18 inch wheel upgrade?

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hotrod356

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Hi everyone, this may seem like a dumb question but I have a 99 boxster non "S" with 17's on it now. I would like go up to 18's mostly for esthetic reasons. I do auto cross and love to drive very "spirited". Are there any mods that need to be done, or concerns from unsprung weight? I vaguely recall hearing or reading that there is more involved that just bolting on new set of wheels?:confused:

Thanks alot Pete
 
While the 1997 Boxster suspension wasn't designed to handle 18" wheels your MY99 is fine. As always, lighter is better as is making sure to use the correct offset. Hopefully others with more experience in doing wheel upgrades will chime in as well.
 
I just upgraded to 18s on my 02 S, and my main suggestion to you is to watch the offsets. The first set I purchased fit the front, but not the rear. I had to sell them and buy another set with the correct offsets, or use spacers. If you plan on using these for auto-x, stay away from spacers.

For any further (more in-depth) questions, I would strongly encourage you to contact wheel enhancements. They are very knowledgeable and have LOTS of wheels in stock (plus it doesn't hurt that they are highly recommended on this site).
 
18s are fine as an upgrade but stay away from the solid spoke 18" turbo twists. They are heavy (read as boat anchors!). I had a set on my '99 for about 6 months and sold them....they were ~20#s per corener heavier than the 17s with tires mounted.

Here are a couple of pics from wheelenhancement.com

The turbo/technology wheel with solid spokes is very heavy

The Carrera 5 spokes are very light for a cast wheel.

I run 225 and 255 on my 17s and the car is much more responsive than it was on the 18s for AX. I was running 225s and 265s on the 18s.

Go with an aftermarket forged wheel....very light for the sizes
 

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Oh well. I just typed a long comprehensive reply, but this BBS just ate it (invalid thread error).
 
I've had that happen in the past and it's been a cookie issue. I also just checked the db integrity and everything seems to be OK so I really don't have an answer - other than entering the message the 2nd time usually goes faster :rolleyes:

On a more serious note - if you can provide any additional info or recreate the problem I'll look into it in more detail. Same goes for anybody else. Namely, please be sure to report any problems you run into with as much info as you can.
 
Why do you think we shouldn't use spacers to autocross?

kj
 
Why do you think the 17s are more responsive than the 18s? ... the weight of the ones you had?

kj
 
KenJ said:
Why do you think the 17s are more responsive than the 18s? ... the weight of the ones you had?

kj
Click to expand...

Yes Ken, I attribute it all to the weight of the wheels. I say this because I was running the same Dunlop SSRs on both sets of wheels.
I would love to try a set of light weight 18s with DOT Rs to see the difference.
Even a set of the 5 spoke Carrera light weights would be an improvedment.


And I agree, what is wrong with the proper spacers?
GGR has always allowed spacers as long as they did not change the bolt pattern.
 
Tom M said:
I've had that happen in the past and it's been a cookie issue.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Tom. I think it was a cookie problem. I was logged in, but then went to post, and it asked me to log in again, and bam, invalid thread and reply gone.
 
Docdanracy said:
18s are fine as an upgrade but stay away from the solid spoke 18" turbo twists. They are heavy (read as boat anchors!). I had a set on my '99 for about 6 months and sold them....they were ~20#s per corener heavier than the 17s with tires mounted.
Click to expand...

2nd (abbreviated) try:

Basically, I had almost a 20lb difference between the stock 17s and 18" Turbo Look, too. BUT, this is not fully due to the wheel. Tires at the wear bars vs. new is about 4lbs. Differences in tire brands/makes can easily be 4 to 6lbs. Also, bigger/wider tires weigh more. The real difference in wheel weight is more like 7 or 8lbs. The front difference is less, and personally, I feel the front is more noticeable as far as unsprung weight goes.

As Doc points out, the cast Carrera 5 spokes are pretty light. 18" forged can get kinda pricey, though. For the original poster, "mostly for aesthetic reasons", you could also consider getting 18" Turbo Looks which are dirt cheap and using them for the street. Then you could keep your lightweight 17" for the track and put some sticky tires on them. 17" tires are a lot cheaper to shred, and you won't have to worry about driving the 17" in the winter/rain.

Good luck!
 
Thanks thats a good idea. I like the sound of cheaper and better performance.:D
 
Actually, my background is more DE and tracking. However, when I first realized my mistake regarding the wheel offset, I called Wheel Enhancements (knowing they would have spacers) to help. After talking with them about what I was planning to do with the car (track and some auto-x), they strongly discouraged the use of spacers as they would add stress. For everyday driving they felt there was no issue with spacers, but when you place the added stress of track & auto-x they felt it could cause failure.

Not knowing much about wheels and spacers, I decided to listen to Wheel Exchange (whom I have heard great things about from this site) and, as much as I liked the wheels, decided it wasn't worth it. I sold them and found another set with the correct offset.
 
P.S. Also consider 996 wheels. The fronts will fit directly, but the 65mm offset 10" rears will require 17mm spacers on a Boxster. There is some discussion about spacers, and I don't know the cost on 17mm spacers, but something to consider if you run across a killer deal on 996 wheels.
 
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