prime wheel diameter for your treasured 944 ?

[ukmastiff]

Lo , I know everything is down to personal taste but I'm interested to know is it just me that thinks too large a diameter wheels on a car look silly ?

Just wondered which diameter do most folk prefer or genuinely think loooks best or does it even depend on the wheel.

Personally I see 17" as the max on a 944 and 15 as too small so I vote

16 or 17 as prime [] but what about anyone else ?

Cheers Mas

 

[edh]

17's for looks, 16's for driving []

 

[ronald smith]

Agreed 17" genuine cup 1's for looks but 16" for better ride.
Ron

 

[andy watson]

Hi Mas
I don't think big wheels look silly, I like 18"s[8D]

[/IMG]

 

[rav]

+1 for 16" wheels.

The car and suspension was designed for 16" wheels. "Nuff said"

 

[Mike_Pollock]

I like my 15" Cookies!
Bigger than standard tyres though.

 

[cococola]

I have cup 1s and they are 17" which sets the car off great.[]
I do love those 18s on Andys though![8D]

 

[edh]

the only car that looked good on 18's was Nick Appleton's- same wheels as Andy's but a 30-40 mm drop made them look much better

 

[MarkK]

Original 16 inch wheels for me,tyre choice is limited but the ride and feel is great,plus they just suit the car's period.

 

[Suffolk944]

ORIGINAL: edh

17's for looks, 16's for driving []

+1

 

[Hilux]

the only car that looked good on 18's was Nick Appleton's- same wheels as Andy's but a 30-40 mm drop made them look much better

17`s and 18`s without a drop turn a 944 into a 4x4.

I`ve never driven one with 18`s but on original suspension (and probably on aftermarket too) the aspect ratio required so as to ensure the correct rolling radius must make the handling extremely interesting on anything but dead smooth roads [&o][&o]

 

[andy watson]

Paul,

I agree my ride on flat roads is great and on anything else as you put it "interesting" so as not to hijack Mas's original post I would welcome your comments on my post headed "Replacement Shocks" you would recomend lowering, how much?

Regards
Andy

 

[mik_ok]

I only ever ran the D90's on ours, and (with subtle spacers fitted) was happy enough.

The best visual match for me are the lovely Cup1's. Fill the arches much better than the 16's whilst still looking suitably "period" / OEM fitment.

The 18's tend to look very "aftermarket", but I can't deny some of them look good.

 

[Hilux]

Paul,

I agree my ride on flat roads is great and on anything else as you put it "interesting" so as not to hijack Mas's original post I would welcome your comments on my post headed "Replacement Shocks" you would recomend lowering, how much?

The reason you find uneven surfaces "interesting" is the complete lack of tyre compliance due to the tiny (stiff) sidewall. Thats why a 944 will always handle better on 16`s with the same rolling radius for the sidewall compliance allows the damping to work in harmony.

Lowering is a matter of taste but mine was quite low on V3 with 16`s and later it had 17`s. Too low and you`ll need the torsion bars re-indexed

 

[appletonn]

ORIGINAL: Hilux

the only car that looked good on 18's was Nick Appleton's- same wheels as Andy's but a 30-40 mm drop made them look much better

17`s and 18`s without a drop turn a 944 into a 4x4.

I`ve never driven one with 18`s but on original suspension (and probably on aftermarket too) the aspect ratio required so as to ensure the correct rolling radius must make the handling extremely interesting on anything but dead smooth roads [&o][&o]

With the right geo set up (ie track biased) and 968 castor mounts, my car wasn't too bad - drove it to Le Mans 24hr and back (1000'ish miles) and had a ball.

Shallow sidewalls definitely compromised the ride comfort with the Bilstein Cup suspension and the weight of the wheel/tyre combo didn't do much for the unsprung weight, which undoubtedly affected the suspension response I guess (not having Jenson's skills, I doubt it made that much difference![]) but I'm afraid that I was sufficiently shallow to love the way it looked, hunkered down over those rims!

Certainly handled superbly on track though![]

 

[ukmastiff]

I know its all a personal thing but I think D90's are well how can I say boring
( stop dont shoot dont shoot). Those Blue cups to me look just right despite not 'filling' the arches , what size are they ?

Regards Mas

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Plenty of opinion about how compromising 18 inch wheels are on a 944, no mention of offsets, tyres, geometry, damper and spring rates though, or is it just something you read ?.

I guess most of us wouldn't advise bolting a set of 18" wheels onto a 944 without any other adjustments? Possibly without telling you insurers, either. That's partly Porsche's own guidelines, but largely experience from the people who have done it.

It's going beyond fitting bigger wheels just to look flash. You're into the realms of potentially worse handling on the road, and as such need to know what you're doing.

 

[appletonn]

Pauly, the car looks great![]

I was on the look out for some 17" Cup 1s for my old car, but having found some (albeit replicas, which incidentally are only ounces heavier than the real deals 'cos I weighed them, so don't believe the 'boat anchor' stories[8|]) but having bought some, I them bought a 'Beetle' as well....[8|][]

I think the gorgeous arches of the 944 need at least 17" to fill them adequately (personal opinion, before Scotty loads his shotgun[8|]) but I also happen to love the look of the standard cars on the D90s/forged 16" rims.

 

[Frenchy]

Pauly,
What wheels are those ? they look supberb are they 18" ? i drove a late model turbo on 18's once though serious tramlining issues.

 

[nfearn]

Based on my limited experience, cars tend to handle best on the wheel and tyre combination they were optimised for. That said, I like fairly soft settings for road use anyway, and the 944 (S2) on 16" D90s with Michelin Exaltos and M474 sport dampers does it for me.

The sweetest handling 993 I've driven was also on its original 16" rims and was still a delight at 140,000 miles.

Nick