would my 911 be faster/handle better if...

[85carrera]

i ditched my 17" aftermarket turbo twist chrome rims with 215s in the front and 255s in the back and replaced them with the OE Fuchs? some people have said i'd get quicker acceleration...

I kinda like the look it has now...folks are always thinking its newer than it really is. but i wanna get the best performance out of the car...i feel like the car has excessive body roll even after new struts and bushings so im thinking that might have something to do with the wide wheels up front, but im not quite sure.

so has anyone made such a change and noticed a big difference??



here's a pic of the car...

[rlh930]

Body roll increases with cornering force and wide tires generate more of it. However, I must admit I think the new style wheels look out of place on an older car so if it were mine I'd go with the Fuchs regardless of performance. Or go to Lindseys and get the best of both worlds.

[Oh Haha]

I just changed back to Fuchs from Cup wheels in 16x7 and 16x9 sizes.
While boxing up the spacers and wheels to ship I noticed the spacers add a bit more weight to each wheel. Now, it;s not a lot but times 4 it adds up. My new wheels are around 16 lbs each, with tires about 39.
No spacers so the rotational weight would be a lesser amount.






In reality, it's probably such an insignificant difference it doesn't matter. It's whatever you like on your car.

[PeterCarrera84]

I had the same feeling with my Cop wheels Borbet, 205/17/50 and 255/17/40 it seemed to sit a bit higher and not as fast on the autocross field. now I have 7 and 8 225 /50 and 245/45 my 8's are replicas concidering to with 9's replica , noe that they are available.
Any one know what the advantages and disadvantages are in using 16 's and 17's ? That was going to be my next topic. I still have the Borbets with almost new Sumitomos great tires in the rain.

What are your thoughts on this matter?

cheers from Florida !!

[randywebb]

The tires are an important series component of the total spring rate in a car -- they flex, right?

But I don't see them contributing much to body roll effects. The best thing might be to play around with anti-roll bars, aka sway bars. SRP is probably the top brand, followed by Tarrett - the SRP rears hang down a lot so may be hit by road bumps or debris. You can also get stock bars from later, heavier 911s and fit them onto the body.

If the giganto wheels you have on have jacked up the car then, yes, that is making more subjective feel of rool at the same angle, mainly b/c your head is moving thru a greater arc of displacement for a given roll angle - make sense? It's like driving a 4x4 truck...

IF the roll sensation is transient, then your shocks may be worn.

I would dump those wheels fast and get some nice 15" Fuchs -- maybe 16s - but to each his own.

What you really need to do is think about the entire suspension and your usage of the car.

The lack of roadside vegetation & chapparal in the backgnd makes it look like you are in SoCal -- or maybe that is in N. Mexico, NM or AZ. Anyway, you are pretty close to the heartland of 911 mods. Find a top quality race shop and get them to evaluate what you need to do to the ENTIRE suspension.

For example:
if the rubber bushings are original, then every one of them needs to be replaced (unless you are a total racer/AutoXer, in which case, use monoballs, and other such items).

you may want stiffer torsion bars - if they are original, then I'd pull them out for inspection and inspect the tubes also

the anti-sway bars, and any shock revalving will follow based on the above choices

[9elf]

Use this to check what radius (or circumference) your tyres are compared to where you are going with the 16's.

http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp

[85carrera]

so yah...the car did get jacked up a little from the bigger wheels...AND when i put on the bilstein sports those are supposed to raise it like an inch or something right? i ended up not lowering it back down because after the bilstein sports the tires no longer rubbed.

[stlrj]

I noticed more roll when I lowered my rear with more negative camber. After raising it back up and reducing camber roll went away.

Seems that body roll is more a function of negative camber and wider tires tend to make it worse.

[stormmaster]

your car will be faster and handle better as you learn to drive it...take some performance driving lessons...do some autocossing or DEs....and yes put Fuchs back on it.

[azasadny]

Originally posted by stormmaster
your car will be faster and handle better as you learn to drive it...take some performance driving lessons...do some autocossing or DEs....and yes put Fuchs back on it.

Best advice yet! Nice car!!

[bigchillcar]

good move on switching back to fuch's...the look clashed big-time. fuch's all the way!

[Joe Bob]

I found my ride ran better when I practiced with the same wheel and tire combo on the street AND track....yeah, I was a little slower on the track (at first) but I got better. Especially satisfied when I whomped somebody with a race setup.....

Stay with a stock tire configuration....maybe go larger t-bars, more aggressive ride height, easily adjustable shocks....have you had a corner balance and alignment?

[bigchillcar]

'great shocks and tires' is what i keep reading the track guys' say will provide most bang for the buck..

[85carrera]

i did get an alignment/balance from tre, but was unsatisified with the amount of roll so i gave it negative toe (toe-out)...it handled better but smoked the tires in like 7K miles. (change the oil and hey why not throw on some new tires) hahah...i set the toe back to zero, but i still feel like the car is not up to par, so im going to start looking for fuchs. i just got a new job and made a huge 20-30K jump so this will be my pat on my back to myself.

david

[livi]

Personally, I think nothing beats Fuchs on a 74-89 911.

[PeterCarrera84]

[David]

I have replica twists on my car and they're very heavy. Wheel weight alone should make a big difference. Low profile tires used to be heavier, but they're comparable now so that shouldn't make as much difference. A better alternative might be to get some lighter 17" wheels.

[efhughes3]

Ypu'd be driving a better looking car without the twists, so pschologically speaking it could be good. As noted before, the older cars don't look right to me with big offset wheels, and the twists are at the bottom of the list, IMO. Havinf said that, choices in 16" tires are getting slimmer, and 17's offer you more choices.

[85carrera]

so what's the easiest way i can get a hold of some fuchs. im willing to spend the extra dollar.

[bigchillcar]

have you checked the pelican classifieds? i'd post a 'wtb' (wanted to buy) ad for what you're looking for..
ryan