15's or 16's?

[flipper]

My 77s has the 15's on it and I have the chance to trade someone for their 16's. Should I do it? Both sets are in equally good shape. Will 16's fit the narrowbody wheel wells?

Thanks all

[fortunesailor]

I went from 16's to 17's on my 84 and they fit and look great. The one thing that surprised me was how much slower the acceleration felt. You might want to consider the impact to final gearing the taller tire will give you.

[flipper]

The overall tire diameter should not change I think, the taller the wheel, the lower the tire profile. I think.....

[jtkkz]

Early long hood cars 15"
Later cars 16" looks great

[Sumotang]

You may have problems fitting the 16's on the narrow body car. Best to check it out first.

[Todd Simpson]

What width are the 16's? If they are 16x6 and 16x7, (standard on SC's and most Carreras) fitting the rears can be tricky. If you use 205/55/16's on all four wheels your chances are pretty good. You need to be willing to add a little negative camber at the rear to make sure they clear. The rears don't rub at the lip they rub about 1-2 inches above the lip and burn the paint from the inside. It's ugly when it happens.

16x7's and even 16x8's have been fitted on a narrow body rear with 225/50/16's, but it's not easy. 225/45/16 gives a little more clearance in the rear, but again, lots of work. Some have posted they've done it, then later posted they took them off due to rubbing.

The archives have posts with personal experience and some good pics.

[jtkkz]

My '74 carrera has

16x7 = 205/55 fronts
16x9 = 245/45 rears

[Todd Simpson]

That's great and all, but his car is a narrow body.

[wowzer911]

flipper, check this out

http://www.instant-g.com/Products/Wheels/WheelFit.htm

[Shuie]

16x7s should work. You may have to roll your fender lips in the rear and run more camber, but they should work.

[wowzer911]

I had 16x6 fronts and 16x7 rears, fuch's @ 0 camber rears scrubbed occasionally with a rider and a large bump,
but i'm sitting pretty low to begin with.
i switched to 15x7 all round and still have the same problem only with the fronts now too.
I'm welding on my set of SC flares and front fenders, to hell with the narrow body.

[dd74]

Originally posted by flipper
My 77s has the 15's on it and I have the chance to trade someone for their 16's. Should I do it? Both sets are in equally good shape. Will 16's fit the narrowbody wheel wells?

Thanks all

I wouldn't do this only because you'll take an already anemic 911 and really slow it down with larger and heavier wheels and tires. If your car is a stock US 911, you need all the help you can before either modifying your transmission for better gearing in accordance with your current engine, modifying your current engine or upgrading to something larger. The 15s will provide you more torque and better gearing than the 16s.

[wowzer911]

"an already anemic 911"

I love my anemic car, thank you very much

[dd74]

Originally posted by wowzer911
"an already anemic 911"

I love my anemic car, thank you very much

And I'd bet you'd love it more if you had a 3.0, 3.2, 3.6 or a 2.7 RS motor in it. But until then - to the original poster - unless you're planning to drop some big bucks in a big buck engine to replace -- what? a 167 hp '77 with a tranny that's more apt to an SC or early Carrera 3.2, your 15s will at least keep the punch you'll miss with larger diameter wheels and tires. Now if you know for sure that you'll be upgrading to a more powerful motor - like the 3.6 - yes, I'd consider the 16s.

Really, what it comes down to is what you want from the car. As it's been explained to me, if you want a momentum car - you go with more wheel and tire. If not, you stay with what you have. In your particular case, I think you can have both the larger wheels and tires and gain performance with a ring and pinion change. If you do go with the 16s, get the lowest profile tire available - 50 or 45 - so you can obtain a ratio something somewhat similar to what you now have.

As for anemic - well an 8.5 0-60 test of a '75 US Carrera speaks volumes when only a year earlier, a 2.7 with seventeen less horsepower could get a 911 to 60 in 6 seconds (that stat is partially for you, wowzer911). However, what the '75 U.S. Carrera did do very well was handle. I think it pulled .78g which wasn't bad considering the tire technology of the day. Why do I mention the '75? Because not much changed between 1975 and 1977 with the 911 IIRC.

[IROC]

IMHO, the early cars look best with 7x15s all around with 225/50s. Fills out the fender wells, puts 225mm of tire front and rear and like dd74 mentions, helps you out in the gearing department as they are only about 23.8 inches tall...

16s might work (you don't what widths), but from a performance standpoint, there's no gain.

Mike

[twin plugged targa]

I have 16's 6's and 7's and would change to 15 7's in a heartbeat as I think they look way better and same size tires all round I would think would be better balanced?
Currently running 205's allround which doesnt look right (PO setup).
rgds Ben

[Alan.UK]

This is a pic of a SWB (1966) car with 16s (16x6). They cleared but did rub on full lock. I am not sure what the tire size was.

HTH

Alan.UK

[Paulporsche]

Provided you get your clearance and sizing issues resolved, the one thing remaining is tire performance. You may want to check and see what tires are available in those sizes. I have 15s and I have noticed that over the years the number of performance oriented tires in that size is dwindling fast.