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I've been away for a while, but my enthusiasm for my 928 has always remained... just been side tracked with buying my first house, paying mortgage/bills etc.
Anyway, I recently got a deal on a set of 17" Oz Futura modular wheels. They are 17x8.5 ET56 at the front and 17x10 ET61 for the rear, as they sit at the moment.
I have a dilemma when it comes to the rears... I have two options that will cost no money, and one that will.
1. Run the 17x10 as is, but with a spacer
2. Use a 1 inch larger outer lip that I already own to give me a 17x11, with an ET of approx. 48. I understand that with this option, I will have to tickle the rear fender a bit.
3. Buy a 1/2 inch larger outer lip to give me a 17x10.5 with an ET of approx. 54.5, and maybe use an 1/8" spacer for good measure. This is probably the ideal, but also the option that's going to cost.
The wheels are all currently disassembled, so the options are there.
I would suggest that you use the wheels as is. I run 17*9.5 60mm offset on the rear of my 1980 Euro S and have less than 3/8" clearance between the fender and the outside of the 295/35 17 rear tire I am running. A 295/35 tire has a diameter as close as you can get 24.7" diameter of the 225/50 16 stock tire. Attached is a couple of photo showings the rear quarter of my car.
I was hoping to squeeze the most wheel I could in behind the rear fenders.
Those 295/35's would be nice wrapped around my wheels, but unfortunately, they just aren't available over here in the UK. Kumho make some nice looking KU36, but they don't import that size here.
I was going to stick with a 275/40, which is still within the recommended rim widths on a 10.5 or 11J wheel. This should also give me a bit more fender clearance with it being 'stretched' slightly.
My main concern is if I go down the 11" route, is it going to fit? If I had GTS flares, I know it'd be all good. I guess i'll have to mock the wheel up and have a look on the car so I can be sure.
You already have wheels that are 1" wider front and rear than on a GTS - I just don't see any point going wider. You can fit 275/40 on a 9" GTS rear rim... on a 10" rim you can easily fit a 295 or even wider if you can find them...
The only reason to go to an 11" rear would be to jump up to 335/35's but that would be a formidable expense (and almost certainly wouldn't fit anyway...)
Fronts already allow you to max tires out at above 245/45 which I wouldn't do anyway.
I think at this point to spend lots of money on a wider 17" would be a diminishing return (every year there are fewer options). Instead spend towards an 18" option that gives a lot more flexibility OR better still - enjoy what you have - its plenty wide.
Spend the difference on really good rubber and you won't regret it - and if you want other improvements - think about Bilstein shocks...
The cups in the photo are from a long time ago now, perhaps I should change the photo. I used to run 235/45 and 275/40 on them.
They were replicas, pretty heavy, and the offsets weren't ideal. I think the fronts were 45 from memory.
I do currently have 18's on the car, in the way of 8" and 9", but the OZ Futura that I've just purchased are pretty much one of my favourite wheels, where as the 18's are just meh. They were a good price at the time with four new Bridgestones.
The Futuras are disassembled, and I can make them 11 inch wide instead of 10 for free as I already have the outer lips spare, which is why I though that I may as well if they fit in the fenders.
With the fronts, I'd be sticking with 235/45 on the 8.5" rim. I think that's a good size combination for the front that I know works well from on my other cars.
But why? - for a 275/40 'tyre' (concession!) a 10" wheel is better than an 11" wheel IMO - certainly a little lighter. I see no benefit in making the change...?
For examples: 235/45 fits on a 7.5" Cup1 OK. 275/40 fits on a 9" Cup 1 OK - you are already way wider than that... why go wider still...?
As I said, run the rears as is, with a 275 tire you could push the wheels out with a spacer. If you are looking for appearence it will give you the look you want. The 9.5 inch wheels on the front of my car have 265/40 tires mounted on them. The difference they make in handling is huge, turn in is quicker and much sharper, and braking is much stronger. In my opinion the 928 is undertired on the front end. If I was looking at your rims I would add with to the front on the backside of the rim and go a 9" front rim and 255/265 40 on the front. To do so you have to add an extra rack bumper per side to keep the tire from touching on the inside of the fenderwell. My car sits 15mm lower than stock in front and the 265's do not touch at all.
Well I took the advice and ordered some 7.5" inners for the front wheels, to effectively make them 9" wide with a 62ish mm offset. Guess what arrived though? 8" inners. So now I'll be up to a 9.5" rim at the front with a 69mm offset. Might need a spacer to bring it into the mid 60's, but we'll see.
I have also decided on going with 11" rears despite being told 10 is enough, and with a bit of fettling, around a 50mm offset. A bit of fender rolling and all should be good.
Tyre/tire wise, probably a 255 or 265/40 up front and I've got the feelers out on a couple of 295/35's for the rear.
Wheel centers are currently at the powder coaters. Outer lips are halfway through being polished back to life, but I've had to put that on hold at the moment due to a hand injury. Inners are ready to roll. New nuts and bolts on order too.
So now I'll be up to a 9.5" rim at the front with a 69mm offset. Might need a spacer to bring it into the mid 60's, but we'll see.
I have also decided on going with 11" rears despite being told 10 is enough, and with a bit of fettling, around a 50mm offset. A bit of fender rolling and all should be good.
Tyre/tire wise, probably a 255 or 265/40 up front and I've got the feelers out on a couple of 295/35's for the rear.
.
Ben,
Now stop being "silly"- 9.5 inch with ET69 up front is perfect- no more discussion on that one. If you go for 265 rubber you will rub on the inner side and need additional spacers in the rack to prevent that.
A 10 inch rear with ET 60 is also perfect for carrying either a 285 or a 295 section- look at my avatar and ask me how I know!
Well now the wheels are all refurbished, reassembled in their final form and fitted to the car.
They turned out as 9.5" wide at the front, with ET68 offset. 11" at the rear and an ET50 offset. No wheel spacers at all.
I had no steering rack stops before... maybe the PO decided it was a good idea to have none?! So I went ahead and installed one on each side, and I also turned a nylon stop too, 8mm thick, to put on there in addition. There is good clearance between the tyre and inner fender, so maybe I could get away with only a 4 or 5mm nylon stop.
Tyre sizes are 265/40 at the front. 295/35 are on back order, so I went with 285/40 at the rear for the time being. The ABS computer seems happy
I have all of the bits now to do an S4 brake/suspension upgrade too, because I thought I was going to struggle with clearance to the upper A arm, but all seems fine so far.
I know that the front looks like it's on stilts at the moment, I changed the oil a couple of days ago and haven't driven it since.
The front wheel, in theory, sticks out no further than the original ET56 8.5" wide wheel, because I only changed the inner barrel of that wheel. I think the fact that the suspension isn't settled makes the photo look worse than it is. I also found that Bridgestone S02 265/40R17 are in fact very wide compared to some other brands. They are almost as wide as the rear Pirelli 285's when uninflated, side by side. So far though, the tyre hasn't hit the front fender, so that's all that counts
03-23-2014, 10:52 AM
Wide 17" wheel options/opinions.
