Widest wheels and tires for 944

[jacksonmcmaster]

I am ordering custom 993 cup wheels for my 1988 944, what width should i order. I want an offset that sits flush with the wide fenders. also

[beaulec]

Search bar.
Front 9" 65mm offset
Rear 10" 65mm offset

[azbanks]

You can go up to 11 in the rear and 10 in the front but you need to know the correct offset as much as the width. The early non-ABS cars have a different offset than the later cars that have ABS brakes. Going to 11 in the rear may require rolling/bending the inner fender lip to be flush with the body.

[flash968]

lol - then there is the whole issue of the control arms, spindles, and suspension being able to deal with the increased width

then you get to deal with the car wandering all over the road

been there done that. if i had it to do over again...........

[azbanks]

Been there, doing that and I love it.

If your car is wandering all over the road, your alignment is way off.

TonyG on Rennlist raced at a high level(running with GT3 cup cars) for years and did not have issues with failures due to over stressing the suspension components.

[9FF]

Originally Posted by flash968

lol - then there is the whole issue of the control arms, spindles, and suspension being able to deal with the increased width then you get to deal with the car wandering all over the road been there done that. if i had it to do over again...........

Originally Posted by azbanks

Been there, doing that and I love it. If your car is wandering all over the road, your alignment is way off. TonyG on Rennlist raced at a high level(running with GT3 cup cars) for years and did not have issues with failures due to over stressing the suspension components.

Here's what I have found using various tire widths on track and street, take it or leave it.

The suspension and steering components in our cars must have been overengineered as they can take a lot more stress than just normal road use before they fail. I like to upgrade spindles, hubs etc but a lot of people don't and get by just fine.

Wider tires do have the tendency to make the car "wander" on the road, if by "wander" you actually mean tramlineing. If you don't go too wide you can negate some of the tramlining by slightly lowering your tire pressures. However, if the car is actually wandering side to side your alignment is off like you suggested.

You cannot compare track and street. When you adjust camber and toe for better turn-in on a track car, you really don't notice any tramlining on the track, at least I don't. Take that car with the same setting and drive it home and it will follow every rut, line or imperfection on the road.

I'm presuming the op is looking for wider wheels for street only use. Been done a zillion times with and without upgrading other components, so I would say it's up to the op if he goes the "upgrade other stuff wyit" route or simply fit them and get a good alignment. Beaulec (reposted below) has provided the best solution, not the widest you can go, but imo the widest you should go on a road car. op has a late offset car.

Originally Posted by beaulec

Search bar.
Front 9" 65mm offset
Rear 10" 65mm offset

[geno951]

I have 8j/11j Sport Techno 996T wheels on my s2

F 8j et50 245/40r18 (maybe 35 profile. Can't remember exactly)

R 11j et63 285/30r18

I don't believe you can fit larger rear wheels and you have maybe have 61-65mm rear offset at 11j or you'll rub against suspension bolts or fender.

295 certainly and potentially 305 would have fit but I wanted my front and rear tires to be the same make/compound and it was hard to find a 295/30 and a 245/35 or 40 in the same make.



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[geno951]

KW V3 rears and new Koni adjustable fronts will go on in a week or 2 and I'll dial in the ride height.

With the right offset you can fit much larger in the front but I don't believe an 11.5j rear exists within the exact right margin to work so 11j is as wide as you can get in the rear on that later offset.

[DannoXYZ]

I suspect the OP, being 15, is after the hella-flush look. They couldn't care less about performance, or handling or durability issues. They really "wider" instead of "widest". In which case, they can go up slightly in wheel-width while maintaining stock 52.3mm offset. Going up one size in tyres 225 & 245mm will then give them the hella-flush look. I recommend:

F: 17x8", 52.3mm offset, 225/45-17 tyre
R: 17x9", 52.3mm offset, 245/40-17 tyre

BTW, i'ved used 11.5" rears without any problems. Going to 18x12" rears next time.

[333pg333]

Haha...Good one Danno. ;-)

[DannoXYZ]

Heh, heh... >

[petrolhead611]

You are complaining about lack of power, and now you want to lessen the power to weight ratio even more by fitting unecessarily large wheels. Accelaration and braking will suffer as a result of the increase in inertia.Very good(as against just good) tyres on standard wheels will suffice.

[geno951]

Which wheel/offset Danno?

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[DannoXYZ]

Originally Posted by geno951

Which wheel/offset Danno?

With 11.5" width, 65mm offset, 285mm tyre, I had to clamp parking-brake cable to spring-plate. Plenty of clearance with spring-plate bolts and no rubbing on fenders. I did grind fenders a little more at 45-degrees position towards front just for precaution. I'm confident 295mm tyres on 18x12" will fit with 65-67mm offset. Going to do some more measurements.

[azbanks]

These cars have a lot of variation in their build specs.
I am running:
235/40 ZR 18 X 8 50et front
295/30 ZR 18 X 11 45et back

I had to roll the fender lip and reshape the inner fender on the passenger side to get the rears to fit on my 1990 944 S2 Cab. It would take significant body work to make 12's fit my car. I only had to roll the fender lip on the drivers side.

[DannoXYZ]

To fit wider wheels & tyres, you ALWAYS have to increase offset over stock. Such as going from 52.3mm to 65mm like Porsche did in going from Turbo to TurboS.

If you measure inside clearances with your 18x11" 45mm offset wheels, you'll find there's tonnes of space on inside.

[azbanks]

Originally Posted by DannoXYZ

To fit wider wheels & tyres, you ALWAYS have to increase offset over stock. Such as going from 52.3mm to 65mm like Porsche did in going from Turbo to TurboS.

If you measure inside clearances with your 18x11" 45mm offset wheels, you'll find there's tonnes of space on inside.

No, as I mentioned in my earlier post, they were rubbing on the inside and on the fender lip. It was not a big issue as a few well placed "adjustments" with a 5 lb sledge hammer provided plenty of clearance.