Accidentally Bought 997.1 Turbo Winter Rims and Tires, Now What

When I first picked up my 996 4S a few months back I found a local set of wheels and tires on craigslist from an owner of a 997.1 Turbo. Since this purchase I have done what I should have done first...read this forum. I need some help and or direction from the great minds of this site. Which option should I select. Here are facts about what I bought: Wheels: 18" Turbo Twist Knock-Offs (purchased from Tire Rack) Front Size: 18x8.5 ET52 Rear Size: 18x10 ET47 Tires Front: 235/40 18" Continental WinterContact TS801S; Treads Like New Tires Rear: 265/40 18" Continental WinterContact TS801S; Treads Like New Here are Winter 996 C4S Porsche Specs as I understand them: Front Size: 18x8 ET50 Rear Size: 18x10 ET47 Tires Front: 225/40/18 Tires Rear: 265/35/18 According to online wheel offset calculators this wheel will be 8.3mm closer to the strut and protrude 4.3mm from the current rim external position. Since the rear is identical to spec it is a non issue. Do i need to use a spacer to push the rim out 8mm? I think this will make the rim protrude 12.6mm which is .5 inches, which may look tacky. Also I believe that the diameter of the tires will not work either as they are a) non spec for the 996 4S an the difference between the diameters are greater than 3% which think is the max difference before you start to damage your drive train. Option 1: Sell the package locally for someone with a 997 and do over Option 2: Change Tires to correct 996 4S spec and keep rims - no spacers Option 3: Change Tires to correct 996 4S spec and keep rims - use spacers (what size?) Option 4: Use wheels and tires as it. Any hep would greatly appreciated! Ryan

option 1

Install and check clearances. Spacers are cheap.

Quotes source post: 11698472

+1

Thanks all. I assumed option one would be the party favorite. Darn you all!! Thank you eveyone for the input. Back on the discount hunt.

I have posted on Craiglist and Rennlist. Thanks for the advice! Click Here for the link to the Rennlist post

"Mistakenly" rather than "Accidentally," unless you were walking down the street past a guy on the sidewalk selling the wheels, tripped, money fell out of your pocket and into his hands. But I digress. Option 1. The nice thing about buying used tire/wheel packages is that you can normally get most if not all of your money back if you don't like them (or you mistakenly buy the wrong size). Just hit the reset button and start over.

Okay, I have attempted to resell my wheels and tires without much luck. So....I can either lower y price or just use them. What would be the downside to throwing away the tires and using the wheels? What is the risk if I use the 8.5" offset 52 vs the prescribed 8" offset 50 on the front still running a 225/40R18 winter tire. The rears are perfect.

Have you tried putting the wheels on the car? I can't believe that they would not work. We are talking 1/4" on the inside and 1/8" on the outside. Are these the wheels that a guy had in a trailer in Naperville or somewhere out there? He had them advertised as 17" wheels, I went to look at them, and told him he was wrong, then he revised the ad. Met him in a parking lot somewhere out there where he had a trailer. I'm sure they would work as-is. The OD of the tires will be just a little taller, would be good if you are actually going to drive the car in the winter.

Yep that was the same guy. Yes I have mounted the wheel and it looked fine. The difference to your point was minimal. There are a lot of threads out there about how using the incorrect offset can destroy your wheel bearing, suspension, drivability and ruin your marriage. Also as far as using the existing all season tires apparently because of the all wheel drive system I must stay within max of 3% difference in revolutions per mile between front and rear or risk damaging the differential. The revolutions per mile of the wheel/tire combo that I bought are 818.85 mile / 789.48 mile which is a 3.7% difference in revolutions per mile. https://rennlist.com/forums/996-turb...-question.html I think the tire is a no go. Do you agree? Am I being too careful with my baby? What about the rim offset? Thanks for any direction!

The rim offset is absolutely no big deal. It's a few mm...it will have no effect on wheel bearing life. Your point about a difference in revolutions is a good one.....but doubtful it would have significant effect. You could always just change the fronts or the rears if you can find a matching OD. Or just buy a set of tires of craigslist that are the right size. I can't believe they would be more than $200 - 300 if you show up with cash as nobody can get rid o them. The guy with the turbo twist wheels in Riverside has had those for sale for OVER a year! Crazy. I went to look at the wheels you bought for my 951, they were advertised as 17" wheels, the guy took them out and also told me "a guy is coming to look at them tomorrow, he says if you put them on your car to see how they look, he won't buy them".....right away I could see they were aftermarket wheels, and they were 18" and totally different from the ad. I told him that this is not what I wanted, and then I drove off. I got home and looked at the ad again and I thought that I was crazy....they are 18" wheels....I emailed the guy and he said he took my input and changed the ad! I have to say, those things were HEAVY! ;-)

...or pull out the front differential. Problem solved!

They don't make winter tires for the full size 11 inch wide body rear rims. The only make summer tires. Summer tires are outright dangerous under about 40 degrees. They get hard and you get no traction. So unless you plan to put your car up for the winter or think it looks good wrapped around a tree, you are stuck using the ten inch rears over the winter. You just put spacers in and it looks okay. It looks better with the 11 inch rims but it still doesn't look bad and it beats not having winter tires if you live in a cold climate. BTW, I am trying to unload a set of lobster claw 19 inch wide body rims, if you are interested. I would either sell them or trade them for a set of 18 inch rims. I want to go back to 18 inch. If you have 18s for your summer tires and want to go to 19, maybe we can make a deal.

Just put them on the car. There is plenty of room up front compared to stock sizing. As long as they dont rub the fender and clear the caliper, play ball!

Thank you all for the response. For some reason I wasn't alerted to each post so I apologize for the delay in responding. I am leaning towards just using the wheels. Thanks for the confirmation on bearing wear. I assumed as much but good to hear from the pros. Surprised that guy had them for a year! That's nuts.

Let me know how it goes slick, I am in Naperville too. How do you like the 996 compared to the 993?

Sorry for the delayed response. I cant even remember the 993 as it was 13 years ago and I hardly drove it. I have driven the 996 more in a few months than I drove the 993 in a few years. I love the 996. I finally sold just the tires and now have the TPMS listed for sale. I am most likely going to take the rims to CPC Powder Coating and have the rims powder coated color matched to my car. I bought some Snowsport 240s tires off tirerack and will, finally, have winter tires. Thanks for all the help. This has been quite a learning experience.

i'm not an expert on wheel styles, but i thought the 997 turbos all had 19 inch wheels. also, they weren't twists if i remember correctly, they were the three-arm per spoke (don't know how to describe this) wheels.

Not sure why he had 18" rims. Maybe Porsche recommendation for the 997.1 turbo. They are the Turbo Twist wannabes which are TireRack Sport Cup Edition 3 I believe. All is good now.