3.4s 19s over 18s and which ones - or suspension lower? - Page 2 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

I have a 3.4s in Atlas grey. the wheels are standard 18s and in good nick. I dont like the big gap around the wheel arch, it reminds me too much of my old VW Golf mk4, which I put lowering springs on. anyway, I digress, what i would like is has anybody swapped 18s for 19s on standard suspension and what was the ride like. would a good alternative be to reduce the ride height with lowering springs or different suspension set up? - recommendations please? final thing, if I do keep the stock wheels and lower the ride height, would they look good colour coded with the car - who could do this - recommendations please? thanks in advance, any pics would be really great if you've done anything similar?

Wilpert Someone may correct me here, but I don't think increasing the wheel size will make any difference to the gap in the wheel arch. If you increase the wheel size, you fit lower profile tyres as the rolling radius must remain the same - otherwise you affect the speedo and gearing - or am I wrong???

No you are right, i was being dumb there tbh, I should know that without even thinking about it. I think I will look at suspension lowering options, but not sure which is best to keep a sensible town/b road drive?

fit cayman R shocks and springs

How much do they drop the ride and what sort of cost are we talking?

The CR sits 20mm lower. OPC would be best for an idea on costs.

I have a 3.4S with 19" and non pasm and looked into options for the same reason (the planet 9 forum is and excellent place for Cayman info). The CR suspension appears to be a cost effective and oem way of reducing the gap however from what i read it wont actually lower the car to the same level/look as the CR and so you may be disappointed. The planet 9 forum has some pics of cars with this susp fitted and you should be able to see the difference. Im going with Bilstein PSS9 when i get the cash together.

Im a non PASM person too but IIRC the non pasm lends itself better to adapting suspension etc. Have you ever ridden 18s? Im considering 19s but i dont want too harsh a ride and thought that 18s might work well with the lowered ride height? what is the fitted cost of the Bilsteins set up that you are considering?

19's without PASM = harsh ride.

I havent driven a cayman s with 18 wheels but my car on 19 is certainly harsh on the road but then feels soft on track. The bilstein kit is about £2200 on its own but the labour cost to fit is expensive. I asked for the price to include geo and corner weighting etc and it put another £1k on top from a well known indie.

thats a pricey package all in all but as you're using it for track too then I can see the justification. I have previously done a bit of cycle time trialling and I can justify hundreds of pounds for a few seconds faster and yet when it comes to the road bike every day use I tend to skimp on costs. Digressing a bit but how much is a used Cayman R, somehow that would seem to be an answer to having the full package without having to spend on upgrades?

I have an 07 and considered upgrading to a gen 11 car which supposedly has the better more reliable engine however the prices are high with the CR well out of reach for me, so i reason that spending between 5-6k on uprated suspension, rear carnewal exhaust, plenum/TB, and ecu software, labour, gets me something very near to a CR for a lot less cash!

makes sense to me, I keep looking at 993s but cant justify 30k for a 20 year old car. I have the carnewal exhaust and I consider it a well spent mod. Have you done this already or is it a job for the future?

wilpert said: Digressing a bit but how much is a used Cayman R, somehow that would seem to be an answer to having the full package without having to spend on upgrades? You're looking at £40k plus at the moment and with no sign of the prices falling.

40k for a 993!! I paid £54k for mine new in 94!!!

tidfrance said: 40k for a 993!! I paid £54k for mine new in 94!!! We're talking about Cayman R's on this planet.

Im kinda wondering id Cayman Rs could be a good investment - they seem pretty rare and can be used as a daily driver? Id be tempted to waste 40k on one of those over 40k on a 993! I do love the 993's but Im coming to a conclusion that unless I find a really tidy one then i may go either Cayman S pdk or cayman R Both cars I reckon will hold value quite well.

Had my 987.1 S fitted with Eibach Pro Springs and the Suspension set up by Centre Gravity....looks better and drives better.

[Image-only or quote-only post; no author-written text.] http://thumbsnap.com/sc/NKDVNsos.jpg

looks very classy but must have cost you a few quid - i see you sold your house and bought a caravan

wilpert said: looks very classy but must have cost you a few quid - i see you sold your house and bought a caravan We all have to make sacrifices !!!

phew, my heart sank for a moment after i posted that, how was i to know you were on holiday

Wilpert ....for your information that big boxy thing sitting next to my Boxster is my 'Country Retreat' apparently .....you will not see the word 'Caravan' or 'Caravan Site' anywhere on our 'Country Retreat' Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 13th August 07:00

Well, I apologize all over the place for mistaking your "country retreat" for what looked suspiciously like a car - a - van. I think I picked up some very bad habits from somebody who I once met who lived on a place that they called "the council" Im not sure where this could be as Ive never heard of it before but it could be up north?