Narrow Body Wheel Confusion

I am looking for a second set of wheels with summer tires for my 03 C4 Cab. I have seen a couple of sets of 05 takeoffs that have a slightly different offset than the normal narrow body wheels. Specifically I am looking at Carrera 5 Spokes with the following dimensions: Front 18X8 57mm Rear 18X10 58mm My current wheels are standard Carrera 5 Spokes with: 18X8 50mm 18X10 65mm I have tried to look these up in the 996 TSBs for summer wheels but I can not figure out: 1) Are they going to set up towards the fender wheel too much? 2) Would they change the handling of the car at all? I know the subject of wheel fitment is a commonly covered topic but I have searched throughout this site and Renntech.Org and can not come up with the answer. There appear to be a number of these sets up for sale on EBAY at reasonable prices and would like to take advantage if it makes sense at all. Thanks for your help!!

I got a set of the italian knockoffs(BBS) from highline. The offset was close, but had to use spacers to clear the front brakes. The quality was amazingly good, cannot tell the difference side by side. I use them for snows and track tires, don't want to f up my sport technology wheels. I spent 699 on a set of two-peice forged BBS style wheels that work well for my application.

C4S Surgeon, any idea what they weight of those wheels is? Thanks,

I may be missunderstanding your post but.........your car can use an offset as low as 45/48 F/R(IMHO)........& can be done by using 7/17mm spacers on that Carrera Style wheels......or just ordering custom wheels with offsets in that ballpark (I have HREs with 43/50 (still 8J/10J) BTW......my file says front offset on Carrera wheels is 52 but no big deal. The Front offset on the wheels you are considering is higher than OE so that wheel will be further in the fender than OE......generally not what people do. ET (offset) means 'pushed in'.....so a lower number means 'pushed in' less (out more).

Alon, I think they were 24 or 28 lbs, not sure off the top of my head, but they were lighter than my stock rims grossly. I'll try and post some pics later today. The ET was 52fr and 48rear, stock technos are 50 fr and 45 rear,I ended up using 6mm spacers so the net ET is 46fr and 43 rear, for the money, not a bad deal. But, a hassle non the less, I would much prefer simple bolt on/off without spacers and bolts. Chris

18x8 would be a et50 or et52 offset in a Porsche OEM 996 wheel, not et57.

C4S- I have the same bbs knockoffs from highline. They are 28.5 pounds in the rears and around 27 pounds in the fronts. They are nice wheels for the money but I didn't like dealing with highline wheels custumer service. One time I was next to this boxster and I had noticed how nice his wheels were when we rolling. When we stop at the light, he had on the same pair of shoes as mine and they were the BBS replicas from HL, funny.

Actually my dealings were pleasant I must say. I cold called them and asked for the owner, a guy named Andy, he was very nice, gave me a below advertised/ebay price and got them to me directly.

You're going to need spacers in front to make it look and steer right. 5mm will get you to 52mm (what my sportdesigns are), and 7mm will get you back to your 50mm. The rears should be fine. It's akin to our stock 65mm offset wheels with 7mm spacers. I'd try to replicate the front offset as closely as possible with spacers. This will ensure you preserve the factory steering geometry. The rear is less of an issue, but I'd try to keep the F&R "offset ratio" fairly close to stock, to preserve the stock handling balance. IIRC a wider track in the rear will cause you to understeer a bit more.