michael_j_brown

I'm a longtime Porsche fan and owner (914, 928S and 911). I purchased a 99' Boxster 3 months ago and have been cleaning it up, man has it come a long way! I've included pics, including how it looked when I bought it.

Here's the deal, the car has very low miles and apparently sat for a long time in a previous owners garage. The tires that are on it were discontinued in 2011 according to Discount Tire and must be replaced.

I don't mind the wheel but hate the tires. I want to go with a lower profile tire but feel like the gap between the tire and wheel well will be to large and the car will look unbalanced. I've been looking at wheels and have picked out 19" Ruger Mesh wheels and Hankook Ventus V12 Evo2 tires in 235/35-19 / 285/30-19.

Any thoughts about this? Anyone have any photos of the stock wheel with lower profile tires? Should I make this investment in new wheels or am I being neurotic about this?

Shawn Stanford

Based on my own looking around for ideas, I've gathered that 17s are considered the optimum size for a street-driven early Boxster. I intend to put a set of H&R springs on to take some of the wheel/fender gap out. Maybe that will work for you and you can keep the 16s? And, depending on what you're looking for out of the car, remember that lowering the profile of the tires will make the ride harsher.

Personally, I'm happy with the 16s (I have the same wheels), though I'm planning on trying a set of 16" 928 manholes on the car. Going for kind of a retro look.

michael_j_brown

Interesting that you would say that because I had considered keeping them and using the same thing!

http://www.hrsprings.com/products/detail/springs

olegd

Keep in mind that lowering springs will wear out the shocks faster since they change the dynamics of the suspension. Have you considered Victor Equipment wheels? I have 18" Lemans on my Cayman. I think they would look good on a Boxster too. They are pretty cheap too ...

2RedPorsche

If you go to a lower profile but stay with a 16" wheel then you will create a gap between tire and wheel well because of the smaller overall diameter. You need to increase the wheel diameter as you lower the profile to keep outside diameter close to OE.
My 2000 Boxster came with 17" wheels and I've changed to 18" with no ill effects. I personally prefer the appearance and ratio of tire to wheel with the 18s over the 17s but that's just me and everyone is different. Some others have noted a harsher ride as you lower the sidewall but I didn't notice that with mine but you may.
IMO I find 19" to look like too much wheel for a 986 but again that may be just my opinion. I'm sure if you go from 16" to 19" you'll feel quite a difference in ride quality.
I've attached a pic of mine with the 18" wheels.

JayG

Not a good idea to go bigger than 17" on a 99
Definitely not 19"

Do a search here and on 986forum.com for more info
986forum is also a lot more active that here

grrrmonster

No way I'd put 19's on. Limited tired choice and tires are way more expensive. For street use we run 17's on ours and 18's on track

JayG

That's the exact opposite of what people I know do. They run 17's on the track and if they have a newer model, 18's on the street
17" tires and a lot less $$ then 18's and you burn through them on thetrack

Macster

No way those wheels will be an investment. They'll never be worth what you paid for them even if you leave them in the boxes they came in.

The factory wheel/tire sizes are as follows with diameter in parenthesis:

205/55x16 (24.9"), 225/50x16 (24.9")

205/50x17 (25.1"), 255/40x17 (25.0")

22/40x18 (25.1"), 265/35x18 (25.3")

19" are not AFAIK sanctioned by Porsche for the '99 MY Boxster, but:

235/35x19 (25.5"), 285/30x19 (25.7")

My 2002 Boxster came with 17" wheels/tires. The car rides very nicely on these. (Might mention though compared to the ride my 2002 VW Golf TDi offered with 15" wheels/tires the difference was like night and day. The VW in comparison to the Boxster felt like a magic carpet. Smooth riding with surprisingly good handling too.)

I do not focus on appearance of the wheels/tires in the wheel openings. That is whenever I walk up to the Boxster and admire it as I walk up to it, or give it one more look back when walking away from it I've never thought anything negative about the appearance of the wheels/tires.

The smaller diameter tires are expensive enough to replace and I have never felt the urge to make any kind of an "investment" in larger wheels.

My 2003 Turbo came with 18" wheels/tires. The car's ride is noticably harsher than my Boxster's ride. Part of this can be laid at the door of the Turbo's stiffer suspension but some of it clearly arises from the 18" wheels/tires. (225/40x18, 285/30x18)

My advice would be to get the proper tires fitted to the 16" wheels, the 205/55x16 (24.9"), 225/50x16 (24.9") tires.

Be sure the alignment is correct.

Then get to know the car. Drive the car. Get a feel for how it rides/handles. (Deal with any issues that arise to ensure the car is well sorted and dependable and you can drive with no worries in the back of your mind about it.)

If after a while you think the car needs 17" or even 18" wheels/tires well then have at it. You probably should if you go to a larger wheel/tire setup have the car aligned again. You want to be sure the alignment's spot on so you maximize the tire life of those more expensive tires. (A pair of 18" rear tires (Bridgestone brand) for my Turbo cost nearly $700 mounted and balanced.)

michael_j_brown

Thanks to everyone for the input. I decided to keep the original factory wheels and replace the tires. It was a difficult decision but in the end the collector in me won out and decided to keep it original.

Charlie C

Nice looking Boxster!

Macster

Agree.

grrrmonster

Love the red!

grrrmonster

18's on the track for running slicks !

Tim Lawton

The original owner (I'm the second owner) of my 986 put 19" BBS R-9's on it. Fronts are 245\35 19 Michelin super pilots and rears are 985\30 19 super pilots. Car handles well. Ride is comfortable, handling is very good. I can easily go to 300's in the back with no clearance issues. I know there will be some "nay sayers" out there, but the car does look good, nothing rubs, and it is a delight to push hard through the twisties...