Ordering today: 17" or 18" and 030, or not?

I am ordering a C2 Coupe today or tomorrow and have decided what options to order except for the wheels and suspension. The car will be driven year round in the Boston area where there are lots of potholes. I like the bigger tires and the new Carrera wheels, but am worried about wheel/tire damage from potholes. Similar question on the 030 suspension - - is it too rough on Boston roads, or does the new, stiffer 2002 suspension make it unnecessary for a street car anyway? What's the collective wisdom on this?

FWIW, I got my '02 C2 with the 18" Carrera wheels but without the sport suspension. The regular suspension certainly seems firm enough to me (especially since I'm coming off of a '90 C4), and my dealer agreed given that most of my driving is in an urban area. I liked the look of the 18" wheels and decided to take my chances with the potholes since, historically, I've generally managed to avoid them. Good luck with your choice!

I have both 18" and 17" rims and tires for my c4 (18 year round except winter, 17 for the winter with snow tires). The car feels noticeably better to me with the 18" rims/tires (like glue). In fairness, I'm using Michelin alpine pilot snow tires with the 17" which, while a good snow tire, is not a Z rated tire. If you are doing mostly urban driving, the 17s would be fine and will provide a softer ride. The 18s look better and provide a more secure feeling, but the ride will be rougher.

I think it totally depends on your driving style and whether or not you intend to ever drive the car at AutoX's or on the track. If you are a 95% city driver with a little 5% run in the country every know and then, you'll probably be happier with stock suspension (18" wheels either way, the difference in risk to damamge is negligible). However, if you are going to do a few AutoXs and/or track days each year, than the 030 sport suspension is the way to go. Unfortunately for me, I thought I was the former, so I bought the soft stock suspension ( I did not know at the time that the 996 is much softer and higher than all previous 911s). After driving at an AutoX, I instantly became totally hooked on performance driving and truly enjoying what the car was designed to do. So I turned out be the latter and had to buy suspension upgrades. It not that much harder at all in the city, and I love the crisper turn-ins and flatter cornering. Good luck with the decision, and enjoy the great new car!!! Bret

Dear Timrod: I have all of 100 miles in my new 02 996 so I sure am no expert, but I think the ride is quite firm. My previous car was an M5 and it a was much, much softer ride. For me, any more firm would be uncomfortable. Can your dealer demo the sport suspension for you so you can compare? I felt that the stock 17's looked a little small on the car. The 18" carrera wheels look great. Good luck! Camop

Get the 030! It is the best bang for the buck option Porsche offers (approx$700). It will be very expensive (approx $2000)to retrofit to RoW030 as I am faced doing now 2 years later. If I could go back and change one option I would get the 030 . Don't listen to the salesmen, they don't like to order cars with "stiff" suspensions because they are hard to move off the lot.

"Get the 030! It is the best bang for the buck option Porsche offers (approx$700). It will be very expensive (approx $2000)to retrofit to RoW030 as I am faced doing now 2 years later." Yeah, but the US M030 is much higher than the ROW M030. To me, it'd probably be worth the extra $800. You can buy the kit for $1030 shipped and installation including alignment and corner balancing should run you appx $500. Plus, you don't pay sales and lux tax on the $1530 that you do on the $700 factory option. As for M030 or not, try and get in touch with people in your local PCA who have M030 996s. I'm sure you'd find several in a matter of a couple days who are more than willing to take you for a ride. You can always change the M030 (add or delete it) after your order, but before it becomes unchangeable. As for the 17" vs. 18", I test drove a 996 with 17"s for one curve and took it right back. Understeer, understeer, understeer - horrifically. Then I drove one with 18" (both had Conti tires), and it was quite a bit stickier. Same thing with my 993 I had before this 996. With the 17"s I bought it with, it was a sad handler IMO. It was night and day better when I put 18"s on. Not only that, the 17"s were equipped with new S02s while the 18"s had much less sticky Contis.

I have the 030 suspension and the 18" wheels on my 996 C4, and wouln�t have it any other way (lots of mountain roads and highway drivin' ), but don�t decide on other people's advice, you really need to make an effort to try the 030 for yourself since its a matter of a personal choice. Thats my advice. If it helps, the 18" wheels with the European 030 is still more confortable that say a lowered M3 with stiffer aftermarket suspensions. If you only want to go with either the 18" wheels or the 030, I would go for the 18" wheels, and maybe the 030 later if you get into DE. Carlos from Spain.

Thank you to the responders for the feedback. I've ordered the 18" Carrera wheels and passed on the 030 suspension as this is principally a street car and not for the track (yet). It's great to have the Rennlist resource available. Thanks again to all.