toto

Hi there,
I wanted to ask the opinion of the good people of this forum on the wheels of my beloved 76 911S targa. Hopefully you should be able to see from the picture attached to this post that the ride is very high and that it has SC type wheels, i.e. 16 inch fuchs - 6s in front and 7s in the back- despite being a narrowbody. I would like to change the looks and the handling but I am not sure what a good and economical option is. I thought selling my wheels and (virtually new Continental) tyres and buying same sized 15"s would be expensive, so perhaps at least getting equal sized wheels front and back, i.e. replacing the 7s with 16" 6s, might be a cheaper way to improve the looks and enable me to lower the car a bit.
Has anyone out there done this? Is there a strong argument for going for the original configuration?
Any advice would be gratefully received!
Thanks,
Thomas

ked

Thomas, I think your car looks great w/ those wheels - just a little high. Are the tires the correct size for those wheels - that is, do you have 205/55 on 6x16 frt & 225/50 on 7x16 rear? The tires look kinda tall for those wheels... Well, I'd start by consulting a shop expert in old 911 suspension set up (from what I read in "Porsche & 911 World", the UK is blessed w/ a good number). Discuss getting the car reset to the optimal ride-height & corner-balanced. Generally accepted wisdom is that a 1 degree nose-down slope is a good thing. Anyway, that's how I'd proceed before spending the #s to switch wheels - and some point out there seems to be a wider selection of good 16" tires on the market. good luck!

racer

I've never been a fan of 7" Fuchs on the rear of a narrowbody (in this case, pre SC flares), mostly because the car never seems to sit right. The car sits high to prevent tire rubbings when under load. The 6's fit under the fender better and thus, the ride height can be more aggressive. The challenge with 15" rims is finding "good" tires in sizes that work. I think 6's look better all around on a narrow car. Just one man's opinion. Now, if you can find some 911R 7" wheels, well, thats a LOVELY thing to look at

911S3.6

Hi there,
If you are staying with your stock look, narrow body-which looks really nice and is the original Butzi Porsche design, then go to a lower profile tire, and as stated above, have a shop check your ride height.
A rough measurement you can do to tell you whether or not the car is sitting too high is it should measure 25" from the ground through the center of the wheel to the inside lip of the wheel arch, in the rear. It should measure 25 1/2 " in front. (Yes, the number is higher, but the cut of the wing is different).
I ran 6x15 fronts with 205/60-15s and rears 7x15 (911R) w/ 215/55-15
The point made about tire availability is very true. It is even getting harder to find comp type tires for 16" wheels, so using 16" is something to consider, though not period correct.

hope this helps,
Nick

toto

Thanks all for your feedback so far, yes the tires are correct for the wheels as you say ked - 205/55 and 225/50. I do intend to stay with the narrow body despite being in the middle of stripping the car for a bare-metal spray (staying with the green!) so I'll look into the ride height this weekend.
Thanks again!
Thomas

LukeSportsman

I love the vintage look (5 cars 70 or older ) but not stuck on originality. I wouldn't give up the larger rear tire. I'd check height as you suggest. Check camber and see if you can lower her with some camber gain. If you can get the backspacing maximized, there are guys running 8's on narrow bodies but this is obviously tight and a compromise to wear. I had my car fairly low with 225's but Fuchs were replicas so not sure of backspace back then. 16's are certainly easier to find good rubber but do a search on tires before your decision... you might get more $$ from selling the 16's to trade down to 15's. Probably depends as much on your "eye" and driving style as anything else.