rnln

My car is the normal (non-turbo) but converted to wide body, 87 911. I know that stock sizes are 16x7 F and 16x9 R, which I currently have. What I see most people upgrade is to 9" width F and 11" width R. Can I have 11" width R but keep the front at 7" or 7.5" only. The reason is for steering and traction. I would think 8" or 9" width up front with muscular power steering can be really heavy. Is there a disadvantage of 7" width up front and wide 11" width rear?
Thanks.

racer

The disadvantage to keeping 7's in front and 11's in rear would be

1) Aesthetic (7's in front won't really fill out the front fenders without spacers/adaptors)

2) Understeer. Such big tires/grip in the rear and small tires in front will cause understeer in spirited driving/DE events.

JackOlsen

It'd probably be fine for 1/4 mile runs.

Are you having traction problems with 9's? Outside of track use, it's hard to imagine that not being enough.

rnln

Thanks racer,
Hi Jack,
It's not the issue of performance at all. The first reason was hard to find wider tire for 16x9. The current 245 tire is too narrow. I affraid I will get curb crash. Second reason is the look. Third is performance. Why performance come third? Because I dont' track this car at all, although I love the way wider tires feel on occational little-agressive around the on ramp. Like Jackolsen said, hard to beleive it's not enough for street use but always better if a little more

Why would I want to keep the narrow 7" up front? Because sometimes I feel it's a little heavy, and the muscle power of the daily drive might be a little too weak for wider (9") up front. Also, I think front tires don't need to be too wide. I might be wrong.

Let me ask you about the understeer. Is it only on track/race or will be be an issue even on normal street little agressive driving? If it really does understeer, will toe in the rear correct the problem?

Out of all of these reasons, will it still be under considerration or it's a no no?

hkiang

The narrower wheels and tires up front (wearing 205s) w/ 11s in the back (presumably wearing 285s or wider tires) is going to result in the car having too much grip in the rear relative to the front, resulting in a car that is going to be very resistant to rotating its rear and, ultimately, pushing like a shopping cart in any sort of spirited driving - street or track. If you're going to increase the grip in the rear, I would suggest that you aspire to increase the grip in the front somewhat proportionately.

Another consideration you may wish to take note of is the fact that wider wheels and tires are much heavier and create more rolling resistance. If your car is not a turbo, I think that you will find that the car will be much slower to accelerate, and not as lithe and more ponderous in its handling.

Perhaps if you want to better fill up the wheel wells, you might want to consider installing spacers behind the wheels.

Conekiller

I am running a 8.5 inch rim with a 225/40/18 on the front and my steering feels fine

rnln

ConeKiller,
What isze is your rear?
Thanks.

racer

Keep the 7's and 9's. Run 205 front / 245 rears. Curb rash? Why would you get curb rash on the rear 9" with 245? 245's are the perfect width for the 9" rears.

How would you prevent possible curb rash by going to 11" wide rears? This just doesn't make sense to me.

How about running adaptors to space the current rims "out" towards the fender lips? This would give you a more performance oriented look and, well, given the price of quality rims and new tires, is so much more cost effective to be scary!

rnln

racer,
that is what I currently have, with biggo spacers. The rear look narrow for the wide body car, very narrow, and the tires look a little small for the 9" rear wheel. The wheels lip protrude further than tires.
At first I don't really spot for 11". I just want something bigger in diameter so that I can have more choice of tires size, then I will choose the tire that is a tat wider than wheel width. I saw someone is selling a set of 17x11. Then I search and found how nice/wide the 11" look. If I go for 17x10, then it's only 1" wider than what I currently have, not much. But if I keep my 16x9, then I only have 1 choice of tire size, the 245. Also, I read somewhere saying that this size of tire will be extinct soon.

hkiang

The 964 guys stepping up to 18" diameter wheels (and it seems like Fikse Forged are the wheels of choice) seem to go 18x8f and 18x10r w/ 235s in the front and 265s in the rear, running 1/4" spacers in the back to bring the rim out to the fender lip. Granted, these guys are running between 280 and 300hp out of their modded 964s so they have the power to turn that add'l unsprung weight. So 11s may be overkill.

rnln

umm.. you guys make me think I should stay with my narrow wheels

hkiang

My suggestion is to embrace what the car is. Its an older, classic style, Porsche. I think on our period cars, Fuchs are the only way to fly. Lowering seems to make the car look its best and you may wish to polish the wheel lips to add a little "bling". I personally run 1/4" spacers in the rear of my car to widen the track and better fill the wheel wells, and although my car is not a widebody, my rear wheels are only 8s, so your 9s should still do a sufficient job along w/ spacers at filling your wheel wells.

There are a number of good tires still available in a 16" diameter in a 245 width. Bridgestone S03 is a popular one and the one I run. The sidewall should seat straight up and down (rather than arced off) on a 9" rim so curb rash should not be too big a concern.

Conekiller

rnln
I'm running 265/35/18 on a 9.5 inch rim. I love the look and get a lot of compliments on the cars stance.

rnln

hkiang,
that's what I currently have (245) but I wish I can do a little, just a little wider.
Your rear wheel look much wider than mine ?? Maybe because I look at mine everyday.
thanks.

Conekiller,
Can you post pics of diff. angles of the rear wheels/tires?
Thanks.

bourgeois911

Kind of a personal question don't ya think?