What Wheels Really Fit Your 2005-2013 Porsche 911 997

Intro 0:00
Basic Fitment Info 1:17
Narrowbody Vs Widebody 3:18
Fitment Examples - Narrowbody 4:28
Fitment Examples - Widebody 9:21

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Welcome to the world of modded Porsches. When it comes to aftermarket wheels, you can run anything you want … as long as they’re not he-he-37’s. Seriously, don’t put reps on a $130K+ GT3. Aftermarket wheels need to at least be on par with factory wheels.

This wheel & tire fitment guide is dedicated to the Porsche 911, 997 generation. This will include model years from 2004-2013, so both 997.1 and 997.2. We’re going to cover the ‘narrowbody’ specs you’ll find on C2, C2S, and GT3 models; but also widebody fitment for those C4, C4S, Turbo, and other widebody variants.

The Porsche community, being distinguished gentlemen & ladies, takes a pragmatic approach to aftermarket wheels. You’ll find the ubiquitous BBS, but also JDM and USDM brands - whatever looks the part. If you come from the BMW or Mercedes communities you’ll know putting anything but Euro-made wheels on your car will make people want to throw hands. It’s refreshing to see a wide variety of wheels used on these Porsches because, frankly, JDM wheels might suit them best.

Before we look at examples of what looks good on a 997, we’ll go over the basic fitment info you’ll need to know, regardless of what wheels you want.

Basic fitment info
Bolt pattern: 5x130
Bolt thread: M14x1.5
Center bore: 71.6 mm
Bolt torque: 118 ft lbs
The 5x130 bolt pattern is sometimes used by other German manufacturers, but for the most part, it’s kinda just a Porsche thing. It’s not the most widely supported, but don’t worry, plenty of wheels will fit your 997. We have over 8000 possible wheel configurations in PCD 5x130.

Rolling/trimming/cutting fenders

When you’re sizing up your wheels and or tires, one of the first problems will be the front fender liners. More aggressive wheels will often contact the liners during cornering. Luckily, this is a pretty straightforward fix. Just massage the plastic liners outward for extra clearance. If you want to get more extreme you could bust out the grinder - they’re just fender liners after all.

If you have a GT car, the fenders will already be pre rolled. For other models, you’ll have to do it yourself. Again, this procedure isn’t particularly involved - it’s pretty standard fender rolling, only difference is if you f*ck up, the fenders cost double or triple that of a lesser car (BMW). A competent body shop will be able to get this done, or it’s a perfectly doable DIY job if you own a fender roller. Word on the street is some people even do it with a hammer.

This one is more of a delicate job as it involves irreversible cutting, albeit only inside the fender wells. The typical trouble area is where the rear quarter panels meet the bumper liner. To gain space you can cut out the rearmost bumper mounting tab and replace it with a zip tie. Otherwise, just take off material bit by bit until it fits.

Widebody vs Narrowbody fitment
In the front, the width is all the same except for one exception. Track only 997.2 Cup cars are delivered with wide fender flares that allow 10” wheels with 275 or wider tires. Not many conversions are done as they require dramatically cutting the factory fender to offer any tangible benefit.

GT’s come with faux widebody flares, however, they are purely aesthetic and don’t make the front any wider.

There’s a slight difference in factory sizes between the various offerings. Here’s a comparison of the narrowest to widest fronts:

997.1 Carrera (narrowbody) - 18x8 +57 235/40R18
GT2 RS (widebody) - 19x9 +47 245/35R19
The real difference lies in the rear. AWD cars like the C4S, Targa 4S, GT3RS, Turbo, etc, are about 1.75” wider in the rear than their 2WD counterparts. Here’s an example of the difference in factory wheel specs:

997.1 Carrera (narrowbody) - 18x10.5 +60 265/40R18
GT2 RS (widebody) - 19x12 +48 325/30R19

Wrap up

We showed you retro JDM wheels, ultra-light track-oriented wheels, dished wheels, concave wheels. Guess what? They all look good. Basically, you could let AI pick your wheels and they’d probably look good - it’s hard to make a 997 look bad.

Adding performance is another story; Porsche did a pretty good job with this right out of the box. The factory wheels and tires are generously sized, but as we saw, it’s possible to push a little further. In the front, just drop the offset 5-10mm, and if you don’t mind rolling fenders, try a 245 wide tire to eliminate some understeer. For both widebody and narrowbody cars bringing the rear out about ½” will give you that perfectly flush fitment. Just avoid the one cardinal sin - putting reps on your Porsche.

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