Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

My 944 S2 currently has 17 inch Boxster alloys which I'm hoping to swap with a set of 16 inch Club Sport forged alloys that I've acquired. Should it just be a straight swap or is there anything to watch out for? I've seen something about spacers being needed to fit 17 inch wheels on to a 944 so could there be some on my car? If so, will they need removing or can they be left on?

The 944S2 never had spacers - you can use them to widen the track width tho' but then you can compromise the geometry of the rear end and strain the wheel bearings. Strange but true...

Dave
CT

Depends on the wheel offset or ET (auf Deutsch). The idea is to align the wheel center with that of the standard wheel. The 17" cups on my rear have an ET of 70mm, the std 16" D90s 53 ish iirc so the spacer actually relieves stress on the bearing. Fronts are 55 ET so near enough though I did fit 3mm spacers.
The wheels will be marked near the valve.
Rear geo will not be affected by wheel spacers but can affect front to rear balance slightly. Wider rear track = more roll resistance so tendency to promote understeer. I have adjustable rear arb so can soften that by a little.
Depends on which Boxter wheel but I'm pretty sure they are a straight swap without the need for spacers.
My opinions were endorsed by Chris Franklin @ CoG who set the car up recently.

Sounds like it would be best to remove any spacer if there, since I have no idea about the spacer width. I assume the club sport wheels, since fitted to the Turbo S and I think an option the S2, will fit and be the same as the stock D90s (just wider on the rear).

Could there have been other changes to the car to fit the 17 inch wheels that might need reversing?

only 968 castor mounts and if it has leave them there

Ok cool. It will be in on Monday to have them fitted (as long as it doesn't snow). I'll just tell them to remove any spacers if there.

I had 16" Cup style 968 wheels on my last 944 & it required 7mm shims on the front to clear the bearing dust caps.

Is a shim the same thing as a spacer? So there could be something on the front if the Boxster wheels needed similar when they were fitted. I doubt the club sport wheels will need anything as they are essentially the same as D90s, but I could be wrong.

That style will fit straight on, no shim/spacer required.

Lovely looking wheels too!

Thanks ALZ1933. I was amazed how great these wheels look in the flesh. I don't think photos do them justice. They have a simple beauty about them rarely seen on modern wheels. Hoping they look as good on the car as they do off it.

Slender spacers will probably have been used for clearance on the front Boxster wheels. You can keep them (as the front 7" Fuchs wheels are too inset anyway) if you wish and I probably would providing that there is enough stud left for the nut to grip safely (this could be marginal - you need 7mm spacers from memory, but there is only enough stud for 4mm-5mm). If you don't, then make sure that the spacer is off on both sides as they can stick to the wheels or the hubs.

Thanks 944 Man, that's really useful info. Slightly in two minds now. I will probably have all spacers removed, at least initially, since it is how the car was intended to be. I can always put the front ones back on later if I feel it needs them.

In a related subject, a friend is interested in the Boxster alloys to go on his 924. They are 17inch twists 7.5 front and 9 rear. Will they fit? What if anything needs doing to the 924 to get them on?

If they're 9" rears then they are 996 C2 wheels. I would be very surprised if they fitted a 931 or 924S. The fronts are close to the limit.