Wheel Spacers for 987

[hvangeel]

Ever since I looked at a Cayman S with 19" sport design wheels and 5mm Porsche factory wheel spacers I find my track rather slender - especially in the rear. I have got a 2006 Boxster S with the standard 18" wheels. Does anybody have experience with wider aftermarket wheel-spacers (i.e. TechArt)? I see a lot of them out there (eBay). How far can I go to make sure I fill the wheel wells and which ones are compatible? It almost looks like it could use 15mm in the rear and 7 in the front. Can I use different sizes? Any advice is appreciated.

[Izzy]

You may want to post this in the 987 Forum, may get more responses.

[hvangeel]

You may want to post this in the 987 Forum, may get more responses.

Thanks, will do. I tried to change the forum but don't know how to do it so I will re-post. Sorry for the oversight.

[Loren]

No need to re-post I have moved the topic to the proper forum.

[nfesas]

Ever since I looked at a Cayman S with 19" sport design wheels and 5mm Porsche factory wheel spacers I find my track rather slender - especially in the rear. I have got a 2006 Boxster S with the standard 18" wheels. Does anybody have experience with wider aftermarket wheel-spacers (i.e. TechArt)? I see a lot of them out there (eBay). How far can I go to make sure I fill the wheel wells and which ones are compatible? It almost looks like it could use 15mm in the rear and 7 in the front. Can I use different sizes? Any advice is appreciated.

I'm using H&R 15mm spacers in the rear. I've lowered the car with H&R sport springs and am running 2.0 degrees of negative camber which is probably helping the wheels/tires clear the fenders. Don't know how they'd work with stock camber settings. I run 19" carrera classics on the street (stock wheels and tires).

Nestor

[hvangeel]

Ever since I looked at a Cayman S with 19" sport design wheels and 5mm Porsche factory wheel spacers I find my track rather slender - especially in the rear. I have got a 2006 Boxster S with the standard 18" wheels. Does anybody have experience with wider aftermarket wheel-spacers (i.e. TechArt)? I see a lot of them out there (eBay). How far can I go to make sure I fill the wheel wells and which ones are compatible? It almost looks like it could use 15mm in the rear and 7 in the front. Can I use different sizes? Any advice is appreciated.

I'm using H&R 15mm spacers in the rear. I've lowered the car with H&R sport springs and am running 2.0 degrees of negative camber which is probably helping the wheels/tires clear the fenders. Don't know how they'd work with stock camber settings. I run 19" carrera classics on the street (stock wheels and tires).

Nestor

Thanks, Nestor! So you only did the rears and it fits just fine? I am planning on going to max. negative camber with stock suspension. Do you have a picture of how it looks? I am not sure about the offset of the 19"s. Did they come with longer bolts? I assume you can not use the Porsche supplied wheel-lock any more?

[nfesas]

Thanks, Nestor! So you only did the rears and it fits just fine? I am planning on going to max. negative camber with stock suspension. Do you have a picture of how it looks? I am not sure about the offset of the 19"s. Did they come with longer bolts? I assume you can not use the Porsche supplied wheel-lock any more?

I bought some track wheels. The spacers came with the rear wheels and were required to clear the rear strut. I installed them for use on the track and left them on for use on the street. They work just fine in both cases. Cosmetically, I think the fronts look fine without a spacer, but that's just me. Longer bolts were part of the deal and you cannot use the stock wheel locks at all.

I've attached a quick pic I took to give you an idea of what to expect.

The offset of the 19's is 46 in the rear and 57 in the front if I have that right.

Nestor

Edited August 21, 2007 by nfesas

[nfesas]

Here are a couple more pics - this time in daylight.

Nestor

[hvangeel]

Thanks, Nestor, looks really nice and flush. My offset in the rear is 43 (standard 18" Boxster S wheels) so I should be ok with similar spacers but I can not believe it would clear the fenders. I measured and it looks like I could only go out another 1/2" or less. Your rears look like they are a bit far outside as well. What made you sure that they would fit? I don't want to find out when my sidewalls are all worn out. Maybe you can tell a bit more from the pic.

[nfesas]

When I lowered my car, I ended up with more negative camber than the factory specs. I didn't know the spacers would work. I figured they probably would since many others have done the same thing and I had more negative camber than the factory setup. My rear camber is currently set at -2 deg. This causes the tops of the wheels to tilt in towards the center of the car. I don't have any rubbing with either my factory wheels, shown in the pictures above or my 18" tack wheels. I'll post a picture or two of the track setup so you see what I mean. YMMV as each car is unique given the manufacturing tolerances.

Also note that as the rear suspension works through its radius, e.g. on bump, the camber will go more negative than the static setting. So in essence, you'll have a little more room to play with as the wheel goes deeper into the wheel well - to an extent.

Nes

[nfesas]

Here's a picture of the car on a high speed right hander at Texas World Speedway. You can see that the outside tires are relatively deep into the well. No rubbing at the track or on the street.

Nes

[hvangeel]

Here's a picture of the car on a high speed right hander at Texas World Speedway. You can see that the outside tires are relatively deep into the well. No rubbing at the track or on the street.

Nes

Thanks, Nes, the effect is clearly visible. I thought I needed to be on the safe side. What amazes me is that it still works with the standard wheels. I'll probably get it set up at max negative camber and check the clearance again. Did you see a difference in handling due to the different track width rear/front since you didn't do the fronts?

[nfesas]

Here's the car entering the track. In the rear, I'm running Michelin Pilot Sport Cups in 285/30-18 on 18x10 Enkei wheels. The fronts are 235/40-18 on 18x8.5. The rear offset is 60 w/o the spacers. The front is 50.

Nes

[nfesas]

The track width didn't make a difference I could feel. My suspicion is that since I changed to stickier tires at the same time, any difference due to track width would be lost in the overwhelming difference the tires made. The car seemed to retain its neutral handling.

Previously I was running Michelin Pilot PS/2s. They seemed to get a little "greasy" after a good session - one where I made fewer mistakes and was able to keep my speed up :-)

The Sport Cups are pretty amazing. Lots of grip.

Next time out I'll have Pagid Black (RS14) brake pads and ATE Super Blue brake fluid. Those two items should provide another noticable step forward.

Nes

[hvangeel]

Michelin Pilot Sport Cups are on the top of my wishlist but I shy away from the expense for the extra set of wheels. You said you are running 18"s on the track? Why smaller than your street rims? Unfortunately my car came with the Contis...

Different topic - I see that you are running with your top up as well. I actually got black-flagged for having it down once without an extended rollbar which does not exist for the 987. I emailed Brey-Krause and they are not going to make one since ours is much higher than the 986's and the top wouldn't fit over an extended one. Where do you attach your hot lap timer so it has a clear 'view'? Or are you using a GPS based system, like the Traqmate? Thanks! Pics help a lot. I am just getting started with DE/TT.

[nfesas]

I'm running 18s because they're light and I have a better selection of tires than I do with the 19s.

I don't use any timing gear at the moment. I simply run as hard as I know how and then compare against my buddies - did they point me by or did I point them by? :) I can infer my "times" from theirs.

I like the traqmate - it's on my wishlist.

Nes

[nfesas]

I'm running 18s because they're light and I have a better selection of tires than I do with the 19s.

I don't use any timing gear at the moment. I simply run as hard as I know how and then compare against my buddies - did they point me by or did I point them by? :) I can infer my "times" from theirs.

I like the traqmate - it's on my wishlist.

Nes