Wheels Question.
- Thread starter dann944
- Start date
944 man
Active member
According to Porsche you shouldnt fit 18" wheels and you should only run 17"s after replacing the castor mounts with 968 parts.
I cant see any good reason to fit 19" wheels ( deleted stupid 19" wheels there btw). The cars handle best on 16" wheels and trying to bling-up a 1980s car is rather pointless, surely?
Simon
I cant see any good reason to fit 19" wheels ( deleted stupid 19" wheels there btw). The cars handle best on 16" wheels and trying to bling-up a 1980s car is rather pointless, surely?
Simon
pauljmcnulty
Active member
I don't believe I've ever seen 19"s on a 944? 18"s tend to cause handling problems as Simon said. I also agree that 15-16" are what the car was designed and engineered to run on, 17" with care can be ok. I can't imagine insurers would be happy with 19" as it's so far outside Porsche's recommendations.
A lux would also need plenty of adjustment to the wheelarches for anything over 17" anyway, as they're not rolled as on the turbos.
As I agree with Simon I'm happy to be classed as "idotic" as well. [8|]
Its all about the tyre size, and as for recommendations and handling everyone isnt going to be hammering their 944 round the track so putting 19's with the a slight stretch on the tyres isnt going to be the end of the world.
I myself would recommend the standard 16's as well but theres some people on this site who would buy their coolant from porsche never mind replacing castor mounts to run 17's!!!!
I myself would recommend the standard 16's as well but theres some people on this site who would buy their coolant from porsche never mind replacing castor mounts to run 17's!!!!
mik_ok
New member
18"s look enormous on the 944, and whilst the 17" Cup1 is still my favourite combo, the cars do look extremely purposeful on 18"s.
Good luck finding a suitable tyre for a 19" wheel - you can get a 265/30/19 which comes pretty close in terms of gearing, but you really want something like a 295/25/19.... which only appear to exist in the land of theory at the moment.
Good luck finding a suitable tyre for a 19" wheel - you can get a 265/30/19 which comes pretty close in terms of gearing, but you really want something like a 295/25/19.... which only appear to exist in the land of theory at the moment.
Hilux
New member
With the greatest respect (and particularly after you shouted down 944man) it isnt as simple as simply throwing on some bigger wheels.
The original suspension was designed to have a certain amount of compliance via the control arm bushes, the top mount/bearing, the damper and spring rates and in particular the tyres (where sidewall compliance helped keep the maximum tread area on the tarmac)
To put 3" bigger wheels with non compliant side walls will upset the damping rates, stress the bushes and together with the now mismatched damping will make the wheel `hop` under poor road conditions, tramline and have dangerously indifferent grip on rough roads in fast corners.
Modern multilink negative geometry suspension ( in a lot of cases with active suspension in one form or another) will allow and adapt for modern wheel and tyre combinations but 20 year old engineering will not (unless you re-engineer it properly)
You therefore need (should) reconsider the compliance in the suspension which is exactly why Porsche recommend the max size of wheel as 17" and recommend that 968 castor mounts are fitted or the `squirm` applied by non side wall compliant tyres makes the car tramline as the contact area is so stiff it twists the bushes!
944 man
Active member
Guest of the club with 18 posts..... Pete you are rude and ignorant. Yours strikes me as the only idiotic post on this thread so far. If you want to conduct yourself in this way then I suggest that you leave and try your luck on PistonHeads.
As reading/thinking doesnt appear to be your strongest suit, I have enboldened the 'positive' (and knowledgeable / factually correct) parts of my reply.
sawood12
New member
The question is why? Your tyres would end up costing more than the car (there is a big enough jump in costs from 17" to 18" tyres). These cars certainly handle better on 16/17 inch rubber and 19" would look daft without increasing your rolling diameter and ending up with something that looks like a 944 Allroad. I personally hate the look of large wheels where the wheels are not filled with brake and all you see is daylight between the spokes. But if you really want to spend a few grand on 19" wheels and rubber then i'm sure you'll probably be fine for casual street cruising and hacking up and down the motorway. The car won't drive the best, but depends if you want aesthetics over function. There are plenty of people out there tracking cars on 18" rims with no apparent problems - but most, if not all of them will be running non-standard suspension, bushes and geometry.
pauljmcnulty
Active member
Allowing for Simon's slightly "blunt" answer, he had a very good point. You mentioned that
, I assume you meant 19" not 19 feet [
]. I'd really appreciate a few pics, links, whatever, as I've never seen 19" on a 944. I get asked this question all the time, as bigger wheels seem to be the first point of call for many new owners, and I don't want to be telling them not to fit 19" if it's a common upgrade.
Peter Empson
PCGB Member
The 968 Turbo S had 18" Speedlines (8" and 10") so the factory considered them ok (admittedly I'll bet marketing had a say in their size, but they do look good). I wonder how the suspension differed on these (I'm guessing just different springs and valving but if anyone has more info I'd love to hear it).
944 man
Active member
All non-vintage Porsches have a 5x130mm PCD. Series one 944s (1981 - 1985) and 1986 model year series two cars wheels have a 23mm offset. 1987 model year onwards 944s wheels have an offset of 52mm or thereabouts. All for a nominal 7" width rim: wider wheels will use slightly different offsets in some cases.
Oh the bigger wheels question again?
944's were designed based on the tyre technology available at the time. 968's were designed with later tyre technology and used 17" rims. However, Porsche sent out a directive to its dealers not to fit 17" wheels on 944's unless they changed a component within the suspension for the later one (the caster mount). This demonstrates, without question, that there is an issue in using different wheel diameters over and above that recommended by the manufacturer.
I would further suggest that if you changed your wheels and had a crash as a result of a failed caster mount your insurer may well use the Porsche directive as a case for not paying.
Why go for bigger wheels any way? On an billiard smooth track stiff tyres may provide better control but only if the rest of the car is able to work within the parameters of the tyres. Otherwise the reduced compliance in the tyres will introduce further, potentially damaging, twisting forces further down the chain. The grip may be greater but the breakaway is going to be far more abrupt.
The only other, or perhaps main, advantage is to allow the fitment of larger brakes. This being the case IMHO little looks more ridiculous then massive diameter wheels wrapped around puny brakes.
The tyre wall is a significant element of the cars suspension. If you reduce the side wall height you reduce the tyres ability to absorb bumps and changes in road surface. Old fashioned suspension doesn't work well enough to counteract this. The ride will become choppier, the car will tramline and driving at speed on anything other than a smooth road will see the car fighting you constantly. I had a road registered racing car and driving on the road was not fun as the car would endeavour to throw you into every ditch or hedge even when driving straight - on a track it was sublime.
So in summary, if you want to fit bigger wheels please go ahead. It will impress 12 year olds but but wont gain you credabillity with those who know.
944's were designed based on the tyre technology available at the time. 968's were designed with later tyre technology and used 17" rims. However, Porsche sent out a directive to its dealers not to fit 17" wheels on 944's unless they changed a component within the suspension for the later one (the caster mount). This demonstrates, without question, that there is an issue in using different wheel diameters over and above that recommended by the manufacturer.
I would further suggest that if you changed your wheels and had a crash as a result of a failed caster mount your insurer may well use the Porsche directive as a case for not paying.
Why go for bigger wheels any way? On an billiard smooth track stiff tyres may provide better control but only if the rest of the car is able to work within the parameters of the tyres. Otherwise the reduced compliance in the tyres will introduce further, potentially damaging, twisting forces further down the chain. The grip may be greater but the breakaway is going to be far more abrupt.
The only other, or perhaps main, advantage is to allow the fitment of larger brakes. This being the case IMHO little looks more ridiculous then massive diameter wheels wrapped around puny brakes.
The tyre wall is a significant element of the cars suspension. If you reduce the side wall height you reduce the tyres ability to absorb bumps and changes in road surface. Old fashioned suspension doesn't work well enough to counteract this. The ride will become choppier, the car will tramline and driving at speed on anything other than a smooth road will see the car fighting you constantly. I had a road registered racing car and driving on the road was not fun as the car would endeavour to throw you into every ditch or hedge even when driving straight - on a track it was sublime.
So in summary, if you want to fit bigger wheels please go ahead. It will impress 12 year olds but but wont gain you credabillity with those who know.
pauljmcnulty
Active member
What wheels you running, John? [
][][][][][]Sorry. [
]
Peter Empson
PCGB Member
Your point being??? Porsche released the car to journalists and potential customers with 18" wheels on it, the few that did sell had 18" wheels on them, so my point is that they themselves sold a 944 derivative with wheels that were larger than the factory once recommended. To me this suggests they must have considered them both safe and acceptible in terms of performance with whatever changes they made. The fact that the car was a flop as it was at the wrong price at the wrong time is surely neither here nor there?
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