QuestionHi there,
I'm attempting to get a particular look on my '03 boxster S that's pretty common among porsche owners. I would like the wheels to sit more out toward the edges of the body so that they line up with the bodywork... in effect, widening the stance of my car.
However, the previous owner who I don't know... I bought the car from a dealer... replaced the '03 wheels with '05/'06 boxster S 18" wheels. I'm assuming the '03 factory wheels were the 18" carrera light alloys so common on S models that year, but I don't know for sure.
the offset on the '05 wheels is 57 front, 43 rear. The offsets on these wheels puts the rear wheels pretty close to lining up where I want them, but could use perhaps a 5mm spacer to line up nice and wide but without protruding much from the wheel well. The fronts, however, are another matter. They're kinda far into the wheel well, and would take 17mm+ spacers to get them close to the same position as the rears.
My dealer will not make recommendations on what I should do, but I'm really struggling with determining the following:
1. Will changing front/rear track width cause me handling problems if I use different width spacers for fronts and rears?
2. Will a 25mm spacer in front change my steering geometry negatively when coupled with the change in front/rear track width?
3. Or should I choose the same width spacer for front AND rear that splits the difference... say a 17mm spacer on all 4 wheels? this would push the rears out significantly and nearly line up the fronts where I want them, and would (if I understand the terminology correctly) leave the front/rear track unchanged relative to one another... HELP!
AnswerHi Bryan,
I have no doubt in the world why your dealer refuses to give you a recommendation to modify the car...Liability City!
Just to be sure I am on the right bandwagon, I too will make no recommendations as to what you should do. As the dealer likely said...the decision is all yours my friend.
As usual, however, I have my own opinions. Using spacers is like having pre-marital sex...Everyone agrees it could be dangerous, some say a little bit couldn't hurt, but most say if you get carried away trouble will follow.
You will want to do some more research...on spacers...not pre-marital sex!
I am a member of a Mercedes internet forum and my gracious, using even tiny spacers is thought of as holding a loaded gun to your head. And yet I consider Mercedes, especially the 70's and 80's that I drive, to be well OVER-engineered. The Mercedes my wife drives today has a couple spacers on it.
One place you will want to look for ideas and risk/rewards is toward the four wheel drive crowd. They have been using and abusing spacers for a long, long time. And let me tell you...some of the hubs they put spacers on are weak-kneed at best.
Another place you will want to look is toward your older gray-haired brothers in the 911's. The Porsche factory almost singlehandedly re-invented the use of spacers...humongous spacers... when they started building the 911 and 930 turbo in the late 70's. The high performance cars got wide wheelwells, large tires and very large spacers...the not so high performance cars got smaller wheel wells, almost the same tires and no spacers. I don't know for sure but I'd be willing to bet your dealer has spacers added to new cars all the time, when high end ($$$$$) wheels are added as options.
A last place to look would be the PCA (Porsche Club of America) and more specifically, any Boxster-specific clubs and internet forums. Porsche owners LOVE to talk about their cars...and if they can one-up each other by saying "mine is bigger than yours"...they will. I will also sugest checking what's going on with production race cars...let's say any models really, but you're sure to find 914, 911's and many newer Porsches racing at SCCA and other events around the country. You will quickly find you are not the first guy to come up with this idea.
I realize your purpose is cosmetic...so the way I look at it is that if race cars and even the Porsche factory see fit to deem them safe...at the highest speeds...then who am I to argue about a guy who runs spacers and parks his car so the chicks can dig it!.
AFTER you've done your research and know everything there is to know about spacers and their effect on suspension geometry, don't get carried away.
Dave
P.S. One last idea. Ninety-nine percent of those who talk about this will advise against it...for those liability reasons. Why don't you talk to wheel spacer manufacturers, wheel makers and tire installers about their views. Admittedly, they will be biased to one degree or another, but I'm not aware of any recalls on spacers because they have been deemed unsafe.
Just don't get carried away.
