New 944 Tires

[Dano944]

My 944 is in for its yearly service and it was recommended that I replace my 30 year old tires. It’s difficult to find 215/60/15 tires. Anyone have tire recommendations in that size? Michelin doesn’t seem to make Pilot Sport tires in that size😣.

[v2rocket_aka944]

there are lots of all-seasons in that size - only 1-2 real performance type tires though $$$.

about 6 months ago i got a new set of Uniroyal Tiger Paw A/S for my 944, 215/60/15 for the front and 225/60 for the rear. theyve been pretty good.

[OK-944]

I've been pretty happy running 205/65/15's on my 7x15 rims. Very slightly larger diameter but no contact so far between tires and car - and this with a slightly lowered suspension and bumpy roads.

At any rate...for that size, I've actually found a "UHP" (ultra high performance) all season tire from Sumitomo (HS-P03) - and so far I've like them. Not exactly "track worthy" performance, mind you, which I think relates to the relatively high sidewalls per width. But nice for the daily twisties.

My other set of 205/65/15's are Blizzak WS-90's - which have helped to give me great confidence for winter driving.

But generally, I do find it really unfortunate that there are not more "performance" rated choices in the spec. (215/60/15) size.

[TheSecondChris]

I put Hankook Kinergy on my 84 a couple of years ago and they are great. They are an all season tire but I have used them for a track day and also autocross. Highly recommend.

[Dano944]

Thanks all. Anyone hear anything about either Toyo Extensa or BF Goodrich Radial T/A tires? The latter seem to have a very similar tread pattern to the Michelin Sports I have now.

[Monkey Wrench]

my NA 1985 944 came with fuchs mags with beauty rings and P225/ zR 15 Goodrich Eagle.

im not sure if they are the original wheels , I think so? I dont think they are different front to back. or how I should go about measuring rim width.

I'm in the same boat, they will hold the car up while doing some restoration but they are too cracked to not need replacing when it hits the road .. I'm curious about what ones I could be able to line up. should I be worried about them becoming rare or hard to obtain? I'm also in Canada.

[Dano944]

Originally Posted by Monkey Wrench

my NA 1985 944 came with fuchs mags with beauty rings and P225/ zR 15 Goodrich Eagle.

im not sure if they are the original wheels , I think so? I dont think they are different front to back. or how I should go about measuring rim width.

I'm in the same boat, they will hold the car up while doing some restoration but they are too cracked to not need replacing when it hits the road .. I'm curious about what ones I could be able to line up. should I be worried about them becoming rare or hard to obtain? I'm also in Canada.

I believe OEM tires were the same front & back, at least that’s what my owners manual says. I think the back tires look different because the rear rims have a different dish. In my opinion, different Front/Rear tires means you can’t rotate. I can find OEM tire sizes, but nothing looks appealing in the brands available. The Michelins come in narrower 205 size as do many other brands, but I prefer to stay with 215.

[Monkey Wrench]

it could be that my tires are 10 mm wider than they should be and that might not be enough to hamper the fit.

I can see maybe going to a larger sized rim if it makes them easier to obtain, not too many modern cars use such small rims, but I'd rather not change rims, I like mine, none are badly bashed up.

some change the calipers and wheels to make them higher performance, my take is the thing is already a vintage car, why change something that's OEM ? . if they are indeed OEM, I'm quite happy not making unnecessary changes.

If you race, That's different, but the reality is it has about 140 HP, most of the new cars can run circles around it..It is a cool car and It should have a sporty feel to it. I see very few on the road and keep watching for them locally, I see a few being bought and sold maybe more s2's than 8 valve cars.. ... Most of the older Porsche cars are probably garaged much of the time. once the rainy season breaks they will come out more

if the tires are getting weird I guess its a gamble, do you buy 4 or buy 5 in case you have a tire issue?

my old volvo takes the same size as a VW bug, I think I bought 5 just in case, last time, but it has room for full sized spares in the trunk.

and should one trust a 35 year old space saver spare ? they might work oK to get home , or perhaps could be dangerous.. I guess its a $200 gamble.

I saw one wheel tear right around and almost come off my 122, ( hancook) then I saw it happen again after a bout of hard driving because I didn't react fast enough and change them, but continued to run my risks.. i was somehow just lucky it didn't happen at any appreciable speeds and in both cases the tire came off after driving fast, but when going slowly.

in both cases it tore the whole sidewall out, so yes, those old tires are very dangerous despite good tread. everything can look fine until the tire comes right off the rim on a corner, and then you are singing "goodbye loose wheel"

[wwdwgs]

MW,
If you remove front and rear wheels, look at the part numbers and "stamped" offset, in order to determine dia, width and offset.
15" dia tires are not that hard to find. At the least in USA.
If you do want to replace these "original" wheels with an "updated", larger dia, be mindful of the width and offset!!!
The front hubs may have spacers (like mine), which push out front wheels (and rub fender lips).
If your wheels are real Fuchs, then try to keep them.

[Monkey Wrench]

Originally Posted by wwdwgs

MW,
If you remove front and rear wheels, look at the part numbers and "stamped" offset, in order to determine dia, width and offset.
15" dia tires are not that hard to find. At the least in USA.
If you do want to replace these "original" wheels with an "updated", larger dia, be mindful of the width and offset!!!
The front hubs may have spacers (like mine), which push out front wheels (and rub fender lips).
If your wheels are real Fuchs, then try to keep them.

thanks for that, as you can see in the pic the calipers are rusted up, wheels are dragging. I'll pull things apart , see if they push back, maybe change the seals and brake hoses and paint the calipers up nice. Ill sand the discs and decide if I need pads or maybe just a cleanup, or maybe new disks.. I'll record what I find on the mags an see if there are any spacers.

the car did come with the sport seats and the rear bumper air deflector thing like the S2. I'm not sure if these features were added or maybe there were some optional choices when buying a new car.

any idea if other Porsches would have shared the same wheels?

I've been biding my time to get out there under it, in a couple weeks I get a cherished week off so I can start and there are so many directions to go in, thought brakes first, then fuel system, change all the fluids, belts , some hoses etc. and maybe I can work towards actually starting it. fuel system is so gunked up and belts are too old, so I didn't even want to crank it over. I figured since Ill be into all the brakes , Ill change the master too and try to at least get that done.. maybe just the brakes are a good place to start.



I sometimes wonder, if you know you are going to have a car sitting and know that the calipers will rust, is there something that can protect calipers from rust, that wont also mess up the braking?

[wwdwgs]

some 911's, most 924-944-968 and some 928 share "phone dials" and some Fuschs, and newer (design 90's) wheels.
I have Fuschs from 911, which rub against the fender inner lips (even folded). I have to get new 15" tires and fit them on factory phone dials (spares).

If you'll rebuild and paint the calipers, they won''t rust (as fast as uncoated). I didn't paint mine (too lazy).
If you air out your garage frequently and keep a small fan running on the regular basis, you'll keep the rust from forming (somewhat).

The rear valance (aka winged rear aprons) was on 944 turbos, if I'm not mistaken.