986 Boxster +2 Wheels?

since buying my Boxster almost seven years ago, I've never liked the wheel design. Today I saw a Boxster on 2009 "Carrera Sport" wheels and I love how they look. The trouble is that they're 19". RUF puts 19s on their 986 Boxster based 3400S and 3600S models, but I'm not Alois Ruf and I don't want to make my car handle like crap in the name of fashion (or for any reason for that matter). My friend and fellow GRMer, "carbon" says 19s on a 986 are like 26s on an old Caprice. Opinions please.

Too. Big.

Looks good.

I dig them.

Keep your other wheels for track / autox / etc. Problem solved.

Needs moar hellaflush!

They look nice, but you are right to be careful. Rubber band tires on big wheels can be heavy and ruin the ride and sometimes even the handling of your car.

They are also often way more expensive when it comes time to buy replacement tires.

I liked our 986s with 17" wheels, it needed a little lower but not bad at all. The tires were nice and meaty too.

Meh.

A lot of people seem to agree that 19s without PASM give too rough a ride on the street. On my Cayman S (with PASM), I run 18 inch 911 wheels with 15mm (I think) spacers in the rear. That opens a lot more options for you when shopping for tires and, especially, used wheels.

Woody wrote: A lot of people seem to agree that 19s without PASM give too rough a ride on the street. On my Cayman S (with PASM), I run 18 inch 911 wheels with 15mm (I think) spacers in the rear. That opens a lot more options for you when shopping for tires and, especially, used wheels.

Now that looks nice

M030, didn't you have a Boxster on phone dials, and everyone (well at least me) told you how awesome it looked? Do that some more. Phone dials.

I really like how it drives on the stock 17s, but I hate the twisty-spoke design (they look like Ford Probe wheels, to me). I could go with stock 993 17s , but I was hoping someone would see those 19s and say, "you know, so-and-so makes a similar design wheel in 17- or 18-inch." It's very near time to buy tires for the old girl, and it seems that now would be the best time to do a wheel upgrade, as well. A few months ago, I thought I wanted OZ Allegerita HLTs, so I bought a set from Tire Rack. I took one out of the box and really don't like the design in the flesh as much as I did in pixels on a screen. I don't want to make that expensive mistake again, so I'm over-thinking the crap out of it before I brandish the plastic again.

Part of the dilemma is that I want to choose wheels that will look good on the car in its stock configuration, and if/when I decide to upgrade to "Aerokit II" which consists of a GT3 front bumper and side skirts

M030 wrote: since buying my Boxster almost seven years ago, I've never liked the wheel design. Today I saw a Boxster on 2009 "Carrera Sport" wheels and I love how they look. The trouble is that they're 19". RUF puts 19s on their 986 Boxster based 3400S and 3600S models, but I'm not Alois Ruf and I don't want to make my car handle like crap in the name of fashion (or for any reason for that matter). My friend and fellow GRMer, "carbon" says 19s on a 986 are like 26s on an old Caprice. Opinions please.

You know HRE makes a similar design in 17 and 18". But, they're 3 piece and look better (HRE 543R). They look beautiful on Porsche cars. Just be prepared to pay over $2000 for a used set. I think they're $5,000 for a new set.

In reply to yupididit:

thank you!!

Remember that some early Boxsters came on 16s, so in a sense you are actually looking at a +3 upgrade.

My wife picked these out, and I think they might be the winners:

Stock, 18" 1999 GT3 wheels. Presumably light (because GT3), available used for reasonable money and, I think, they just look "right" for the car. More opinions welcome!

In reply to Woody:

I was basing my "+2" assertion on my own car which was originally (and still is) equipped with 17s