Wheels & Sports Exhaust for Carrera 4S

[wushik]

I am looking for two changes to my car (996 4S, year 2003):

1) New wheels. I want to put a new set of 18" wheels for summer and I was thinking of the TechArt Formula 18" GTS but they need spacers (17 mm) and I do not know what to think of this. Based on your experience:

--- Should I worry about the spacers?

--- Are there any wheels out there which do not need spacers (even Porsche told me that they now need spacers)?

2) Sport exhaust. I wanted to put on a sports exhaust and nearly cut a deal with TechArt. Before I did it I spoke to my Porsche dealer who told me that if something goes wrong with the engine they will not honor the warranty on my car because I have an unoriginal sports exhaust. They explained that it is not only a set of tubes (the exhaust, as I was thinking) but also the flow of fumes and the engine timing gets changed and that is why they are so picky. They of course offered to install the PSE?

--- Should I worry about an engine failure due to a sports exhaust, i.e. does it really affect the way the engine works?

--- Based on your experience is the PSE good enough (sound-wise) as the aftermarket ones like TechArt?

Sorry for the long post but I am really worried about the above and haven't been lucky in finding an asnwer yet...

Many thanks!

[zegypt]

If you're interested in putting 997 wheels and tires on your car, you may want to contact your local Porsche dealer and ask if they have any "take-offs". I bought a set of five-spoke 997 Carrera III wheels and tires for $1,100, which is incredibly cheap as the tires by themselves would cost nearly that much. You can also ask if they'd fit on your specific car because it's a Porsche dealer. The best dealers I've found that sell them are Suncoast Porsche in Florida or McKenna in Southern California...

Edited March 19, 2007 by zegypt