Opinions on Beefy Tire Size for Wide Bodies

[Newlin4141]

Recently picked up a 1980 930 that's been sitting around for many years non-op. The existing Gotti wheels carbon date its last day on the road circa 1984, as was the trend at the time.

I should receive the replacement wheels next week and am considering my rubber options. The front wheels are 9x16s, rears 12x16s. Both vintage BBS.

Question: What are the best tires to run on these wheels. Don't want the thing to drive like a tank, but I do plan on tracking it with the same set up I run on the street.

Is this crazy?:
fronts: 245/45-16
rears: 265/45-16

Here's my new project:

[wildcat077]

I would think that a 12 inch wheel could support a lot wider than a 265/45/16 ...
My guess is that you'd be stretching out the rear tires too much,although the choice of tires in the 16 inch range is pretty limited nowadays.
The more logical choice would be to switch to 17 inch wheels !

Cheers !
Phil

[Newlin4141]

Originally Posted by wildcat077

I would think that a 12 inch wheel could support a lot wider than a 265/45/16 ...
My guess is that you'd be stretching out the rear tires too much,although the choice of tires in the 16 inch range is pretty limited nowadays.
The more logical choice would be to switch to 17 inch wheels !

Cheers !
Phil

Yes, agreed. 17-inch wheels would be preferable, but I'm running 16s in the near-term. Hmmmm.

[oh snap]

Did you buy the BBS E50s that were on ebay? I was eyeballing them, nice pick up if so. I'm not sure who makes tires to fit a 16x9&12 though, aside from race tires. 265 on a 12 inch wheel seems like it will be quite a stretch considering that's what I have on my 9s. Mine are kumhos that list 10 as max width. Its probably doable considering the stretch that the hellaflush drifter kids use but I think it will look off and might not be safe.

If I were in your shoes Id consider biting the bullet now and rebuilding those centers with 17 inch rims. You can offset your costs by selling the old rim halves and you will have infinitely more tire choices.

[WPOZZZ]

The thing about buying 16" wheels is looking at the available tire sizes. The widest street tires is the 265/45 from Kumho. That tire will fit on a 9-10" rim. Wider tires may be available, but you will probably need to look at drag radials or Coker Tire for some vintage Michelins.

FWIW, I went from 17s down to 16s as I got some nice 9.5" TruDesigns from a Pelican and had some 245/45s sitting. I installed them, but they are stretched a little. Just waiting to burn them up and get the 265s. The car was a little more spry with the 16s, but again, don't know where to get tires wider than the 265. With 17s, I have lots more options and can run 275, 295 or 315s on the back if I want.

If you got the BBS Motorsport wheels, the good thing is you can always upsize the barrels to 17".

[Newlin4141]

These are the wheels I picked up. Love this look and am tempted to just run race tires on them. I suppose upgrading the barrels in the rear wouldn't be a bad idea and I'll probably do that eventually. I'm not crazy about 17s on these old cars because they start to look like rollerskates. But if the trade off is actually getting to DRIVE them, then so be it.

If anyone has any rubber that will stretch over a 12 x 16 inche wheel (!!!), consider me interested.

[Newlin4141]

[Newlin4141]

LOVE these wheels so much. Gotta be a way to make them (safely) work.

[Noah930]

I have 11" wide rears (in 17" diameter, not 16") and the 275s I'm running look a wee bit stretched. I would not want to run anything more narrow than that. If I had 12" rears I definitely wouldn't want to run 265s. My 2 cents.

[GaryR]

295/245 minimum

[Rodsrsr]

I run 11" rears with a 315 and I can even go a little bigger so I dont think a 265 on a 12" rim would even fit. For your front rims a 255 is a perfect fit for the 9" wheel.

[GaryR]

He can easily go as big as 335/275 if the offsets are perfect but steering at slow speeds will suffer (as will his turning radius for street driving)..

[RarlyL8]

There are no longer street tires made for a 12x16 rim. Back in the day ('80's) the tire size was 315/45-16 if memory serves. They were pretty tall.
You might try road racing tires.

[Newlin4141]

Thanks everyone. I'm giving up on the 16s. I just don't see how they'll work with what I'm trying to accomplish. Off to find some 17s then... Pity, wish someone would make some rubber for 16 inch wheels. Guess there's not a big enough market.

[WPOZZZ]

Originally Posted by Newlin4141

Thanks everyone. I'm giving up on the 16s. I just don't see how they'll work with what I'm trying to accomplish. Off to find some 17s then... Pity, wish someone would make some rubber for 16 inch wheels. Guess there's not a big enough market.

Don't give up on the BBS wheels as you can get new barrels and upsize to 17s. A few people here might have barrels. Start with Pelicans Jim Dorociak, Thatcher, Graffhaus, racerbvd and Chino.

[oh snap]

Originally Posted by WPOZZZ

Don't give up on the BBS wheels as you can get new barrels and upsize to 17s. A few people here might have barrels. Start with Pelicans Jim Dorociak, Thatcher, Graffhaus, racerbvd and Chino.

Agreed. Those are great wheels and a classic look for a 911. Rebuilding as 17s is worth looking into.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by oh snap

Agreed. Those are great wheels and a classic look for a 911. Rebuilding as 17s is worth looking into.

Question: is rebuilding financially worthwhile? I've never done it, but it always seems far more expensive than you'd (I'd) imagine.

I dig the BBS basketweaves, though.

[oh snap]

Looking at the classifieds, I see 16inch BBS halves for $75 and 17 halves for 150+. So AT LEAST $600+ for the halves, plus the time spent finding, buying and selling. All of that is assuming you can find the halves you need and sell the halves you dont want, and that your hardware is all in reusable condition. It does leave a lot of (expensive) variables on the table.

I know what those BBS wheels were listed for on ebay, though I dont know if thats what the buyer paid. My guess is if he were lucky, he would wind up somewhere between a set of CCWs and a set of Zuffenhaus Fuchs.

So, I guess it depends on how much you like the BBS look. I love those wheels so I think its worth looking into. If it were me I would test fit the wheels when they come and see about finding 16 inch halves that will narrow the 12 inch wheel to a 10 and then run the 245/265 kumhos (that is what I thought of doing when I saw those wheels on Ebay). Thats on an NA 911 though, depending on Newlin's 930's power it may make much more sense to get some real wide rubber

[oh snap]

Here is a good place to look at pricing.

http://www.bobwoodmantires.com/bwtrims.php

[Chino]

Newlin
I checked out the car a while back, I thought the wheels might have been 928 wheels. I've sold all of my BBS E50's & halves, mostly 15" & 16", to Pelicans.

WPOZZ
Thanks for the referral.

Rodsrsr
Your car looked great, during Rennsport, I also stayed at the Marriott.