944 race wheels 16's or 17's????

[xupkid2]

I am starting to race my 944 in the PCA stock class this year and am looking to buy a new set of wheels for some Kumho V710's or Hoosiers. I am currently debating whether to get 16's or 17's. My plan is to run 225's up front and 255 or 265 in the rear. Anyone have any preferences between the 16's or 17's and if you could say why it would be appreciated. I currently have a set of Victoracer's on 17's that I like but there is a big difference in price between the 17" Hoosiers and 16" V710's so if 16's make sense and I dont loose performance, Ill take the least expensive route and go with 16's and the V710's.

Thanks
Brian

[924Sman]

FYI...Bigger wheels add weight....Stock class is limited to 1 inch wider than stock wheel size spec....IIRC

Just info to chew on.
Dal

[Techno Duck]

17's have a wider selection of every day summer tires and all seasons. The 16' tire selection is getting limited but there is still a wide range of r-compound tires available, mainly stuff like 245 or 255 width's..etc.

I would stick with a 16'inch wheel for track use. Infact if you are running stock brakes, i personally think you should stick with 15's. Tires are even cheaper...and though the selection of performance summer tires for 15's is really very limited, there is still a decent selection of 15' r-comps, 225/50/15 or 225/45/15 being the main sizes you should be considering. That will effectivley give you even better acceleration and also reduce unsprung weight.

If you did do 16's. I would find a full set of 16x8's so you can rotate your tires at all four corners instead of just side to side. This will help you maximize tire life.

If your interested, i have a set of 16x7 and 16x8 D90's i would be willing to part with. PM me for details.

I just got a set of v710's and this will be my first season on a r-comp tire. I am looking forward to trying them out in two weeks!

What exactly are you doing with your car, auto-x, DE or club racing?

[Dave L]

I would go with a smaller wheel as well. I will be running Ra1 225's on my 15x7 phone dials and 16inchers for everday wheels.

higher end tire availability is a huge concern with 15 and 16 inch rims but doesnt seem to be a problem with R compound tires.

Jon, I havent run 710's but I would suspect you may find them very greasy unless the weather gets a lot warmer.

[xupkid2]

Ill be using the tires as my club racing tires. Ill use my Victoracers for Auto-x. In Chicago the races tend to be in the middle to end of the summer so the weather should be fairly warm. I was looking at ratings of the Hoosier R6's vs the Kumho V710's and did not seem to find a big difference except the $100 or so price difference. I currently run 17's for street and auto-x so I wanted to run 17's for track because there would be less sidewall flex and a bit stiffer. The problem is that Kumho does not make the V710's in a 17/255 which is what I run in the rear. Hoosier does make a 17 in this size. The reason Im considering the 16's is because Kumho does make the 16 in a 265 which will fit in my wheel well. The thing Im concerned with most is the performance difference in the sidewall flex between a 16 or 17. Im not too concerned about brake cooling, so a bigger wheel does not matter much and I am most concerned with the cornering ability so Im just looking to get some opinions on the 16 vs 17. One race car builder in Indiana suggested running the 16's as they perform better than the 17's but I dont know if I agree.