Porsche 911 - Do 997 Carrera III Wheels Fit Porsche 996 with ET57 Offset?

I've needed to replace the tyres on my 2002 Porsche 911 996 model and as the wheels also needed refurbishing I found that it could work out cheaper to buy a set of new (used) wheels with tyres rather than get mine done.

However it was then very confusing to try to work out if various other Porsche wheels would fit my car. In particular I'd found a set of 18" Carrera III wheels from a Porsche 997 and wanted to check if they were suitable. The information online was very limited and contradictory so it wasn't very easy to find out. Plenty of sites offered calculators to show offsets and wheel sizes but nothing seemed to be available that said "wheel offset x will fit your car".

Porsche 996 with Carrera 17" Wheels - 7J/9J ET50/ET55

For info the original standard factory wheels fitted to the Porsche 996 were Carrera 17" rims that were 7J front (7" wide) with 205/50 tyres and 9J rears with 255/40 tyres. The offsets for the wheels were ET50 for 7J front and ET55 for 9J rears.

The wheels that I'd found online were a set of 18" Carrera III/3 alloys from a 2007 997 Porsche 911 and had virtually new Michelin Pilot Sport N3 tyres fitted which would be £800 alone! The fronts had 225/40/18 tyres fitted and rears were 285/30/18. These had 2023 date codes so had clearly been fitted very recently. The wheels were 8J ET57 fronts and 10J ET58 rear and were immaculate condition having very recently been refurbished. They were painted black which wasn't my first choice of colour but for the price I couldn't refuse! 

Carrera III/3 alloys from a 2007 997 Porsche 911

My previous 1998 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 had 18" SportDesign/GT3 wheels that were 8J/10J so I knew that 18" wheels would fit as it was also a factory option. The big difference was that the factory 18" wheels had offsets of ET52 and ET65 for front and rear. These 997 wheels were offset ET57 and ET58 so it wasn't obvious that if they fitted the car whether they would rub the suspension struts or the wheel arches.

Do Porsche 997 Carrera3 wheels fit 996 Offset ET57/ET58?

Having purchased the wheels I can confirm that they do fit the car. The 997 Carrera 3 rear wheels are a perfect fit on a Porsche 996 but the fronts are a little recessed as the bigger offset puts them more inside the wheel arch. They don't rub and can be run as is but I've decided to fit 5mm spacers to the hubs to put them back to the same position as the original factory wheels.

Overall I'm very pleased with the way the wheels fit and look on the car. The black colour is growing on me but even if I decide to change to a silver set in the future I have a new set of tyres that would have cost me £800 to buy elsewhere.

Porsche 911 996 ULEZ Compliance/Exemption Process

 

Porsche 996/986 ULEZ Compliance for London

What are the NOx requirements for ULEZ Exemption?

The ULEZ or Ultra Low Emission Zone is an area of London where you are charged for using your vehicle every day if it doesn’t meet certain standards. However the rules for these standards as applied to ULEZ are unclear and misleading if you look at the TFL website. It’s stated that cars have to meet the Euro4 standard for petrol and Euro6 for diesels which means petrol cars built after 2006 and diesels after 2015 comply. However this isn’t the full picture.

The actual requirement is that the vehicle only need to have Nitrogen Oxide (known as NOx) emissions at or below the Euro4 level of 0.08 g/km.

Porsche 986/996 ULEZ Compliance Exemption requirements

Cars older than 2006 can be classed as exempt if that is true although I’ve found it can be quite a battle with TFL to get that done. I've also added this info about ULEZ Exemption as a video on YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmkNpuMPPmw

Euro 4 emissions standards (petrol)

CO: 1.0g/km
THC: 0.10g/km
NOx: 0.08g/km

It’s very hard to find the actual rules and values that TFL apply but the petrol car Euro4 NOx level is 0.08 g/km so if your vehicle is lower than this you can apply to TFL to be marked as exempt from ULEZ charges. If your car isn’t recorded as Euro4 by DVLA then it probably will show as not compliant and you’ll need to contact TFL to get it changed. To do this you’ll need to contact the manufacturer of the vehicle to get something called a Certificate of Conformity to show the emissions data when it was new. For my 1998 Porsche 911 this was free but other companies may charge.

Porsche 996 911 ULEZ Exemption

The Certificate of Conformity will show all the vehicle data and the key figure you're looking for is the NOx level which needs to be below 0.08 g/km which is the Euro4 limit. The other data is irrelevant for ULEZ purposes even if the car only meets the Euro3 or Euro2 standard overall.

With this data you can submit a request to TFL to get the vehicle exempted from paying the ULEZ charges. Be aware that you may receive several knockbacks denying the request as their staff appear to not understand the rules but persevere and eventually you should get the vehicle marked as compliant.

Another 911 - 2002 996 Carrera 4 Cabriolet

After selling my 1998 C2 911 due to engine issues with oil and coolant mixing I've now found a new car. It's a 2002 model Carerra 4 (4 wheel drive) cabriolet with hard top but has only the one owner from new. The gentleman bought the car for his 50th birthday and 21 years later is now downsizing. Keep an eye out for further updates but the car is in excellent condition especially being over 20 years old! The wheels will need refurbishment but other than that the car is immaculate.

Exterior with hard top fitted - my new 2002 996 Carrera 4 Cabriolet

Interior - 2002 996 Carrera 4 Cabriolet

 

Porsche 911 996 Coolant Oil Mixing - Car Sold

 The Porsche 996 I bought in 2019 has now gone - sad times :( 

Porsche 911 996 Coolant Oil Mixing - Engine Damage

It had oil mixing with the coolant and having looked at the options it was going to be far more economical to sell the car "as is" than carry the cost of rebuilding the engine. As an example one car I've looked at is on the market for £16,000 but had a major engine rebuild less than 12 months ago at a cost of just under £15,000. I managed to sell my car to someone for £7500 to fit a Hartech rebuilt engine in as donor because their car was seriously corroded.

I'm now on the lookout for another 996 so watch this space for updates! This time I'm planning on a cabriolet having never owned one before.

ULEZ compliance - Exemption Using NOx Levels Not Euro4

 

ULEZ compliance Requirements for London

What are the NOx requirements for ULEZ Exemption?

The ULEZ or Ultra Low Emission Zone is an area of London where you are charged for using your vehicle every day if it doesn’t meet certain standards. However the rules for these standards as applied to ULEZ areunclear and misleading if you look at the TFL website. It’s stated that cars have to meet the Euro4 standard for petrol and Euro6 for diesels which means petrol cars built after 2006 and diesels after 2015 comply. However this isn’t the full picture. The actual requirement is that the vehicle only need to have Nitrogen Oxide (known as NOx) emissions at or below the Euro4 standard not all the other parameters. Cars older than 2006 can be classed as exempt if that is true although I’ve found it can be quite a battle with TFL to get that done.

I've also added this info about ULEZ Exemption as a video on YouTube

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmkNpuMPPmw

Euro 4 emissions standards (petrol)

CO: 1.0g/km
THC: 0.10g/km
NOx: 0.08g/km

It’s very hard to find the actual rules and values that TFL apply but the petrol car Euro4 NOx level is 0.08 g/km so if your vehicle is lower than this you can apply to TFL to be marked as exempt from ULEZ charges. If your car isn’t recorded as Euro4 by DVLA then it probably will show as not compliant and you’ll need to contact TFL to get it changed. To do this you’ll need to contact the manufacturer of the vehicle to get something called a Certificate of Conformity to show the emissions data when it was new. For my Porsche 911 this was free but other companies may charge.

What are the NOx requirements for ULEZ Exemption?

My car is a 1998 model which is well outside the date range given by TFL but meets the NOx level and should be classed as compliant. As you can see from the Certificate of Conformity below the NOx level is 0.035g/km. Although the other parameters such as Hydrocarbons don't meet the Euro4 standard this isn't required for ULEZ compliance as it's only the NOx value that is used.

ULEZ compliance - Exemption Using NOx Levels Not Euro4

Porsche 996 Spoiler Rubber Bellows Replacement

 Replacing the spoiler rubber bellows / rear wall on Porsche 911 996. The bellows had cracked and broken on my 911 so needed to be replaced. Once you work out what needs to be undone it's an easy job to do.

https://youtu.be/octLZQ10KKg

Porsche 911 996 Price List & Sales Brochure from 1998

 As part of the collection I like to build up for my classic cars I try to get hold of the original sales material and the magazine reviews of the car from the time of launch to give a full history of the car. It's also quite nice to have additional material to display alongside the car at shows.

These are copies of the 1998 Porsche 911 996 sales brochures and price list. With the options list of my car it looks to have cost around £72,000 when new in 1998!

Porsche 911 996 Boxster Price List 1998

At the time of this price list the model range for the 911 consisted of:

• 911 Carrera 2 Coupe
• 911 Carrera 4 Coupe
• 911 Carrera 2 Cabriolet
• 911 Carrera 4 Cabriolet
• 911 GT3

The 911 Carerra 2 was available in both manual and automatic Tiptronic options.