Fuchs 8 vs. 9

[avahdani]

Hi all,

Updating my wheels placing my 7's in front and debating between 8's in rear vs. 9 on my narrow body 1989 3.2 targa. Did anyone try this? any feedback and regrets? what are the best tire options for both sizes and do I need any sort of spacers?

the 9 serial number is 911.362.119

Thanks,

[Nditiz1]

89 carrera are not narrow body, but have carrera fenders unless your car has been cut and narrow body fenders added. Need more info on if you are running 15 or 16 inch wheels. If 16 most go with 8s because there are a lot more tire choices. Also 9s do not give you more depth look vs 8s. The 9s go wide on the backside of the wheel unless the wheels have also been welded to 9s based on 7s.

[shoooo32]

Agreed - 9" rears limit your tire choices (225/50/16 vs 245/45/16). For a OEM+ street car I'd stick with 8" rear.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

9's are a little deeper but both wear 245's the same. If I had a choice, I would get stay with 8s in the rear in case 245s are no longer made. Then you can go to 225s.

[icarp]

If you are thinking bout the 16"x9" vs 15"x8" there is a +6lb difference in just wheel weight.

Run the lightest wheel tire combo you can

Ian

[avahdani]

Thank you all, yes the intended wheels are 16" since I already have a 16X7. Sound like everyone agrees with 7 front and 8 back. Any tire brand recommendation?

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by avahdani

Thank you all, yes the intended wheels are 16" since I already have a 16X7. Sound like everyone agrees with 7 front and 8 back. Any tire brand recommendation?

you can run 7 & 8 or 7 & 9 x16

there are +/- for each different setup
7 & 9

you would use 205/55 & 245/45, for general street use is fine it does induce a bit more under steer that most will never notice on the street and the 245/45 being a little shorter than the std. 225/50 adds a little zip to the cars acceleration and deceleration.

w/ 7 & 8 you have choices
205/50 & 225/45 or 205/55 and 225/50

the former being shorter is far easier to fit, especially so on lowered cars, and adds a lot of zip to the cars acceleration, these will also provide the best grip and balance of grip.

the later is the must sluggish of them all , but is perfectly fine for most on the street

the 205/55 on 7 can be an issue w/ regard to fender clearance on a lowered car. stock is 205/55 on 6 but the 7 moves the outer face of the tire out an 1"

as for tires particulars there are a wide range of tire qualities, some biased toward performance, some to fuel economy, some to long life, some to low cost take your pick

[proporsche]

Bill.it makes me wonder..i used to have originally on my rear 951 rims 245/50/16 tires are those still around? The 911 look with them beefy;-)
I had to go in Europe to 245/45/16...but nowadays they are hard to find unless you pay big bucks for Michelin..

Ivan

[MBAtarga]

9's in the rear are sexier than 8's

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by proporsche

Bill.it makes me wonder..i used to have originally on my rear 951 rims 245/50/16 tires are those still around? The 911 look with them beefy;-)
I had to go in Europe to 245/45/16...but nowadays they are hard to find unless you pay big bucks for Michelin..

Ivan

There are only 2 different 951 AKA 944 wheels
both x16
7ET 23.3
8ET23.3

Here are the usual 911 SC/Carrera
rears



7 is stock w/225/50 tire
8 w/ 225/50 or 225/45 is a nice upgrade
9 w/ 245/45 also a nice upgrade w/ a caveat that you want a 225/ front but they cam be hard fit using the available Fuchs

245/50 on a 9 is getting too tall for my taste, these tires are ~.8" taller than the stock 225/50 and really suck up torque.

Here's the universe of 911 Fuchs
The 951 7 isn't listed because it is identical in fit to the 911 7


compare the 911 8 f/s to the 951 8 f/s, you could fit the 951 to an SC/Carrera rear w/ the usual 225 to 245 tires but you would also want to use at least .5" spacers, This is not a good idea IMO.


I see multiple lines of 245/45 x16 at Tirerack

[proporsche]

thanx Bill....yes the car was sitting a little to tall.. hmm what spacer ??
I have the 9th on the rear and no need spacer , with it it would be to wide and hit the fender...


"you could fit the 951 to an SC/Carrera rear w/ the usual 225 to 245 tires but you would also want to use at least .5" spacers........."

[Matthew_VA]

Depends not the type of driving you're doing. I have used the Toyo Proxes R1Rs and the Bridgestone Potenzas RE-71RSs, which are currently on my '84. Both are great performance summer tires.

I've been very impressed with the Potenzas, crazy good grip and also perform well in the rain. I've used them for several rallies (spirited mountain driving) and a HPDE. Not kidding when I say half the guys at the rally I went to in May had Potenzas on their air-cooled. I plan to get another set of them soon.

Originally Posted by avahdani

Thank you all, yes the intended wheels are 16" since I already have a 16X7. Sound like everyone agrees with 7 front and 8 back. Any tire brand recommendation?

[famoroso]

Originally Posted by proporsche

Bill.it makes me wonder..i used to have originally on my rear 951 rims 245/50/16 tires are those still around? The 911 look with them beefy;-)
I had to go in Europe to 245/45/16...but nowadays they are hard to find unless you pay big bucks for Michelin..

Ivan

245/45-16 pickings were SLIM a few years ago. By comparison, the six different 205 + 245 options on Tirerack are an embarrassment of riches.

Period tread pattern P7 Colleziones & A-008Ps (both N spec, if you need it) available in stock 16" sizes, including both rear options...

205/55ZR16
225/50ZR16
245/45ZR16

Grippy AF A052s available in even more 16' sizes...

205/50R16
205/55R16
225/45R16
225/50R16
245/45R16

I like all three tires A LOT on my M491s and have normalized on A-008Ps for street use and A-052s for Canyon Carving / Road Rallyes. Get 'em while you can, availability can be spotty and all good things (tires) come to an end (get discontinued).

~1990s era Michelin MXX3s are available in 205 & 245 from Coker Tire here in the states. You are correct, they are spendy, especially as compared to the relatively state of the art A052s.

[avahdani]

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?zip-code=90046&width=245/&ratio=45&diameter=16&rearWidth=255/&rearRatio=40&rearDiameter=17&performance=ALL

[Shaun @ Tru6]

one data point on A052s, I have them on my 328i with M Sport suspension. they are great tires, especially on this car, so balanced, but at well under 75% used, they are loud. Very loud. I had to put my winter set on with Michelin AS3s. Maybe the Bridgestones above, loved my RE11s.

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by proporsche

thanx Bill....yes the car was sitting a little to tall.. hmm what spacer ??
I have the 9th on the rear and no need spacer , with it it would be to wide and hit the fender...


"you could fit the 951 to an SC/Carrera rear w/ the usual 225 to 245 tires but you would also want to use at least .5" spacers........."

The widest I've ever been able to fit w/ lip mods, oil line reposition and trailing arm hardware slimming' is 275/45 on 9/5x17 ET19.05

these tires leave mms on both sides and still require ride height restriction to to tire height and width.

These have a tire ;
f/s of 4.7" 118mm
b/s of 6.2" 157mm

That's the max and few will want to go there

back to 8 & 9

again look at the front space of the wheels, the tire will add a bit to the f/s depending on tire size but the wheel f/s still gives a fair indicator of the appearance


here are the relevant figures



the 951 8 sits .5" in from a 911 8 and .83" more than a 9

so no a 911 8 or 9 doesn't use a spacer only the 951 8 does

to fill the rear well out more w/o running into major difficulties a 9.5ET19 w/ 255/40 is great 2435/40 while a bitt less grippy accelerates and decelerates better either fit w/o issue

[Ironman88]

You can always ditch the Fuchs and go with a modern high quality forged 17" wheel (8F and 9R).

[Michael.]

I shifted my car from 6/7s to 7/8s. I considered 7/9s but couldn't find good tire options for the 9.

Happy I went with the 7/8s as they look great, provide better handling balance, and there are a few more tire options

[Michael.]

Originally Posted by Bill Verburg

225/50 adds a little zip to the cars acceleration and deceleration.

w/ 7 & 8 you have choices
205/50 & 225/45 or 205/55 and 225/50

the former being shorter is far easier to fit, especially so on lowered cars, and adds a lot of zip to the cars acceleration, these will also provide the best grip and balance of grip.

the later is the must sluggish of them all , but is perfectly fine for most on the street

Bill- can you clarify? Seems like these are conflicting statements. Which is the quicker option?

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by Michael.

Bill- can you clarify? Seems like these are conflicting statements. Which is the quicker option?

All you need to do is look at the tire OD, If you want a finer grained pic look at the tire loaded radius or rev per mile

2 things divert drive train torque from acceleration else where
mass or more importantly how far from the center of rotation is the mass distributed and tire loaded radius, tire OD is a reasonable stand in for this latter metric.

tire OD is by far the more influential on acceleration or deceleration.

The order from shortest to tallest is also the order for peppiest feel to most sluggish feel
225/45 225/45 225/50 x16

mass does influence this but it's more dominant effect is the suppleness of the suspension.