Considering 7s and 8s on my 84
 

I'm thinking about ditching my 6s and 7s set-up and going with 7s and 8s on my 84. Any issues to worry about?

Also, if anyone knows where I can get a pair of straight and true 8s, let me know.

Thanks.

If you use 225 tires on the 7's you may get rubbing. I would use 205 - I think it's a more appropriate tire for that rim size.

I did the 7's and 8's on my 79. I'm running 205-55 and 225-50 RE 940's. Front is at about 24.75". No probs.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads/IMG_05502sm1.jpg

225/45 with 7s and 245/45 on 8x16s fit perfectly...no rub no muss....

The 50 and 55 series tires look like ballons....

Well the 9"ers with 245s are pretty darn hot. You might consider these but only if you intend to perform suspension mods and standard maint. (shaft regrease as example) before putting such weight "out there."

John

7x16 rubs on my 87 with 205/55 and rolled lips. I spent a couple of hours last night rolling (pounding) more aggressively in hopes it will solve the problem, though I havn't driven it yet. 9x16 with 225s fits and looks great on the rear and you pay almost as much for 8s anyway. My problem at the front may be due to low ride height - about 24.25 front 23.75 rear. This works great my 15" track wheels so I hate to raise it.

Doooods......45 series......forget about 55s and 50s....use the newer lower profile tires, no pounding on the fenders.....
:eek:

And another Red one 7" + 8" Tire sizes are stock. Don't forget the lowering and corner balance.

rjp

Must be a luft car thing...

Randy P
Nice ride! I like the ride height--how low did you go?

thanks
mike
'86 coupe

Thanks...

I actually went out with my tape measure the other day -

came up w/ 23.75" R and 24.25" front. No scraping on anything or funny behaviour. Still aligns perfectly. LF fender was all that needed to roll.

rjp

Assuming the existing wheeels are 16s, the wise move would be to move the existing 7s w/ whatever tire to the front and spend a bit extra for 9x16 rears w/ 245/45. The extra wheel width is well worth it for the performance oriented driver. 205/55x16 on 7x16 +23mm o/s works well with most cars. I am baffled by the reports of lip interference. Many of us use 8s in the front w/ much larger tires w/o too much extra trouble.

I have a line on a pair of 8s. Can anyone tell me the correct part number?

Bill - I was sure surprised when the 205 on a 7x16 rubbed. It got my right front fender lip on hard right turns when the suspension compressed. I've got loads of negative camber and figured I would be fine since my lips are rolled mildly to accomodate 225/50 track rubber on 15x7s. Well now I've rolled 'em nearly flat and a short test drive suggests I'm ok. I agree that a set of 944 Turbo 8s for the front would be the ticket with 9s on the rear. As recall they fit because the lugs are recessed so the increased width of the 8 goes inside.

I've got 7's and 8's on mine - 205 55 16 Front and 225 50 16 Rear Pirelli P6000. Looks loads better-particularly that view along the side at the rear where it used to look undertyred. No problems with rubbing. Car is standard '88 European ride height no rolled lips.

Thanks for the numbers, Randy P.
Next time i'm in for suspension work, down it goes.

Mike

Found a set...!!!
 

Just found a set of pristine 16x7s and 16x8s. They should be arriving next week. The 8s will go to Al Reed for polishing, and I'll sell the 7s along with my old 6s.

Anyone know someone who needs a beautiful set of 16x6s and 16x7s? The 6s are already polished and painted (by Al), and I can have the 7s done the same way.

Thanks.

UPDATE -- Tire rubbing
 

Well, I bought the 7s and 8s. Al Reed did his usual masterful job on them, and I had them installed on Friday so they would be on the car for the Santa Barbara run. Of course, the 7s are on the front and the 8s are on the back.

During the run, I'd sometimes hear rubbing coming from the front driver's side wheel. It usually happened under deceleration, possibly when I was turning the wheel. I can see rub marks on the tire. :mad:

OK, what now? Any thoughts on what the problem might be, and what I can do to fix it, would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks.

Scott

more negative camber, fender lip rolling, or a different make/model of tire.

PS Or you could send them to me and I could verify the rubbing on my '88 ;)

I would of course ship you my stock 6's and 7's for you to use in the meantime if you need them.

:D

Thanks for the generous offer, Steve.

Hi Scott: Your wheels looked great, and I can't get over how nice your car looked especially the paint. I haven't up graded to the 7 & 8 wheels yet but if the 245's don't rub like Mike recomended that sounds like the way to go.
Nice meeting you and see you out there

Thanks for the compliments, Bob. It was good to meet you and Jane.

I'd prefer not to go to the expense of new rubber right now. I'm hoping Klaus at NARW can adust the front end to give me a bit more clearance. I'll probably drop it off on Thursday.

Cheers!

Your in Good hands with Klaus, did you notice my NARW licence plate frames?
Cheers

I saw the frames...that's why I mentioned him. He knows his stuff, that's for sure.

Scott, what size and make of tires are you running? Alignment/ride height settings can make a big difference too.

FWIW, I'm running 7&8X16s w/ AVS Intermediates 205/55ZR/16 and 225/50ZR/16, -1.5 & -2 degrees of camber and ride height 25" front 24 1/2 rear. Never had a rubbing problem, even with less negative camber.

Ryan: I'm running Dunlop SP Sport 8000 205/55/ZR16 on the front.

Scott

Here is my 84 Euro... no rubbing except for the occational steep drive way which I avoid like the plague anyhow.

Fronts: 7x16 205/55x16
Rears: 8x16 225/50x16

On the rears I'm also using .5" H&R spacers to fill out the well like 9s would.

Scott, I would look at alignment settings first. If you would like a recommendation for a great alignment guy email me. A little more negative camber might take care of it. Something else you may want to look at is suspension bushings. You have almost 20 years on those bushings and I’m sure they are starting to get tired. Especially with the couple of hundred extra Carerra pounds on them. ;)

I don’t know if you have had any plans for torsion bars and sway bars but if you do the bushings, it would be a great time to upgrade. You’ve got to love the slippery slope. :)

I spoke with a couple of Porsche mechanics. Just as you guys said, my options are two -- I can roll the fenders or put more negative camber in the front wheels. I think I'm going to opt for the negative camber. The idea of messing with rolling the fenders, with the possibility of cracking the original paint, isn't appealing to me. I'd rather wear out the tires a little faster than have to deal with paint issues. I'll have them check the rest of the front end while they're under the car.

If it's not one thing, it's another. But those 7s and 8s sure do look great! :D

rsr808,
"On the rears I'm also using .5" H&R spacers to fill out the well like 9s would"

So thats with .5" half inch spacers!! thats perfect i may do the same.. so they are just spacers.. not adapters right..
Great lookin machine..

Hi Scott: You know come to think of it when I was following you on Saturday it looked to me like she was sitting a little higher on the driver's side. When I was behind Sam his ride was nice and level. There's another thing to have Klaus check.
Let me know if my eye for level is still good.
Cheers Bob

Hey Eric,

I got the 15mm spacers that Performance Products sells. They are the spacers with the extended bolts not the adapters. I found it difficult to find adapters that thin. Here is another angle for ya.

rsr808,
Thanks Brother,,
That is a hell of a great look ya have there..
I Know hwere my tAX returns are going toward..

HAHA
Eric.