Help! Need tire recommendations for 7 & 8s x 15" Fuchs

[CarreraDave]

OK. This gets worse every time I need new tires as my car has 7 & 8s x 15" Fuchs.

I have a 1984 Carrera Coupe that I drive mostly on the road and like to do some DEs with also. I called my tire store in Northern Ca who is great and told them I was running 205/50-15 and 225/50-15s on the car. All they could find was Kuhmo ASTs I think which are H-rated and a pretty good tire for your minivan. Ouch.

It is pretty rare that I would see 130+ mph but it does happen and we engineers have a concept called, "factor of safety" which basically means you design your equipment to tolerate more than it will actually see, thus I need a V-rated or better tire.

I picked out two tires on Tirerack that match each other pretty well in terms of performance, etc:

Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec (Extreme Performance Summer) - 205/50R15

and

Hankook Ventus R-S3 (Extreme Performance Summer) - 225/45ZR15

My tire guy said BIG RISK things will be weird. Maybe things will be OK but maybe the car will be weird. So I read all of your input and posts and yes, you can mix and match but my driving skill is intermediate only and I am only now getting the hang of hanging out the back end of my 911 so I need a predictable set of tires. Plus, I am inclined to believe that 911 handling can get really messed up if you don't know what you are doing.

To make matters more complicated, I am moving back to Colorado (great tracks in Northern California, BTW) and lots of the track tires won't tolerate even storage at cold temperatures. As our garage is not heated, I really don't think it will go over well with my wife as I bring my wheels into the house during the first snow storm...

Actually, I need to drive the car back to Colorado soon so I need a decent road tire that can tolerate regular road conditions.

BTW, don't EVER trust UHaul. They certified that my Porsche (factory ride height) would fit onto the trailer. It did fit onto the trailer but not without badly damaging the underside of the car and hooks for the oil lines. I took it off of the trailer soon after scraping it up and onto it because it was pretty clear that the car would have been further damaged enroute by the POS trailer. Furthermore, the car would not have been secured properly so I had visions of a horrific accident caused by the Porsche flying off the trailer. DON'T EVER TRUST UHAUL. end of rant.

Someone recommended the Dunlop Vintage Tyres Ltd. which might get me by here. I will call them.

Can anybody recommend what sizes of tires can fit onto the 7"x15 Fuchs wheels and 8" x 15 wheels?

Any recommendations on brands and models of tires?

Is it OK to mix models of the same brand and performance level? The choices here are so ridiculously limited.

Thank you in advance for any information.

David

[twistoffat]

What about Falken Ziex Ze 912īs

[Jimmy18E]

I have a 71 911 with RS rear flares (same width as yours) and stock front fenders and it is low. I currently have 15x7s and 8s and I am running the TOYO 888 235/50 in back and 225/50 up front and could not be happier. My fender lips are rolled and the wells look stuffed.

Hope this helps and good luck

Jimmy

[SiberianDVM]

I went through the same agony lately. The higher speed rated tires ae just not there, unless you are willing to mix brands front/rear. I decided to just go with H rated tires. Like you, I do the occasional DE, so I will let you know in 2 weeks if H rated tires are survivable.

If you are willing to change sizes slightly, you can go with 195/65-15 in the front and 215/60-15. This is what I went to on my '84 Targa. In these sizes you can find Bridgestone Potenza Grid G019 and maybe RE960AS, both decent all-season tires.

[Dublinoh]

Toyo Proxes 4, 225/50/15, 205/55/15; ultra high performance all season "V" rated, safe at temps below 40 degrees F, quiet and relatively stiff side walls for an all season. Slightly smaller than the stock size so your speedo will read 2-3 mph high at 50 mph, and if you are not lowered they will not fill the wheel wells esthetically. I have not DEed these tires but with spirited driving on corners at under 40mph they break away predictably and are not loud squealers when sliding. 300 wear rating so should get decent longevity. I like them for a daily driver without an emphasis on track use, good in the wet, and in a sometimes cold climate (I avoid salt only).

[Drisump]

My next set is going to be APITA. There are those on the board that say there are all seasons out there that perform every bit as good or better than the tires your car came with. This is perhaps so and the tire I run is NLA....so it's starting to look like it's all-season time but perhaps very soon, other wheels may have to be considered. I'd be reluctant to mix and match tires on a car that is "pushed". It's one thing just getting around but quite another driving closer to your limit. The problem as I see it is that you can't road test combinations, you buy and put up with it. If it's scary, try another solution (expensive) or put up with it for 20k...yeesh.

[CarreraDave]

Wow guys, that really is quite helpful. Yes, I cannot afford to be testing out tire combinations and I am not at the skill level where I can say, "oh, my rear left tire is a little low on air." ...maybe in a few years... I have driven with guys like that and they are impressive.

Thus, I am not a good enough driver to really ascertain subtle nuances that are going on with the car. Plus I would envision you might have mismatched tires that behave well together under certain conditions, then when something changes in the equation, i.e. heat, wet, lateral loading or any number of variables or combination of variables, the two different types of tires no longer play together well and the driving either gradually or suddenly gets weird.

My car has not been damaged (touch wood) and the last thing I want with this wonderful old Porsche is to put it into a guard rail or into a concrete wall because something weird happened near the limit.

Thanks everybody.
David

[Dublinoh]

Originally Posted by twistoffat

What about Falken Ziex Ze 912īs

Interesting option I had not seen before...also available in 225/50/15 and 205/55/15 thanks

[wayner]

I am running Ziexes on our mini. I use it as a 3 season tire (summer and late spring early fall). I replace them with snows in the winter because these definitely aren't for that season.

I'm not sure I would call these an autocross tire, but they do stick, don't squeal and are predictable when pushed very hard. (I push them hard). In comparison, the Yokohama S drives are a notch above in performance once broken in).

[dfhtrhjn]

I use 225/45-15 and 245/45-15 Hoosiers and they seem to fit well.

[CarreraDave]

Wow. That is a really nice car you have. You have those tires on 7s and 8s? ...or 8s and 9s?

Thanks, David

[j930]

there is a link somewhere on pelican that Pirelli is making 15's again. also you can get Yokohamas from europe, thats what i did. pm me if you need the contact info. i think it was a grand for the two rears, and the fronts were from tire rack. also yokohamas

[Drisump]

Dave the nuances are not always subtle when mixing tire types and makes. Back end stepping out, dramatic understeer, wandering at hiway speed are possibilities since the compounds are different and the side wall rigidity are not the same. Cheers

Originally Posted by CarreraDave

Wow guys, that really is quite helpful. Yes, I cannot afford to be testing out tire combinations and I am not at the skill level where I can say, "oh, my rear left tire is a little low on air." ...maybe in a few years... I have driven with guys like that and they are impressive.

Thus, I am not a good enough driver to really ascertain subtle nuances that are going on with the car. Plus I would envision you might have mismatched tires that behave well together under certain conditions, then when something changes in the equation, i.e. heat, wet, lateral loading or any number of variables or combination of variables, the two different types of tires no longer play together well and the driving either gradually or suddenly gets weird.

My car has not been damaged (touch wood) and the last thing I want with this wonderful old Porsche is to put it into a guard rail or into a concrete wall because something weird happened near the limit.

Thanks everybody.
David

[CarreraDave]

Great posts guys - very informative.

Well, I bought the Falken Ziex ZE-912s, which I got from Big O in Petaluma. I'll get them mounted at my shop next week. Stay tuned for a review in a few months (or possibly next summer) when I start driving the tracks or track whatever the case is, in Colorado.

Cheers, David

[dfhtrhjn]

CarreraDave, I have 7s and 8s right now, but I think I could fit 8s and 9s if I went up to 17" wheels and lower profile tires. Sorry the photo quality sucks, I just ran outside with my phone. Glad you like the car

[Craig T]

Originally Posted by Jimmy18E

I have a 71 911 with RS rear flares (same width as yours) and stock front fenders and it is low. I currently have 15x7s and 8s and I am running the TOYO 888 235/50 in back and 225/50 up front and could not be happier. My fender lips are rolled and the wells look stuffed.

Hope this helps and good luck

Jimmy

+1 I'm doing the same Toyo R888 in 235/50 and 225/50. Its a great fit with SC flares and the 225 looks MUCH better than a 205 up front....And helps with the push if you do some track time.

The Hoosier 245/45 and 225/45 fit and look great, but they're not good street tires. The compound is too soft and will pick up flat producing debry easily...and if you get caught in the rain...

[dfhtrhjn]

The compound is pretty soft, but the traction is awesome! The ones in the pic aren't the A6/R6s, they're regular treaded street radials. But you're right, they wear kinda fast.

[Steve@Rennsport]

Originally Posted by dfhtrhjn

The compound is pretty soft, but the traction is awesome! The ones in the pic aren't the A6/R6s, they're regular treaded street radials. But you're right, they wear kinda fast.

Do you know specifically which ones you have?

The only street tires I saw on the Hoosier website looked like hot rod tires and nothing to fit a 911.