wheel spacers

[911tas]

can anyone give me some direction with this. I am looking into installing wider trac and I would like to know if it is better to go with longer studs and spacers or have the bolt-on spacers that are available from Pelican,etc.?

Tas911

[Periokid]

There is a ton of stuff about this in the board. Do a search.

[Joe Bob]

The short answer is it depends on if you are gonna race. Long studs are required and spacers are frowned on or banned....

[911tas]

Thanks for the reply periokid and mikez, I should have been a littel more clear with my question. No I am not going racing but my present car has a turbo-wide body with very wide tires on it. ( 345 35 VR15 ) rear and (225 50 VR15) front. The existing rims have deep ofsets with them, but the price of the tires are astronomical!!!. I am thinking of purchasing new tires and wheels, but all the newer rims seem to have less ofset than what I need. Any suggestions I would be greatful!

911tas

[Joe Bob]

I use them on my street tires. I have 993 wheels on an SC. 225 up front and 245 rear on 16x7 and 9s....spacers are 1 and 2 inches.

Better Bodies in San Diego sell reasonably priced spacers...



I have been thinking of selling the setup, so if interested let me know....

[RarlyL8]

Seems it would be a whole lot cheaper just to buy new tires.

225/50-15s are cheap, 345/35-15s are the expensive ones. You must have priced Pirrellis. 225/50-15s run $142 while 345/35-15s are $278 = $840/set (Discount Tire Direct). Yokohama AVS Intermediates (TireRack) are less expensive. Your total outlay for all four tires should be under $700. Not that bad really. They will last for years and look a TON more agressive than anything skinny enough to fit on an 8 or 9" rim. Use those flairs man!

[911tas]

No, I am not setting it up for racing, but would like to update tyres/wheels.
Thanks for the reply.

tas911

[911tas]

RarlyL8 I don't mean to sound rude, but I presently do have widebody with 345 35/15's
on the back.And they are the old tech.. of Perreli, what I was hoping for was a wider wheel( perhaps 16"s or 17"s ) that I can install with the updated new rubber.

911tas

[RarlyL8]

No, you are not being rude.
15 inch wheels ARE old tech. But old tech is OK on an old car. It is also a cheaper way to get the car closer to the ground.

How about 17x9 and 17x11? Wide and modern.

[911tas]

RARLYL8 I'm going to check them out ( the 17"s ), but I have a question that has me concernd. Is it possible that these new "taller" wheels will affect my gearing? In other words, will my speed according to the speedo change?

Also, you mentioned earlier that you have 1 & 2 inch spacers on your car, will that be acceptable or will I be looking at longer ones. Thanx!!

911tas


p.s. thats a great looking pic of your porsche,looks like a lot of fun on the track!!!

[This message has been edited by 911tas (edited 08-30-2001).]

[RarlyL8]

Thanx for the compliment. I don't have any spacers on the front.
Wheels are stock Fuch 15x9 with 255/45 Yokos.

Run stock turbo (930) spacers and studs on the rear. Wheels are 3 piece Fuchs 15x12 with 345/35 Yokos. The reason for the rear spacers is that I did not want the deep dish look so had the wheels made with heavy backspacing. From the side they look standard issue.

How far your gearing is thrown off depends on tire size as much as wheel size. My tires are 24.5 inches tall and the speedo is dead-on correct. 315/35-17 tires are 12.4 inches wide by 25.7 inches tall, approximately. That's a lot. More narrow tires with a lower aspect ratio will put you closer to stock height at the expence of ride quality. Some like it that way though!
There are many choices. You only need spacers if you don't want the deep dish look or you use a narrow wheel.