Fassi

Hi,

I would like some feedback from anyone who has tried 215 tires on front 16x7 Fuchs on a narrow bodied 911. I was told that they could be installed without rolling the lip with no problems whatsoever. In terms of handling and ride, what is the better option? I'm running 16x7,9 and the rear tires are 245/45s. Thanks in advance!

ps, if someone could please tell me how the rubber edge is attached to the carrera tail base, I'd appreciate it. I didn't really get an answer last time

Jeff Curtis

Fassi, 215s, even 225s will work great on a 16" x 7" Fuch on the front of an SC or Carrera...depending on the brand of tire you use...some are more "bulbus" than others.

I know for a fact that the Bridgestone Potenza RE 730 works great, that's what I use now on my 964, on a 17" wheel...I used to have an SC with 16" fuchs, I tried several combinations...beware the "fat" 225s out there!

The RE 730s are fairly slender when compared to other makes/brands of tires.

As for the rubber on a Carrera tail, there is a series of studs embedded in the rubber tail that go into holes provided on the base (pedestal) then a washer and 6mm (10mm head) nut screws on to secure the rubber all the way around the base, 3 sides.

Fassi

Hi Jeff, thanks a lot for the advice. I plan to buy Kumho Ecsta 712 to match the ones on the rear. Would you say the car handles better with the 215 vs. the 205? And is the proper size 215/55 16 for the front? As for the rubber, mine seems to be secure, except that it does not line up properly on one side. I pressed on it a little when applying "Back to Black," so I must have bent one of the studs you mentioned.

Jeff Curtis

The metal "skeleton" (if you will) of the rubber may be rusting away, this is fairly common...sometimes when you go to remove/tighten one of the nuts, the studs will just turn in their mount, that is a good indication the "skeleton" or internals are rusting away...time for a new rubber piece!

Another easy way to tell if the internals are rusting is that where each of the studs are attached, there will be a bulge on the edge of the rubber, closest to the pedestal.

I would go 225/50-16s with the Kumho 712s, they're fairly "slender" when compared to other 225s...my 225 series Kumho ECSTA track tires are more like 215s, my 275s are only about 260mm wide. so it's like a fat 255...doesn't make sense, I know, but it's more rubber than 255!

If you don't want to go with 225s, then the 215/55-16 will be okay...but about 4mm "taller" than a 205/55-16.

Fassi

Jeff,

Thanks for the heads up on the Kumhos. I'm going to take your advice and go with the 225/50s. A couple more questions, if you don't mind. First, will I be able to install these Kumhos without rolling the lip of the fender? And second, what changes in handling can I expect? Thanks again! You've been a great help so far.

jlkline

I'm running Kuhmo 225/45's on the rear and 205/55 Dunlops 's on the front with 16" fuchs.

The 45's do not seem to require the rolled lip, although I had rolled the rears prior to going to this size due to rubbing with higher profiles.

I like the Kuhmo's a lot and the 45's really improve the car handling; however there is about a 5mph speedo error at 65mph, but I can live with that(probably keeps my speeding tickets down)

If you are really close fitting under the unrolled fenders, you can also try adjusting the negative camber to up to -5 degrees and see if that will tuck them under there.

Fassi

Thanks, I'm actually worried about the front. The 245/45 16s fit on the rear of my Carrera with no problems at all. I want to take Jeff's advice and mount 225/50s on the front, but I don't want to mess with the fender.

Jeff Curtis

Fassi, I doubt you will have any troubles with the 225 KUMHO rubbing on the front, is your car lowered? If so, as "jlkline" suggested, dial in a bit of negative camber...it won't hurt a bit, and you'll definitely benefit from better handling.

Dial in a little more negative camber from stock spec. in the rear as well...trust me on this one.

Your rear setup should fit hands down, with no interference, unless you use a taller profile - as mentioned, that would honk up your speedo and basically raise your gear ratio...don't do it. <img src="graemlins/nono.gif" border="0" alt="[nono]" />

If you do wind up rubbing the 225 in front, I can just about guarantee it will only be on the Driver's side, as the car is set ~1/4 to the passenger side when built.

I doubt you will have issues with rubbing, if so, go to K-mart or Walmart and buy the cheapest wooden baseball bat and (gracefully) roll your fenderlip a bit. Use a floor jack to modulate the wheel to fenderlip clearance as needed when rolling the lip.

***I'm sure you won't have to do that!***

Good luck, let us know how it turns out.

JPhillips-998

I tried a pair of 225x50x16 Kuhmo's on the front of my '74 Carrera with Fuch's and it was not even close to fitting. I ended up ordering 205 Toyo RA-1's.

Fassi

Hi all and thanks for the advice so far. Jeff believes that the 225s would likely not require any fender modification, but the consensus seems to be, according to the various boards, that some fender rolling would be necessary. So I'm wondering if using a 225/45 or even a 225/40 would be ok to avoid this rubbing problem, or would that upset the front-rear balance of the car? Someone on Pelican apparently tried that approach and has no problem with it. What do you guys think?

kahuna

The 225/50x16 will fit most 911 fronts as long as they are on wheels with the correct os, +23mm works well for both 7 and 8.

My guess is that the people that tried it and "it wasn't even close to fitting" used the +10.6mm os rear 8x16 911 rim. Which will not even be close on the front because of the incorrect rim os, not tire size. People use 235 and 245 17 fer cripes sakes and don't have too much more trouble.

I have used the 225/50 on +23mm os 7x16 Fuchs with no problems on a euro ride height car.

Fassi

So what's the verdict guys? That the 225/50 16s will work fine (no fender rolling) assuming the offset of the 7" rim is correct? Also, what are the advantages/disadvantages of going with say a 225/40 or 225/45 instead of the 50? If anyone has experience with any of this I'm appreciate some feedback.

Jeff Curtis

Fassi, I guess what I've been trying to get to is that I think they will fit okay on your particular application...but still, you are "rolling the dice" a bit on that one. If they're street tires, they may intermittently rub, requiring a "slight" fender roll...no big deal as this usually doesn't crack the paint.

If you were using fat track tires, I'm sure that would require a more "serious" roll of the fenderlip.

The best I can advise is to try it...you can try the 225/45s but I don't think you'll have to mess with that. I do have a slightly lower profile tire on the front of my 964 with my street tires, it's a 215 series though, I've figured out I could easily fit a 225 under there being that I'm using the Bridgestone Potenza RE-730s.

Again, keep in mind what brand/model of tire you're using and go on <a href="http://www.tirerack.com" target="_blank">www.tirerack.com</a> and see the true width differences...you'll be amazed at how much difference there is from brand to brand.

Kumhos are made "slender", see for yourself. The people that are having problems fitting 225s under their front fenders on a narrow-bodied 911 are likely using the "fatter" 225s out there, I don't have any examples at the moment...wait, a Bridgestone RE-71 225 is pretty wide when compared to the RE-730.

...I think there was at least an 8mm difference in width - that's over 1/4" and that's significant when you're talking "rub/no-rub".

Fassi

UPDATE: I ordered and installed the Kumho Ecsta 712 225/50 16s on my 16x7 fronts (23mm os; narrow body) and they fit with no problems whatsoever. They did not rub at any point even after some hard runs. In fact, there is room to spare and I don't see what all the concern is about with this particular size, especially on a stock height car (but I'll definitely have it lowered at some point in the near future). Thanks a lot to everyone who advised me on this purchase, especially Jeff, who was right all along.