 986 owner on ebay (no tires $550.00 shipped).

I'm curious to see how nasty the car looks with 16" vs. 18".

racer

I'm curious to find out.. I know the base 987s came with 17"s. Not sure if that was marketing or because of a change in brakes due to offering more power.

Type_LT

Racer,

The brake rotor thickness changed and they are now cross drilled by default, radius however seems to be identical.

Paragon for example sells aftermarket rotors for S and non-S and state applicability for Boxsters 97-on...

Next step is to find some Blizzak's, hopefully for cheap since it's still summer!

ATL986

man, you are a brave soul to drive a Boxster in a Connecticut winter. The blizzaks will certainly make a huge difference. once the first few centimeters of ice compound wear out, be careful, they will grip like crazy in snow until they don't anymore.

I personally prefer the Nokian Hakkapeliitta line of winter tires. a bit more expensive, but the ice compound is thicker, and the tread pattern is superior. here is a link:http://www.nokiantires.com/product-group?group=1.01

If you want something a little cheaper, but still a good tire, I would go with the Hankook Winter I-pike. I used them for 3 years in Michigan winters. link: http://www.hankooktireusa.com/Produc...um=3&FnCode=03

if you want to go really cheap with tires that probably wont last as long, the Firestone Winterforce is a good 1 winter tire... link: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....el=Winterforce

thank god I never have to buy another set of winter tires...

Type_LT

ATL986,

Thanks for the choices, I'd never heard of nokian before.

Fortunately I'll only need to drive it on rare occasions, and if I do it's only a 6 mile drive to work. I just want to make sure I don't have 18" 265 section tires on the rear when the time comes to drive it, that would certainly be a handful.

In the back of my head I sometimes wish I'd bought an Audi S4...

Also, I heard back from the dealer and they mentioned the 16"s might not work on the 987 since the offset is different from the 986. I could imagine the offset being different and causing "unapproved handling characteristics" but not so different it would interfere with the caliper.

ATL986

unapproved handling characteristics probably just means that they want you to purchase new 987 rims from them...there are alot of "unapproved handling characteristics" that occur in the snow anyway.

Type_LT

Exactly...

I can't see anything mechanical going wrong as long as the diameters on either side of the differential are equal.

Only thing I may expect is for the PSM to have trouble. The outer diameters (including tires) between the front's and rear's are different. That means if PSM expects a certain rotation ration between the two I may have trouble.

No problems either way, I'll just pass them on to a fellow lister if need be!

racer

If the offset is different, you may need to run some small spacers to clear the calipers. Not the end of the world. But if the spacers are too long, then you will need new lug bolts as well.

Type_LT

Verdict is:

16" Rims from a 986 will not fit on a 987 non-S. When I received my rims and tried to test fit them there were two things that prevented them from mounting. 1st were the brake calipers and second was the anti-roll bars. I can also say that even if they did fit they would look awfully small!

17"'s are the way to go, I've got the 16"s on Ebay right now and am scouting for some 17" for use with winter tires.