Cayman base wheel swap to lager size.

Hi guys. I did a seach and wasn't able to find info. I'm looking to swap the 17" base wheels on an 08 Cayman . Im not sure of the base wheel width. I'd like to go to 18" or 19" wheels from a Cayman S or 911 . But I don't know the wheel width restriction on these cars. Will a the staggered Cayman S wheels fit a base without any problems? I believe they are 8.5" front and 9" rear. I've also seen some 911 wheels that look great, but the rears are 10". Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks!

Cayman “base” and Cayman S tire and wheel sizes are interchangeable. Not so with 911 wheels which have a different offset in the rear.

I just put some 18” wheels from a 2006(?) 911 base carrera on my cayman . The front wheels are identical spec. The rear wheels were 10” wide which fouled on the rear struts. The outer lip wanted to be in just about the same place as my stock 18” wheels. The fix was to get the often recommended 7mm front and 15mm rear spacers for a more flush fitment. In the case, the rear spacers are providing the clearance to the strut, too. FWIW, I initially put the 7mm spacers on the back, and while the rim technically cleared, it was by like 1mm, and the wheel and strut touched when driving around any corner. I can’t comment on 19” wheel specifics.

Thanks for the response. I suspected 10" was too wide. And I'm not a huge fan of using spacers. Can you confirm the staggered width of the Cayman base and Cayman S wheels on the 987? I get different answers when I do a Google search.

I think you are putting too much emphasis on base and S for the wheels. There was 17” and 18” wheel options. I have a base, but it was optioned with 18” wheels. I’ve referenced this site often for various cars, and would trust it. Tire rack is also another good sanity check on wheel/tire sizes Porsche Cayman I (987) (2005–2009) — Wheel & Tire Sizes, PCD, Offset Factory wheel & tire sizes, bolt pattern (PCD), offset and center bore for every Porsche Cayman I (987) (2005–2009) modification. OEM fitment data and alternative options. www.wheel-size.com According to that, 17” wheels are 6.5” up front and 8” rear. 18” are 8” up front and 9” in the back. can confirm the info is correct for the 18s.

Thanks for confirming the widths. 👍🏻 The car is question is a base that was optioned with the 18" S wheels like yours. Unfortunately, at some point someone put 17"s on it. Not sure what you mean by to much emphasis. I figured S wheels would be interchangeable but didnt want to assume since I've found different widths in my searches. It seems there where 3 different versions of 18" wheels for Caymans and Boxters from 06-08 and one might have been a square set up.

I’ve mostly focused on the 987.2 as that’s what I have, but I’ve never heard of different staggers/offsets on OE 18” rim options. To the best of my knowledge, all 17” wheel options for the 987 platform were the same, and similarly for 18” wheel options. My point about not being focused on base vs. S is that the chassis are functionally identical, so wheel diameters offered by Porsche don’t care which trim level you have. So to your original question, if you pick any wheel originally intended for a 987 cayman /boxter, it will fit your car, regardless of your trim level.

Had a set of 19" RUF wheels on my '06 Cayman that were delightful.

Yes, you can put 18” on. I gave an 08 Cayman S with wheel spacers, lowering springs and TSW 18” on. Zero issues with fitment and clearance. Your safe with the wheel upgrade 🤙

My 987CS came with 18" but later I found a set 19" Carrera wheels that came off from another Cayman , and those look sweet 😍 I used the 18" as a dedicated track wheels. I would suggest you to fund a used set of 19" OEM Cayman wheels so you won't have any issues with proper fitting.

I prefer IPAs personally.

I had a 987.1 Cayman S with 19" wheels and I found the ride too harsh, for whatever that is worth. I considered sizing down to 18s but ended up selling it.

My 2011 Cayman 2.9 came from the factory with the 18" Cayman S II wheels. They are on the window sticker. The fronts are 8" wide. The rears are 9" wide. There are no spacers.

I had a 987.1 Cayman S and I put 19x8.5 and 19 x 11 Carrera Classics on it with 245/35s up front and 295/30s in the rear. They were off a wide body 911 . The setup looked great and got lots of comments. I had KW Variant 3s and ran it about 30 mm lower than stock.

According to Porsche a 987 will take the following options: 8Jx18, 57; 9Jx18, 43 8Jx19, 57; 9.5Jx19, 46 8.5Jx19, 55; 10Jx19, 42

Plenty of good advice and information here. I just want to add that 10" wide in the rear is NOT a problem, it just needs to be the correct offset. In fact, 10" wide rears were an option on the 986 . I use 10" wide aftermarket wheels in the rear on my 987's track setup, and they fit just fine because they have the proper offset.

Based on my 10” wide rear wheels (et58) and required spacer combo (at least 10, but 15 sits nicely), I’d say some where between a 48 and 38 offset would be good for a 10” wide wheel. I’m happy with the fit of the effective 43 offset I ended up with in the rear (and fwiw, the 8” with 50mm offset after spacers in front).