has anybody ran 225/50/16 on 16"X 7" Fuchs?

[speedracing944]

last month i purchased a set of 16"X7" fuchs from CT944. They come stock with 205/55/16 tires. The tires on the fuchs are skinnier than the 215/60/15 which i have on my cookies. I am thinking of changing the tires to 225/50/16 which would give me the same wall height for a correct speedo reading. Does anybody have any experience with running this size tire?


Merry Christmas

Speedy

[944 Ecology]

Should be no problem. On the 8x16 wheels, you can go to 245-45R16
tires...

gb

[Lawrence Coppari]

My front track tires are 225/50/16 on 7" Fuchs wheels. Rears are 245/45/16 on 8" Fuchs wheels. Been doing it for 8 years.

[speedracing944]

thanks guys!

[strath44]

Along the same lines.......I have 16x7 Fuchs which came with (4x) 205 55 16 P6000's I've been advised to keep the 205's on the front and put 225's on the rear to improve handling does this sound about right?!

[mambodave]

On my 911 I run 16x7's on the rear with 225's no problem. and 16x6 205's on the front

[Z-man]

Originally posted by strath44
Along the same lines.......I have 16x7 Fuchs which came with (4x) 205 55 16 P6000's I've been advised to keep the 205's on the front and put 225's on the rear to improve handling does this sound about right?!

It depends on what you mean by 'improving the handling.'

In terms of what I believe is improved handling, the answer is, "No." Going with a 205 front, 225 rear combo will not improve the handling of your car - it will make the car understeer more.

That is the very reason that the 944S2 and the 951's came with a staggered tire setup - to give the car more of an understeering attitude. (More traction in the rear means the front will wash out sooner, thus leading to understeer.).

So, why did the Porsche engineers setup our cars for understeer, you might ask? Very simple: it is a safer setup! When a car starts to slide, most people will lift or hit the brakes. If a car is in an understeering attitude, slowing the car either way will help the driver regain control. HOWEVER, if the car is in an oversteering attitude, lifting and/or braking will NOT solve the sliding problem - in most cases, it will actually make it worse!

IMHO, the best setup for our cars is matching the front and rear tires. In my case, when I'm on the track with my car, I run 245/45-16's at all four corners on 16x8 wheels. The car handles notably better.

That said, for the street, I run either a 205/55-16 front, 225/50-16 rear setup, or a 225/50-16 front, 245/45-16 rear setup. While on the track, dialing out some understeer is a good thing, it's not the best idea for street driving.

Sorry for the long post,
-Zoltan.

[strath44]

I'm not a track day man - yet! mainly just weekend jaunts on varying roads from motorway to windy country stuff do you still think I'd be okay with 205 front 225 rear or should I just keep the 205's all round (2 need replaced now anyway)?

[UconnTim97]

I have the 16x7 Fuchs, and I am running 205s on the front and 225s on the rear. I've had no problem with this set up at all.

[Warwood]

Aye, 225's will work on your 16 by 7's, I have run both 205/55 & 225/50's and find that the only reason to run the 205's is clearance for snow chains.

Take care,

[speedracing944]

I do not want the excesive understeer. I want to keep the car neutral handling so I am going to go for the 225/50/16 all the way around. I will then adjust my tire pressures for more or less oversteer. Thanks for all your help guys.

speedy

[btsave]

Check out tirerack.com

they have 225/60/15's Yokohama AVS db2's for a very reasonable price... Just order a set of 4 for my '83. Ratings appear to be a nice mix of performance and confort.

Bart

[nsa]

What tyre pressures do you run with the 225/50/16s on 16" Fuchs? My car is a 924 GT replica. I think it weighs about 1,050kg and will be used mainly on track.

[speedracing944]

WOW! This is an old thread and I am still around!

I have 205/55/16 on there now and the normal tire pressures call for 29 psi on the front and 36 psi on the back. I usually bump up the fronts to about 31 psi depending how much I am rolling the sidewall.

Speedy

[Racerbvd]

225/50/ 16 on 7s is fine, that is what the 911s came with & the stock size size for the front of my Turbo "S", but IMHO, 245s are too wide for 8X16s, you lose the benefit of the stiffer sidewall by bowing it out.