Tires and questions

[bholmes]

Does anyone have 225/50/15's on their car? I'm not to fond of my 15" rims, but that's life....so I am looking for something better than my 215/60/15's. They have alot of sidewall to flex, but I don't want to make my car look funny with to small of a tire. Does anyone have any pics of this size of tire on their car? Please share if you do.


Also in regards to tire wear, the insides of both my front and rear tires seem to be wearing much faster. The car doesn't pull to one side or the other, the inside of all four tires is bald while the centers have atleast 1/8" to 1/16th of an inch left, then the outsides are feathering just a bit and wearing faster than the center. I expected that because I do alot of tire grinding around turns. So is my camber off? Or do I need to set up a competition type camber to wear evenly since I see so many turns (about 75% of my driving is tight turns on back roads). Thanks in advance.

[Techno Duck]

If the insides of the tire are wearing out you probably have to much toe out. Camber is not what kills the insides, its a combination of toe out and negative camber. The toe having the most effect.

[bholmes]

Ok, thanks Jon. I'm going to be trying to find a place in my area that can give me a decent alignment/adjustment to get my tires to wear evenly. I had a previous thread and had thought it was just my rears wearing like this, but it's front and rear. How much should a good alignment/adjustment run me?

[Techno Duck]

Take it to a Porsche specialty place that is familiar with 944's or at the least a place familiar with old VW's. A typical run of the mill mom and pop place wont know how to align the rear as it requires a special tool to adjust the toe. Ask around and see who is familiar with it. The last few alignments i have had done cost around $150, that is all 4-wheels and at a Porsche specialty place. Figure about 1-2 hours depending how out of whack it is.

[bholmes]

The area I live in is VERY short on porsche mechanics. There is a foreign auto shop that I have seen a few 944's at and a VW or three. I'll probobly try that place, because if he can't do it, it'll have to be a vw dealer, if they will fool with it, or drive 2hrs to a porsche dealer uck!

[Tidybuoy]

Try this website to compare tire sizes:

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

I don't think your new size of 225/50/15 is a good setup. The tires will be much shorter (over an inch in height is lost). This tire size (225/50) would be better in a 16 inch wheel.

I think it would be best to save your pennys and find a 16" rim that you like - then upgrade your tires. I see wheels on eBay all the time. You can find bargains. You could also shop the classifieds on this board.

I picked up a set of 16" turbo phondials for $200 a few months ago.

[Dave L]

I think my track tires are 225/50/15 they are fine for the tack but are certainly shorter than stock

[bholmes]

I know they are a good bit shorter than stock, that is why i'm lookin for pics. I'd like it better for gearing and cornering for my purposes. I do ALOT of twisty mountain/hill roads around here and my 215/60's are just way to tall in my opinion. I do like my car to look good, but there is a ceratin amount of funky look I can stand for performance. I do want to upgrade wheel sizes someday, but right now I need tires soon and can't swing wheels. When I do get wheels i'll be going with 17's or MAYBE 18's. Any pics of this tire size on a 944?

[lousailor]

I probably wouldn't go smaller than stock outside diameter for the track, since you'd lose high end speed. I run that 225/50 size on stock 15" phonedials for AX, because they accelerate faster, and you can grab third on some straights. One of the mags did a test using the same car with three different wheel/tire combos (all resulting in the same outside diameter). Of the three wheels (15", 16", and 17") the biggest felt more stable through the turns, but the smallest gave quicker lap times (I think it was Willow and it was more than 4 seconds). It has something to do with balancing a lower HP car with less rotational inertia, allowing faster acceleration out of the turns and faster top speed in the straights. It's really just like a gyroscope. When you push all the metal and rubber to the outside edge (even if it weighs the same as stock) it takes more HP to spin it and it takes more HP to stop it (brakes).

When it comes down to it, everyone that slaps on 18s cause they look so *****in fillin up the fenders, is goin slower than stock.

[bholmes]

Louie, point conceded! caterham, if you are familar with them, actually use a 13 or 14" wheel on their race cars because it yeilds better lap times due to the same physics principles. Could you post/email/pm me a pic of your car with that wheel tire combo on it? I have factory 15" phone dials as well. What tires did you have on it stock? Did the size change help much? I think the 225/50 would make a decent difference in handling and quickness on the back roads. Thanks for your input and intelligent conversation!

[lousailor]

I'll have to dig around for a pic. I normally drive around with 215/60 BFG Traction TAs on stock 15" cookie cutters. The phone dials have stickier Victoracer 225/50s for AX only.

[bholmes]

yeah...i can't justify the victoracers for street use LOL. all my driving is street, I am considering gettin into AX but it's not big in my area...but I want to try to get some interest drummed up. The pic would be much appreciated!

[lousailor]

only pic I could find so far. This car has the stock suspension set-up (turbo springs, but not lowered, and beefer sway bars). There's a good bit of space in the wheel well, but if you lowered the car with aftermarket springs, it might be fine. I went with 16s and lowering springs on the 924S and it looks more aggressive, but I don't plan to abuse her.

[lousailor]

sorry forgot the pic

[bholmes]

Yeah, stock height does give it some fender gap... Not horrible however. Anyone else have any pics? louie, did the tires help your handleing much?

[lousailor]

After learning to AX on street tires, the sticky ones were amazing. You can carry more speed around the turns and brake later and harder. It takes a little while to get used to what to expect at the limit as they don't seem to make as much noise as the street tires before breaking loose.

[944 boy]

[bholmes]

944boy, how much lower is your car than stock? I think your stance looks pretty awful good.