intrepidagent

I just picked up a set of 17” BBS E26’s that I plan on refinishing and putting on my early offset 944 NA. They are currently configured as follows:




F – 17 x 9, ET 35
R – 17 x 11, ET 55

I will be converting the brakes on my NA to a 951 setup in the near future however since the struts, hubs, spindles etc. are from a 1986 951 it will remain early offset. I’m considering the a few wheel / tire size setups and wanted to poll the members here to learn the relative advantages and disadvantages of each, fitment issues and along with tire size suggestions. issues etc. Will swap barrels / faces if need be and will need to in order to get the offsets correct for the rear.



1. Square setup – 17 x 10 at each corner
2. Square setup - 17 x 9 at each corner
3. Staggered – 17x10 rear, 17 x 9 front
4. Staggered – 17x11 rear, 17x 9 front
5. Staggered – 17x11 rear, 17x10 front

I know there are a good many members who are running 17” setups on early offset 944’s. Any input in regard to fitment and suggested tire size is appreciated.

lart951

The wheels offset are for late cars you might need spacers in the rear. Most of the 17"s running on early offset cars that I have seen were aftermarket with early offsets like Borbet or Mille miglia

Butters944

I'll try to help you out using the handy calculator at willtheyfit.com and comparing to my fitment. I am currently running 17x7.5ET23 and 17x9ET15. Here's what offsets will get your wheels sitting exactly like mine, maybe it'll help you get a base point on what you wanna do with it. Obviously you can have some wiggle room here and still get them to work. I've also linked comparisons set up on that site.

1. Square 17x10
Front LINK: Offset 45 - only concern is rubbing on the inside, you might need a lower offset to get them to fit but then I'd worry about tire rub...
Rear LINK: Offset 25 - would probably fit no problem and you could probably get away with any offset between 15-30 or so..

2. Square 17x9
Front:
LINK: Offset 40
Rear: Gonna want an offset of around 15 like mine. Once again there's probably a wiggle room plus/minus 15mm or so...

17x11 rear: Offset 40 brings the wheel out where mine sits, but you might need a lower offset to clear the inner stuff, I know 11s are tricky to fit on an early car...
LINK


Hopefully some members with those exact dimensions can tune in.. For now, all I can help with for sure is 17x9 rears because 15 offset is what I run on mine (see sig for fitment)

polo classic

What's the barrel and lip sizes on these? And what is the pad height?

mel_t_vin

Beautiful rims. But, you're considering 9" fronts and 10" or 11" rears...on a 944? Are these for appearance or performance?

Re: performance, I suspect these rims [with accompanying wide/heavy rubber] will result in an overall downgrade, once the combination of un-sprung weight, rolling resistance, and rotational inertia are factored in.

Regardless, they'll certainly look the part.

rsabeebe

i saw these for sale, but didn't know who wound up with them. once you get it all figured out, make sure you post some pics of these on. great looking rims!!