Pictures of the 2003 Porsche Boxster, and Porsche Boxster S, and information on all 986 Porsches.

PORSCHE BOXSTER ALLOY WHEELS

New Alloy Wheels are a popular choice of upgrade on all Porsches, not least the Boxster.

As standard, the new Boxsters arrive with 16" Boxster Wheels, and the Boxster S is fitted with the 17" Boxster S II Wheel.  

It would appear that the S II Wheels are quite popular, with quite a few owners leaving the standard ones on, whereas many purchasers of the standard car are upgrading to one or other of the 17" options.

Effectively this means that the 16" wheel is a rarity, which is a shame as it's not a bad looking wheel, being quite open so there's a good view of the disk and caliper.

Standard Boxster S II 17" Wheel (Introduced MY 03)

17" Standard Boxster S Alloy Wheel
(Fitted to MY03 Boxster S)

More precisely, standard Boxster and Boxster S Wheel sizes are:-

Obviously the overall diameter of the tyres doesn't change significantly when going from the 16s on the Boxster to the 17s on the Boxster S, or any of the range of 18" options available for either car.  The profile (ratio of wall height to tyre width) simply adjusts so that the walls are correspondingly smaller to accommodate the larger wheel.

Why Upgrade your Wheels and Tyres

The most common reason for upgrading is appearance - either you prefer the look of the larger wheel and smaller side wall combintation, or maybe there's a particular style of wheel that you prefer.

Warnings

But before your rush ahead and get the largest wheels you can buy, bear in mind that tyres are generally going to be more expensive as you go for larger diameters, lower profiles and wider treads.  

We also hear reports from some owners that the wider wheel sizes are no more grippy in most conditions than their smaller counterparts - in fact there's a theory that in heavy rain the wider tyres are more likely to float on a layer of water than the narrower ones which should more easily cut through the water on the road surface.

Some owners have reported that under certain conditions their cars tram line more with the wider wheels;  this effect, where the car starts following the grooves that heavy trucks have indented into the roads, is certainly not a major factor with the 16" and 17" standard wheels.

We find it very difficult to believe that these effects are of any significance when moving up from a 17" wheel to the 18".  The difference in width on the rear is a mere 10mm which on a tyre that is over 250mm wide is such a tiny percentage change that any advantages or disadvantages due to the tread width will be minimal.  At the front, the change is slightly more significant, we're talking about an increase of 20mm from 205 to 225, so that's just under 10% of the tyre's width, though again this is not substantial.

Some of the Options available

Assuming you do want to upgrade to a larger size Alloy Wheel, here are some of the options available.

Sport Design

18" Sport Design Alloy Wheels fitted to MY03 Boxster S

Turbo Look II

18" Turbo Look II Alloy Wheel

More pictures of Porsche Boxster Alloy Wheel Options will be posted soon.