If you wanted new wheels to relpace your 15" what would you do?
 

I have a ongoing post about tire size and the difficulty replacing good quality 15" tires on my Carrera. I'm thinking about replacing the wheels as one of the fellow Pelican posters did.
Would you choose 16 inch or 17 inch for your replacements? Looking toward the future of tire purchasing. Will sell my 15" wheels to offset the price of new Euromasters.

Are your 15's wheels are 7's and 8's? Cause they will go for a pretty penny, especially for some long hood cars. You could also try trading them for original 16's, but most keep their original wheels and buy the Euromeisters. I kept my 16's and got Euromeisters for the tire selection, but if I feel like going back I can. Good luck!

Did you get 17"? If so how do you like them? Yes the wheels are 7's and 8's.

Its really up to you, some don't like the look of 17's. I would search pics out and go from there.
Also, keep the fuchs, euro's and some other after mkt brands are dirt cheap compared to fuchs.

for a stock looking car 16 are max imho. 17 can look ridiculous quickly.

6/7-16 or 7/8-16 are perfect.

frome here I envy you guys for those 52outlay rims (they don't get TÜV in Germany, damn).

I agree. How long are 16" tires going to be available? This crazy ass crap making tires 20"id and a 2" sidewall is just insane. You hit a tiny pot hole and your rim is shot plus I think they look stupid. You don't see formula cars with tiny side walls!

there seem to be quite a few high(er) performance cars that require 205/55-16 and/or 225/50-16 tire sizes and I therefore expect there to be good selections in these sizes for quite some time -- I run these tire sizes on my carrera using 16x7 (Front) and 16x8(rear) fuchs. I did need to roll my front fender lips to avoid rubbing on my NON-wide body carrera.

on the other hand, since very few cars appear to use the 245/45-16 tire size required for 16x9 fucs, there are only minimal street options available in this size (though Bridgestone re-11s seem to be great tires) -- so I'm comfortable sticking with my current 16x7/16x8 setup

I've attached a link to both Euromeister and Braid wheels below if anyone is interested in sizing options.

Euromeister Wheels

BRAID Wheels

Thanks for so much input guy's.

16's and Euromeisters all the way! and don't look back....

Yep got 17 Euromeisters and they are great. Fit and finish are really good check it below.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494379287.jpg

What size wheels and tires do you have? Any fitment issues, fender rolling, etc?

I took a chance and went with 16's. Tire choices are nearly zero now so 17's are probably a better option. I like the aspect ratio of the 16's better for this car. It looks very similar to the one above so you can compare 16 vs 17.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494384251.JPG

I'd buy the cool set of 17" Fikses I'm selling in the classifieds :D

Really though 16" tire selection isn't much better than 15", maybe even worse. If you're making the switch from 15's for more tire options you should be looking at 17's.

I'm partial to 17s. These are Linea Corse 7.5 & 9.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494391413.jpg

17" euromeisters in 7" and 9".

you have problems to get 16 tires in the US?

OK, in this case we're better off in Germany. you get all kind of manufacturers for 205/55/16 an 225/50/16... even thos porsche approved N2-types (eg Continental Sportcontact tyre) is delivered within 48hs an costs incl. mounting max EUR 500,-

Very nice! What tires/sizes are those? Is that the factory RSR styling or did you have it done your self?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494414903.jpg

They were seriously considering going from 13" to 18" in the ~2014 time frame but politics won out.

How in the heck did you have to roll your fenders to run 205s? Those should fit anything unless you have the wrong offset wheel for your car. I ran 235s on a 7" up front without having to roll.

well, in Germany Porsche oficially retreived their OK for 7x16 205/55 up front for non-Turbo fender cars due to fender arch contact at Euro ride hight.
The 6x16 with 205/55/16 is ok due to different offset.

I had to roll the fender arch to get a pass at the TÜV

Ah good point, here in Michigan we have zero inspection of any sort, for better or worse. We walk up to a counter with a title in our hands, pay the appropriate taxes, and they hand us a plate and we're good for the road.

Never even look at what could or could not be a safe car.

the wheels are Euromeisters 17x7 and 17x9 on 215/45/17 front and 255/40/17 on back, the tires are Yokohama S Drives. No fitment issues at all, the front fenders were rolled at some point by the previous owners as I'm the third. I'm at about euro height with no rubbing whatsoever.

Agree on poor choices for 245/45-16 (tires needed for 16x9 rear wheels).

However, there are PLENTY of great choices available in the 205/55-16 and 225/50-16 tire sizes -- see, e.g. https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?zip-code=80209&frontWidth=205/&frontRatio=55&frontDiameter=16&rearWidth=225/&rearRatio=50&rearDiameter=16 -- I've left in all seasons/etc., there are close to 40 different options available from tire rack alone in this factory combo

225/45 front & 255/40 rear

The RSR finish is an option from Linda Corse.

I decided to retire my 16x6/7 original Fuchs. I was a little concerned at first that 17's would look too big but these look just about perfect to me.

I would not say it is a problem to get 16's -- it's that there are more choices for 17 than 16 which has more choices than 15. And it depends on what kind of tires you're talking about. Some people have dedicated track or autocross tires and there seems to be even fewer options for that category.

When a car has staggered offsets it can further limit choices if a given manufacturer doesn't offer a front/rear tire size combination that will work. In other words they might make a size that will work on the front or the rear but not both.

To further complicate matters, my Mercedes E350 has staggered offsets and I recently bought a set of tires for it. I knew for a fact that the manufacturer made the two sizes I needed but two tire shops I called for pricing would (or could?) not sell me the right size for the front tires. Never had that happen before. So maybe where you buy the tires from makes a difference in availability too. It was no problem to get both sizes from the other shops. I can only speculate but my guess is that the shops that couldn't get one size have negotiated pricing for the most common sizes based on volume of sales and they don't really want to bother with anything else. Mass market appeal?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494424658.jpg

Love the look and price of Euromeisters.
275/40 17 on 9" rears and 235/40 17 on 7" front.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/911-930-turbo-super-charging-forum/940925-euromeisters.html

I had to roll mine when I had 205s up front, too. I think that on 6 x 16" wheels, there was no issue, but on 7s, there could be some contact on some cars. Mine were a set of Fuchs from a turbo car but I think the offsets are the same at 23.

7x16 are 23,3
6x16 are 36,6

and even when both carry the 205/55 it's the offset that makes the difference up front

I actually went in the opposite direction. I think 15" wheels look more period correct and old school so I changed to them FROM 17".

When I bought the car, it had 16" fuchs. I sold those and bought a set of 17" Zuffenhaus/Fikse Fuchs. Don't get me wrong, the Zuffs are AMAZING and look great, it just wasn't the look I wanted.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494428948.jpg

After the Zuffs, I bought a set of 1552 Outlaws in 17" as I thought that would scratch my itch. It didn't do the trick either.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494428948.jpg

To that end, I ordered the 15" and now I'm more than happy with the look and ride.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494428948.jpg

Sorry, I meant the offset of the Turbo 7" and N/A 7" wheels were the same, not the 7s and 6s.

Why not just get original 16"? I have never really looked Euromeisters but they look nice and the price is great.

Okay DUDE (love the avatar). When you switched to the 17" rims (they look great) did you notice a huge difference in the ride comfort? Is it uncomfortably rough? Or the same?

What was the cost from that supplier?
One more question. How much $ do you think I can I get for my 15" 7and9 original rims approximately?

Thanks guy's for all your input I really appreciate it. I'm good with mechanics but with wheels and tires not so much.

Okay one last question. What size 17" wheels (width) would you use on a 1985 Carrera?

What size tires would you put on said wheels? Front and back.

Different opinions welcome.

I did not notice any difference in ride comfort BUT I also changed tires too. I went from a softer sidewall Continental Extreme Contact DW to the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+. I had a couple of times with the Continental where I felt the sidewall rolled too much. Loved everything else about the Continental. I was worried that it would be a difference but I haven't noticed. I do have a modified suspension with raised spindles in the front and fairly new digressive valve Bilsteins all the way around. That changed my suspension feel and I did that when I still had the 16s on the car. Feel is a bit subjective but it was no difference to me.

Bought the Linea Corse from Pelican. Call them directly and I bet they will give you a better discount than what's on the website. List is ~$1400. You can buy Euromeister individually but Linea Corse must be bought as a set. If you don't want the RSR finish there are other options. I love Fiske, BRAID and Fifteen52 but they exceeded my budget for wheels.

I have not been following the used Fuchs market so I can't help there.

Gomez, most put the 17x7 225/45/17 front and 17x9 255/40/17 on back if you go Euromeisters. This is the most common setup, you can also go with 17x8's on back, but most chose 9's. It is up to you which way you want to go with this....If you do a search for Euromeisters you will see threads with pics and everyone who has gone this way. There plenty of wheels out there, but it rests on you....Good luck Bro!

I have Continental Extreme Contact DW's on Euromeister 17 x 7's , 17 x 9's. Wheels from our host.

Tires Front 225/45/17 Rear 255/40/17. Fronts are 20 mm wider than stock, overall tire size is 3mm larger than stock. Rears are 30 mm wider, and 4 mm larger overall diameter. Fit my Carrera no problem. (PO did roll front fenders)

I had the same dilemma as the OP and debated on 16 vs 17's. Eventually went with Euromeister 7/8 16's with original size tires and stored the 7/8 15's for now.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494555799.JPG

I love the look of 15" Fuchs on my car.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494557434.jpg

But moved to Rufs to get better selection in tire sizes. Took a while to get used to the look but love them now.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494557715.jpg

BTW, kept the Fuchs 7s-8s just in case.

-e.

I love fuchs, but the wheels you have look fantastic.

Just the right amount of bling and function. And they make your car stand out.

They just look right.

If purchasing 17s for an SC/Carrera
front
8 ET25 to 31, higher ET provides more fender clearance for the tires
225/45 to 235/40

rear
9 ET12 to 15, again higher ET provides more tire clearance at the fender
255/40

9.5 ET19 fits in back as well, but there is little to no leeway wrt ET, tire 255/40 to 275/35

sweet combos are
8 & 9 w/ 225/45 & 255/40, 9.5 is nice too
8 & 9.5 w/ 235/45 & 275/35



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http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494591979.gif
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494591979.gif
the 8ET23.3 Fuchs can be fitted bin front but they aren't a happy fit and leave very little tire room at the fender, in the charts above they look to be a good fit but it's an illusion caused by the narrow lips used on Fuchs