I just bought a 2003 C4S. I live in Massachusetts and plan to drive this car every day of the week-right through the winter. Happy to hear from anyone that a) thinks I'm crazy or, b) knows this is doable.

I need snow tires for this car and I'd like to avoid buying brand new rims if I can avoid it. At least until I have gone through one winter and can assess the results. Porsche recommends snows as follows:

Front: 8 J x 18 H2 (same as front non-snow)
Rear: 10 J x 18 H2 (non-snows are 11")

Looks like I have no choice but to go out and try to find used rims to match these specs. Any other thoughts would be appreciated.

 

I am in the same boat as well--new C4S daily driver, need a winter setup. The factory turbo twist wheels in winter spec are very difficult to find, at least for a reasonable price. I'll likely go with 18" NB C4 wheels and utilize a spacer in the rear to correct the offset, so that's an option you might consider.

 

I think getting a new set of rims is generally the better way to go, then your not paying to have tires remounted twice a year and risking damage to the rims in the process. Also, you can get a cheaper set of winter wheels to take the salt and potholes of a New England winter on the chin instead of your summers.

However, if you want to use the stock 11 inch wide rear rim the factory recommended snow tire size (265 rear) will be too stretched, but I'm told that a 275 will fit. That means the following fitment should work, and at least as of a few months ago Tirerack stocked Blizzak LM-32s in this sizing:

235/40-18 and 275/35-18

If you go with a ten inch rear, I think you could go to a 255 rear tire, or the factory recommended tire sizing, bringing some other sizing options into play. In theory, in the snow you want a narrower tire anyway (cut through the snow as opposed to float on top).

I am having a set of Forgestar F-14s made with a ten inch rear for snow tires. The reason I chose them was that you can customize the offset, so you can go to a 10 inch wide rear wheel without getting a sunken appearance in the back that more conservative offsets give you. Unfortunately they need a centering ring and a different shaped bolt, but I guess you can't have it all.

I'll post pics once I get my setup dialed in.

 

Thanks for those responses. That's helpful. Think I found some rims and tires right down the street on Craigslist that might do the trick, but my reading is that the offset will require me to use 20mm spacers in the back. Is that just a VERY bad idea? Here's the link--

https://boston.craigslist.org/bmw/wto/5846543476.html

 

I drove my 996 C4S in winter conditions when I owned it. I ran factory recommended sizes for wheels and tires. I bought a set of Sport Techno replicas in the correct sizes from www.wheelenhancement.com, and they worked very well. I found that a 17mm Porsche OE spacer on the rear wheels made the 10" rear wheel and 265 width tire look good.

I ran a set of Blizzaks originally, and then I switched to the Pirelli SottoZero Serie II. Unless you are driving in deep snow frequently, I recommend the Pirellis.

 

Thanks, Dennis C. I've put in a call to wheelenhancement. They are checking inventory. They rejected the Sport Techno (I like those) rims at 10" out of hand saying you just can't get them. Seems you lucked out there.

Gbug---You say you will likely go with 18" NB C4 wheels...NB meaning?

 

NB is NarrowBody.

Factory recommendation for narrow body Mk2 (2002 and newer) is 265's winter tires on a 10" as opposed to the 285 summer width. That's what I run and it's great on my NB C2. You, having a widebody, need a spacer as per Dennis's suggestion for it to look "right" if using NB wheels or find a set of 10" wheels with a different offset. The 50 offset is for NB.

996's are great winter cars and your C4 should be even better than my C2 which has never been a problem. The ONLY real problem you may encounter is when there is either too much snow or if your snow plows make berms near driveways, intersections etc. The ride height then potentially becomes an issue and you could in theory high center it on the bottom.

 

I also have a 2003 C4S. An option you can consider is 235/40-18 fronts and 285/35-18 rears. These fit correctly on standard 8" and 11" wide wheels. I am told that the diameter is easily close enough for the all-wheel drive. There is no rubbing.

I use Michelin A/S 3. They now have newer A/S 3 Plus which are supposedly better in snow. I find they are fine for the limited snow we get in the Pacific Northwest and better in dry or wet handling.

 

FWIW, my C4S came with 225/40s and 275/35s on the OEM 18" rims. No complaints...

 

Here's my winter setup

ACE 130B Spyder Metallic silver wheels
18 x 9 ET52 and 18 x 10 ET63 with
225/40/18 and 265/35/18 Pirelli Winter 240 Snowsport
RSS 18mm rear spacers with hardware (rear)
Porsche C4S center caps

 

Fantastic, Peteb3. Why 9s in front instead of the usual 8?

 

Congratulations on the purchase! I bet you're all grins behind the wheel. I've been running Blizzaks snow tires for 10 years. I live in the Denver area and we don't get too much snow in the winter, but I did grow up in a mountain town that saw plenty. I have always been so impressed by how well they do in snow and ice that I just don't plan to change to a different tire. They also last a good amount of time if you switch between a summer/winter tire combination. I also have done ice racing events with the vehicle and the Blizzaks. They've really proven to be a great tire to me. I've posted a link below that gives you some good info and comparisons between different snow tires:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=181

Also, when it comes time to buying a new set of wheels, be sure to check out our tech article here: http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...el_Fitment.htm. Let me know if you have any questions!

 

A LOT of useful information there, PelicanParts. Thanks very much.

 

That's the way I found them, bought used
Running them my 3rd winter now and on my second set of winter tires
And we get a real winter here in Calgary, Canada
Car is awesome in the winter

 

And then there's the story one Porsche parts guy told me that his buddy drove a 2003 C4S right through a Massachusetts winter on summers. Wasn't perfect but it worked. Bottom line seems to be you can be successful several different ways. I'm leaning towards sticking with the regular rims and using the fitment Rustler gave me above for a bunch of reasons. Those Blizzaks were available in those dimensions earlier today and now they're not--on Tire Rack. I'll track them down and will report my experiences. Thanks again to everyone who responded. Fantastic help.