Some modification advice sought

[924Srr27l]

Dont fit 18 inch wheels they will ruin the ride and handling.

Tried every 18" wheel/tyre/suspension/geo setup available have you. Or just parroting something you read on the internet?

It's well known worldwide that fitting 18" wheels on these old transaxle's has a lot of negatives & compromises, it's only for the people that just have to have Huge Hoops
for the "Lookie likey / Touring car / Kool Look etc..."

Those that do fit them, your self included swear they are totally no issue, where as those that wouldn't go nowhere near such a move also swear it's a dumb move!
It's a subject which is synonymous with a lot of car's and many tests have been done calculating the differences of which performance goes down...

Formula 1 car's are looking to be fitted with 18" Wheels (having used 13" for the last 4+ decades) for a big regulation revamp in 2021, it's being done so that they appear
more in line with modern road car's. The implications and issues this massive change makes to the suspension design / strength & Weight issues / loss of grip etc..
are currently being discussed and solutions and compromises found. Putting 1000BHP down with small profiles requires softer suspension spring rates and more travel to cope with the loss
of the current sidewall compliance / flex and grip..

R

 

[944Turbo]

I think wheel weight has a bigger effect than wheel size on behaviour.
Have you seen these?

https://www.augmentwheels.com/pages/dials
I hadnt seen them before.
Tony

 

[blade7]

I think wheel weight has a bigger effect than wheel size on behaviour.

Logic suggests Porsche would have fitted 16's to the 968 CS if wheel weight was an issue. I've said it enough times before, but Porsche fitted 18's to the 968 S/RS and there was also a Performance Design 18" wheel option for the 968. I fitted 1" bigger wheels to a Sierra Cosworth years ago, and they ruined the steering. My 944 on 18's feels nothing like the Cosworth did.

 

[924Srr27l]

I think wheel weight has a bigger effect than wheel size on behaviour.

Logic suggests Porsche would have fitted 16's to the 968 CS if wheel weight was an issue. I've said it enough times before, but Porsche fitted 18's to the 968 S/RS and there was also a Performance Design 18" wheel option for the 968. I fitted 1" bigger wheels to a Sierra Cosworth years ago, and they ruined the steering. My 944 on 18's feels nothing like the Cosworth did.

Logic ??? Porsche sold over 310,000 Transaxles but they only made (14) 968 Turbo S models with 18" wheels which is so small how can this be seen as it must be a logical step than this diameter of wheel
must be ok when they were only fitted to an incredibly small amount of homologation specials!?

There's no question that 9 out of 10 cats when subjected to a ROAD test with 16" and 18" on a 944 Turbo for example will realise and experience the negative characteristics of the excessively larger diameter..A Ford Sierra is nothing like a Porsche transaxle there's no comparison!

R

 

[944Turbo]

I think wheel weight has a bigger effect than wheel size on behaviour.

Logic suggests Porsche would have fitted 16's to the 968 CS if wheel weight was an issue. I've said it enough times before, but Porsche fitted 18's to the 968 S/RS and there was also a Performance Design 18" wheel option for the 968. I fitted 1" bigger wheels to a Sierra Cosworth years ago, and they ruined the steering. My 944 on 18's feels nothing like the Cosworth did.

That was kind of my point, you can get some very heavy 16" and 17" wheels and some lightweight 18"
Tony

 

[Waylander]

the 18" 968 option wheels, were they 5 spoke like AZEV wheels I'm sure I have only seen one picture of them in a very faded catalogue

 

[blade7]

That was kind of my point, you can get some very heavy 16" and 17" wheels and some lightweight 18"
Tony

No doubt. I think the 968 S/RS 18's and my 18" Gemballas were both made by Speedline. BMW had problems a while back, where their larger wheels were distorting on the unsupported inner edge. There's probably a fine line between weight and strength on UK roads.

 

[blade7]

the 18" 968 option wheels, were they 5 spoke like AZEV wheels I'm sure I have only seen one picture of them in a very faded catalogue

Yes, someone on here or PCGB bought a nice CS that had those 18" wheels. I think he sold Pole Position seats out of it? The wheels start with a 964 part number on the tech spec I have.

 

[944Turbo]

I think 18s can look a bit 'hot wheels' especially from the side, I remember watching Rick turn Wuf around from a distance and with the antennas on the roof and 18s it looked like a very cool RC car

I still want to try some different centre caps with these wheels,
Tony

 

[blade7]

I think 18s can look a bit 'hot wheels' especially from the side, I remember watching Rick turn Wuf around from a distance and with the antennas on the roof and 18s it looked like a very cool RC car

. I think because the spokes go to the edge of the rim, those Cayman wheels do look big. I might look out for a set.

 

[944Turbo]

. I think because the spokes go to the edge of the rim, those Cayman wheels do look big. I might look out for a set.

 

[MarkK]

Get the bodywork right and go from there if you go to a pukka bodyshop it may turn into a bigger job than you think to do it right....
.A great option with the Alloy wheels is have a refurb in a different colour, cheap and can be swapped back , ive tried bronze and black so far.
Porsche Classic have made another batch of 968 CS steering wheels
968 floor mats are my go to for mats (official ones)

 

[924Srr27l]

Get the bodywork right and go from there if you go to a pukka bodyshop it may turn into a bigger job than you think to do it right....
.A great option with the Alloy wheels is have a refurb in a different colour, cheap and can be swapped back

It's by no means unusual to hear this but one question would be why would a piece of metal in the form of a body panel be so much more expensive (or Harder?) to
paint that a piece of metal they call the wheel. Another would be why go for an expensive bodywork job but skimp and go cheap on the wheel paintwork?
For sure there are loads of cheap wheel places everywhere which is often the "Industrial powdercoating boys" who chuck in 4 round pieces of metal and coat the in one application...

All right for some, but from new and for sure the Pukka Wheel Shops use a 3 coat system (Dry Powder Primer / Wet High temp Colour Solvent or water based / dry powder gloss lacquer)
The difference in quality and longevity is just the same as going for cheap bodyshop or a Pukka one!

R

 

[MarkK]

Big cost for any paint work is labour , with wheels its just remove tyre , prep and paint-relatively cheap -300 quid for a set of wheels to look different in comparison to 1.5k for new set of wheels minimum ..
With bodywork its more prep with trim removal ,surface prep , new trim parts where needed , decal replacement, plus to paint a wing/localised area you might have to paint laquer more to even the colour match along a side9so you are blending existing with new), also with bodywork on a classic you can find corrosion sometimes hidden which is more complicated ,welding , new panels so very different process to painting a wheel one is localised and easy ,one is not.

 

[924Srr27l]

Big cost for any paint work is labour , with wheels its just remove tyre , prep and paint-relatively cheap -300 quid for a set of wheels to look different in comparison to 1.5k for new set of wheels minimum ..
With bodywork its more prep with trim removal ,surface prep , new trim parts where needed , decal replacement, plus to paint a wing/localised area you might have to paint laquer more to even the colour match along a side9so you are blending existing with new), also with bodywork on a classic you can find corrosion sometimes hidden which is more complicated ,welding , new panels so very different process to painting a wheel one is localised and easy ,one is not.

Oh ok....

There are loads of places that put "new paint on top of the old" which for some may seem like less labour but others will spend a lot more time preparing every spoke and all the sections on the front face also the inside. For this amount of work wheels are also time consuming and even more so if they are fully restored: chemically stripped, shot blasted (as they too can have massive corrosion issues) and coated with 3 different materials, at different temperatures and with handwork preparation in between each stage.

Painting anything less than a set of 4 is also a potential issue as there is no colour information available for wheels hence they can easily not match when on the same side.

R