Planet 9

Hi All,

After much research, I finally installed new wheels, tires and springs on my CS and am very happy with the results.

Wheels are:
Brand Name Size ET Wt Price $ Notes
OZ UltraL HLT 19 x 8.5 53 21.6 425 ~ no spacer
OZ UltraL HLT 19 x 11 40 25.2 471 ~ no spacer! (re 996 C4S)

They are relatively inexpensive, quite light for their size, and fit perfectly with no spacers!

I used 255/30 front and 295/30 rear tires - ContisportContact3 (non Mercedes front). These are both .38" smaller in diameter than OEM, or .19" radius, or ~1.4 percent. This maintains a good relative diameter relationship to stock, provides a lot more rear rubber, more front rubber than most folks, and is still relatively lightweight. (My buddy works for Continental and can sometimes get me deals). These tires may not be Michelins, or R-compound, but they grip surprisingly well, and are smooth, round, and quiet - again for my street role. For WIW, the Conti3 is a significant advancement over the Conti2.

On the rear, I measured .127" between the wheel/tire and the stock strut. I consider this just about perfect, since there is a bit of flex under load. The outboard edge is basically flush with the fender. No fender rolling required; no rubbing. If duplicating, ensure you get the 40 mm offset (not the available 50 mm) - the easy way is to pretend the car is a 2004 996 C4S when specifying/ordering.

On the front there is still plenty of clearance (I would've used 9" if more wheels were available in this size) and the 255s look just fine on the 8.5" wheels (not too wide for the wheel).

I also installed Eibach springs (1.2" lower front & rear). As others have noted (thanks for the installation articles!), this is a big job. It took me 10 hours working alone.

Since I drive the car on the street (with plenty of aggressive mountain drives), and may or may not track it, I wanted a conservative setup from a ride standpoint. I've had H&Rs on two Boxsters and experienced rear sag over time, which produced negative chassis rake, reduced rear travel, and frustration just looking at them. I know many on here have H&Rs on Caymans with great satisfaction, so hopefully H&R nailed the Cayman spring better. I just wanted to try something else. The Eibachs are progressive in rate, starting below OEM rates, and ending above. Even though I converted from 18" wheels to 19", the ride is aprox the same as stock, maybe even better (smoother). I wouldn't recommend this setup as the ultimate for track use, but for my hard street driving on mostly smooth GA roads, it is just about perfect. (I know there is discussion about negative affects on roll-centers with lowered Caymans, and this may well be the case, but I am here to tell you this car corners much harder than stock!)

I initially aligned the car myself to ~1.2 front and ~2.0 rear camber with a little toe-in both ends. The car handled like it was on rails! No understeer. I then carried it to a shop with a proper alignment rig and we dialed it to .8 front and kept 2.0 rear camber. It now has a little understeer under certain conditions. I am planning to increase front camber again. Can anyone advise how much front camber I can run, on the street, without appreciable wear of the inside edges? (I know you trackers run a lot - but bear in mind I mainly drive on the street).

All in all, I'm extremely happy with this overall setup. There are better and lighter (and heavier!) wheels, for more money; and there are better tires, also for more money - but this is a great cost-effective setup. (My apologies to my friends at BBS, who make great wheels and are releasing two competive designs this fall or so - I just couldn't wait).

I've attached a few pics. Feel free to ask any questions.

Regards, Jeff G.

Attached Thumbnails

       

Wow..Looks great. Are you on PASM suspension too?

Great "write up". I love the fact that we can get so much rubber there. I decided to go with a 245/275 combo, but after reading this realize that I could have gone even wider.

I also have Eibach springs ready to be installed. I will most likely install the fronts, remove all the plastic in the rear and let a proper mechanic do the rear springs and alignement.

This way I will have some fun and save money.

Tomasz

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Tomasz

Apologies for spelling mistakes, most of them are keyboarding errors. To enjoy this forum I run out of time to proof read.
My garage: 2000 Audi S4 (not stock) | 2007 Porsche Cayman S (FabSpeed Headers, RS60 Tips, SRP 4.1, ATB, GT3 Ducts, GT3 RS Steering & Shifter, Custom Aluminum Look, ZR4)

Hi All,
Steeevo - Thanks. My car is non-PASM - but these springs would have similar results on a PASM car. PASM OEM springs are just a bit (10 mm, loaded) shorter.
Tomasz - sounds like a very good plan. The front is not difficult and by removing the rear panels yourself - you will take more care than most anyone you could pay.
Regards, Jeff G.

Hi All,
Just a note that I have subsequently adjusted my camber settings to -1.3 front and -1.9 rear (1 mm front toe-in per side and 1.5 mm rear toe-in per side) and now the car handles again like it is on rails. Increased front camber makes a big difference, even on the street. Understeer is essentially gone now. I can hardly belive how well these front tires stick. Steering effort is up, but entirely live-able.

I think it looks great. The wheel style is nice, and the way the wheel wells are filled up makes it look more aggressive. And, if the grip and handling are improved, then there is no argument there!

Cheers,

very nice job

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VIDS
Cayman Turbo 520HP

wow it look great, Ive been running the same size rubber(Bridgestones) for a while and curious how a drop would affect it...as in rubbing and what not considering the width of the fronts... Ive got non-PASM suspension aswell and have been contemplating Eibachs or coilovers... So overall ur happy?

Thanks All. Yes, I'm happy.

The set up is great and the car looks total ready for the road...good work!

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Thomas
2008 Meteor Grey CS

Great setup Jeff. Do you know if the same wheels/tires would work on the 987.2? I'm not sure if they have the same space/required offsets as the 987.1.
thanks

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Gator Skin

Hi Gator Skin. I don't positively know. As far as I know, Porsche didn't change wheel offsets (or hub location) for the 987.2, and my further guess is that the fender lips are in the same location. So, my guess is it's all the same. Hopefully someone that knows for sure will chime in.

looks good... classy looking rig, but sporty at the same time

Those wheels look great!
I run -2.5 / -2.5 and I'm not showing any adverse wear on mt street tires. I know someone who runs -3.0 without a problem. Of course, you'll need to add GT3 Lower Control Arms to get this much negative camber.

I'm going to try to go to a Road Atlanta DE in April, maybe I can see those wheels in person.

Thank you very much Sirs. I am very happy with this setup. I will report camber (wear)findings once I burn through this set of tires.

Hey Jeff,

Nice job on the car - looks very nice. I will be installing Eibachs soon and was just wondering if you followed the instructions in the article on this forum for the REAR springs? Are there any tips you can pass along - or is the article everything I would need to know?

Thanks

PS: Was your drive shaft held with the 8mm hex bolts like the article describes?? My car has some sort of 12 pt star pattern similiar to a TORX head - I'm trying to find out the correct drive and size bit for this bolt before I start taking things apart. Is it absolutely required to undo the drive shaft in order to get the spring out?

Thanks

Hi Maddog,
Thanks. I mostly followed the instructions here. I tried to skip what I could, but you can't skip as much on these as I recall skipping on the 986s - plus, all the trim adds time (and mine is coated natural brown, necessitating even more care). Rather than completely remove the trim over the rear struts, I swiveled it a bit and wrenched underneath it (one trim fastener is almost impossible to get to). Yes, unfortunately, the inboard ends of the axles have to come off the gearbox (I tried without) - on my car these are what I would call socket-head-cap-screws - yes with an 8 mm internal hex. It's a big job - make sure you're okay with whatever struts you want - You don't wanna do this twice. Good Luck!

Thanks for the info Jeff. I guess I have an odd car as my drive shaft does not have the hex socket bolts like the service manual says (and everyone else) I've got some 12 pointed "torx like" socket head bolts. So far I've not been able to find the right bit at the local stores.

Hi maddog,
If someone on here doesn't chime in about your bolts, I'd ask a dealer mechanic what they use. I found these external torx, but they don't have 12 points:
SLE240, Socket, Shallow, TORX, E24
http://www.craftsman.com/shc/s/p_101...s&keyword=torx

Hey Jeff,

Thanks for your help. I did get an answer about the bolts in the other thread on the tech forum. Sorry, I didn't mean to change the topic of your original thread. Your car looks good- hopefully mine will be sitting a little lower soon and I can start dailing in the suspension.