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.

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

 

Running Costs of Porsche 911 996 One Year On

I've now had my Porsche 911 for over 12 months and it's been quite a rollercoaster of activity and spending on the car. It's certainly needed much more attention than my previous 911 996 model but it was also nearly £2000 cheaper and 10 years older at the time I bought it.

I think it would be fair to say that this 996 hasn't had the level of servicing and attention that it should have over recent years although it has only covered a very low mileage in that time.

Some of the costs I've incurred have been my choice such as replacing the front bumper and wheels as well as undertaking some of the maintenance of the car that wasn't strictly necessary from parts failure. However I'm keen to know the standard of maintenance that the car has had and being able to set a baseline of maintenance tasks that has been done means I know exactly what is on the car for future reference.

Track rod and tie rod ends replaced in August 2019 

New air conditioning condensers & radiators July 2019

Free fix to key fobs July 2019 and April 2020

One difference compared to my previous Porsche 996 is that this time I'm doing most of the maintenance myself so rather than paying Porsche £300 for an oil change I've done it for £70 for the cost of oil and filter. I've also managed to do some free or low cost fixes to the key fobs for example.

The total of all the spending on the car in the first year came to £2404. If I exclude the items that could have been left until they absolutely needed replacement or optional items such as the bumpers then I could probably have halved that total.

However by doing the spending now and preventative maintenance I'm hopefully stopping future issues and making breakdowns less likely because parts shouldn't fail.

It was outside of the 12 month calculation but one case in point was the coil packs. It was on my to-do list but before I could replace them the car started misfiring badly and needed urgent attention. If those had been replaced earlier and before they had disintegrated then I wouldn't have had the car off the road with the misfire.

December Running Costs for Porsche 911 Carrera 2

With the poor weather we've had recently I've tried to keep the 911 in the garage as much as I can so the mileage this month is a lot lower than before.

Total mileage for the month was only 221 miles and the only cost was fuel which came in at £49.65 so overall a low month for spending on the car. Unfortunately my other car hit some debris from the storm which resulted in a new tyre being needed at £130 so it wasn't so cheap overall.



December Running Costs Porsche 911

The long term running costs for the Porsche 911 /Porsche 996 are now on a new page so you can view monthly comparisons

Porsche 911 Maintenance Costs First Month of Carrera 996 Ownership

I've now had our Porsche 911 for just over a month so how much has the 911 cost to run so far?

The Porsche 996 was bought on 8th August 2013 and in that time I've incurred the following costs:

Oil change and inspection          £240
UK Car Tax (VED)                    £280
Parts (Horns & Pollen filter)       £47
Petrol Cap / Coolant Cap            £29

None of these were unplanned costs and none were essential as the car was running fine, although the oil change is hopefully a long term preventative measure to keep the engine in good condition. The car tax was also an expected cost and will cover the car until August 2014.

By far the biggest cost so far has been fuel! But the first month is likely to be exceptional as it was during the school summer holidays when both our cars get far more use along with the fun and experience of driving a new car.


Porsche 911 Maintenance Costs First Month of Carrera 996 Ownership

 

Total Costs for August 2013: £596