997.2 C2S Wheels on my NB 996?

Just want to confirm that these will fit. Specs are: 19x8 ET57 Front 19x11 ET67 Rear I know I'll need 7mm spacers in the front to get those wheels to sit where my factory wheels sit (ET50), but will ET67 in the rear on an 11" wide wheel fit properly? I think that should fit rather flush with the fenders. According to threads in the search, I have seen some other cars running 997 19" wheels, but I don't know if they were using spacers F/R. Also, for those of you running 19's, what tire size are you using? 18" Stock Overall Diameters: 225/40/18 = 25.09" 285/30/18 = 24.73" 19" Overall Diameters (TireRack Recommendations): 235/35/19 = 25.48" 275/30/19 = 25.50" So the TireRack sizes are a bit larger, which should affect the speedometer by a few MPH. Granted, the speedo seems to read 2MPH slow right now, so maybe this will make it more accurate. I'm not sure how i like fitting a 275mm wide tire on an 11" wide rim, as that is going to stretch it a bit. I'd like a 315/25/19 (25.2" OD) in the rear, but there are only a few tires in that size, and they are all about $450/ea. Thoughts? - Anthony

They will fit. As you stated 7mm spacers up front will give you the same look as you currently have. The rears will be 12mm further out from your current rear set up, which should be OK.

Thanks. I could do a 225/35/19 in the front, but that will be a pretty small sidewall. If my rears are 10" wide and ET65, then an 11" wide with ET67 should be 10.7mm out further than stock, if my math is correct. In that case, I'd probably want to run 10mm spacers in the front... Anyone have any input on tire sizes?

I spoke with Wheel Enhancement, and it is confirmed that I need to run a 315/25/19 rear tire, which are all about $500/ea. Add in another $150 for spacers in the front and this has gotten really pricey very quickly. Perhaps I should keep waiting for a set of 18's and then run original sized tires... - Anthony

Anthony, I'm going through this exact situation myself and am really looking for an excuse to go with 19" wheels. In my justification process, I've told myself that it will help correct my speedometer that's off by 3.5-4 mph. Have you gotten any "second opinions" on the tire size question? I want to run the proper tires for the size of rim I choose, but there's simply no way I'm going to spend $500 for a tire. Discount Tire Direct is saying that the 997S with the 19x11 rim takes a 295/30-19, which are readily available for reasonable prices. Check it out... http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...008&vid=013260

tooloud10, 19" wheels you be awesome on #12 in your avatar!

235/35/19 up front are fine. I'm running 295/30/19 on the same 19 X 11 et 67 and they look fine. I paid 212.00 for Vreds. I initially had 275/30/19 and they looked way to small for the wheels. the larger diameter on the 295's will throw off the speedo by 2.xx mph, but the aesthetic look makes up for that error. go to 1010tire.com tire calculator. IIRC some members are also running 305/30/19's for a bit more sidewall on the rears... tires-easy.com also has some decent prices on tires... GL here's a pic. I also haven't lowered the car. running on stock suspension.

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The 295/30/19 is about 1.3" larger O.D. than the original 285/30/18 tires on the car. That is a considerable difference... What size spacers are you running in the front? Also, any of you with spacers in the front have issues with wheel vibration/wobbling? Thanks, - Anthony

this is from 1010tires.com/tiresizecalculator.asp the 18's you mentioned differ by almost 3mph than the 295/30/19 which is a 4.74% difference. The 17's I show are from my OEM stock tire size when I went to 19's; there's about a 2.1 mph difference, which I'm good with for now.... I am not running any spacers up front....et is 57 on my wheels Stock Tire - 285/30R18 >Search Tires Tire 1 - 255/40R17 >Search Tires Tire 2 - 295/30R19 >Search Tires Section Width: 11.22 in 285 mm Section Width: 10.03 in 255 mm Section Width: 11.61 in 295 mm Rim Diameter: 18 in 457.2 mm Rim Diameter: 17 in 431.8 mm Rim Diameter: 19 in 482.6 mm Rim Width Range: 10 - 11 in Rim Width Range: 8.5 - 10 in Rim Width Range: 10.5 - 11.5 in Overall Diameter: 24.73 in 628.14 mm Overall Diameter: 25.03 in 635.76 mm Overall Diameter: 25.96 in 659.38 mm Sidewall Height: 3.36 in 85.344 mm Sidewall Height: 4.01 in 101.85 mm Sidewall Height: 3.48 in 88.392 mm Radius: 12.36 in 313.94 mm Radius: 12.51 in 317.75 mm Radius: 12.98 in 329.69 mm Circumference: 77.69 in 1973.3 mm Circumference: 78.63 in 1997.2 mm Circumference: 81.55 in 2071.3 mm Revs per Mile: 841.0 Revs per Mile: 831.0 Revs per Mile: 801.2 Actual Speed: 60 mph 100 km/h Speedometer1: 59.2 mph 98.8 km/h Speedometer1: 57.1 mph 95.2 km/h Speedometer Difference: - Speedometer Difference: 1.203% too slow Speedometer Difference: 4.967% too slow Diameter Difference: - Diameter Difference: 1.2% Diameter Difference: 4.74%

DiscountTireDirect has Nitto Invo's in 315/25/19 for $328 each, so that is more reasonable. The Toyo T1-R is roughly the same price. So you are running an ET57 in the front without any spacers, and it's not tucking a lot? Those wheels should sit 7mm in further than the factory wheels, and that is a rather big difference.

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No, the fronts are 19 X 8 57et, they clear the front caliper perfectly and they sit just right in the wheel well. I had to walk out just now to give it some second looks..now you got me started on trying the look w/ spacers...I'll check to see if my indi has some lying around.. If I space them out another 5-7mm, I'm sure the visual will be minimal.... I'm debating lowering the car to see how well it'll look. FWIW, the 315's are alot of meat but seem to fit well and the difference is definitely within range.....I got the 295/35 rears for $212 each..and I picked up two more new rears on ebay for $180 each. BTW, the wheels you posted are real sweet, I would definitely get them if the price is right...

2000996MIA.........You're running the fronts without a spacer? Your car must be a C2. ET57 fronts will work fine on 2wd cars. adg44.......is your car a C2 or C4? C4 will require the 5-7mm spacers. I had to use them on my 2001 C4. The tire rubs the bottom of the strut without them.

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yes, mine is a C2. fits fine, but the spacer issue is still on my mind. got to try it tomorrow if possible..

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On my 02' C2 with a ROW M030 Suspension, I ran a custom set of CCW wheels that were 18x9 in front and 18x11 out back. On these wheels, I ran as big as a 255/35 (Corsa) in front and 315/30 (Corsa and R888) in back without rubbing on the inner or outer. A 295/30 easily fits. If you run a taller tire in back, if you have PSM run a similarly taller tire in front so the PSM doesn't freak out. If you don't have PSM, you can run a shorter tire in front and be fine. Fortunately, my C2 did not have PSM so nothing to hinder the driving experiece or turn off every time I get in the car.

Just remember that you had better keep a close eye on your suspension components all the time as the 996 suspension is not engineered around 19 inch rims. It will tear it apart. The 19s exert far too much stress upon the 996 suspension without significant modification.

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WTF? 19" wheels will absolutely not tear up a car. A 996 is lighter than a 997 and hence isn't even as loaded up as much against the load rating as a 997. As on a 997, 19" wheels and tires typically sacrifice a little ride compliance; but that is the only negative other than the higher cost of tires.

I would be most concern with how to properly align the car with larger wheels. I found my old 996 had alignment issues after I lowered it. I just did springs and was running 18". Maybe I should have done coilovers. I guess you get what you pay for!!

There is nothing wrong with running 19s on the 996s. Many C4S and Turbo guys have done this for years. Wheel bearings, control arms, tie-rods all are maintenance items and wear out whether you're running stock 18s or wide 19s. Just make sure you don't force fit wheels onto the car (diameter). Stick with the stock 18s until you can afford a proper set of 19s that fit (custom). It is so true that you have to pay to play. My best advice is to not cheap out on a 911! I'm surprised so many Porsche owners are willing to cut corners and sacrifice quality for a half-.... result.

If I go with 19x8 et57 front wheels on my '99 C4, will I require spacers? If yes, will I need longer bolts? Thanks...

You will not "require" spacers, but the wheels will be 7mm more inboard than the stock 996 8" wheel with 50mm offset. 7mm spacers will get you the original 996 wheel look 15mm spacers will move the wheels 8mm farther out than the 996 stock wheel. If you choose to go with spacers then YES, YOU DO NEED longer bolts. The bolt length should be equal to the original bolt length PLUS the thickness of the spacer used. Make sure you get hub centric spacers. H&R should have everything you need.

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Thanks for the response, Tim, but I should have specifically asked about spacers being required because my car is a C4. I know the C2 doesn't require spacers on the front, and I'm OK with the wheel placement without using them. But after reading a LOT of old threads about putting et57 wheels on the front of a 996, I've seen a handful of references to et57 wheels rubbing on suspension components on the C4. Obviously I'd like to avoid that. BTW, after reading all those old posts about wheel offsets, I saw that for the last few years, Ray S and you have consistently answered the same few questions politely over and over. I think I can truly say that I now "get" wheel offsets and most of it makes perfect sense to me, so to the two of you guys I say "thank you".