Litespeeds

I have an 88 944 that I bought that is actually in very nice condition with the ugly 15" phone dial wheels that are faded and needs to be reconditioned. There aren't any curb rashes but just needs a new coat of paint to shine. I know I am eventually going to put Toyo RA1 225/50/15 tires on those wheels for the track but I really like the way the 18" turbo twist wheels look. The 18's will definitely be alot heavier but is the looks worth the performance trade off for handling and braking? I have an extra set of 265/35/18 Pirelli PZero Corsa tires for the rears and my friend has an extra set of 225/40/18 for my front.
My question is: How big of a difference in handling, acceleration and braking will I lose with the larger wheelset? Has anyone tried this on their car and have numbers that they can share with me?

Attached is a photo of a 951 with the turbo twist wheels. I have a Guards Red 88' 944 and those are the wheels that I have my eyes on.

M758

Well a fellow 944-spec type car ran 16" vs 15" (225/50's) and on one track was 2 seconds faster on 15" wheels. I never saw him run 16" ever again.

the 18's are performance hit on the street and track. On the street performance is not really a big deal however.


BTW... for what you will spend on wheels and tires you can get 944-spec type suspension.

m21sniper

Switching to that big a rim with a tire that has that low a sidewall WILL affect ride quality negatively.

It also has the potential to really pooch screw suspension geometry unless you keep the same overall wheel height.
Also, if you fail to maintain the tire height it will throw off your speedo.

As far as phone dials, i think they SCREAM "Porsche". I love mine.

tifosiman

Those big wheels will make your car feel like a turd, contrary to what others may say after me. With only 143hp, your will notice the increased rotational mass, even just driving on the street.

If you are set on getting larger than 16" wheels, you need to upgrade the caster blocks to the 968 style units.

peterr

Phone Dials.

They seem to be a love em or hate em wheel. I love em. I agree that they scream Porsche but I can understand if someone does not like them since I am not too hot on the cookie cutters or the 928 style flat disc which also are classic Porsche wheels

My first 1987 944S had the stock 15 inch Phone dials which i used with Winter rubber. I bought a used set of 16 inch Phone dials from an 88 Turbo for summer.

My second 1989 944 S2 came with Design 90 16 inch wheels which I used for Summer and I kept the 16 inch phone dials for winter.

My current 1988 944 Turbo has the Design 90s on and I have a spare set of 16 inch phone dials.

The Design 90s have grown on me. I do love the Porsche twist wheels though.

I think the car looks best with 16 or 17 inch wheels. 15 are too small and 18 are too big. I don't worry too much about the mass since the 16 inch size was standard on the Turbo, although I am running the 16 Design 90 wheels from thew 1989 S2.

Dave in Chicago

I liked 16" 968 5-spokes on my '88 NA. About the same weight with wheel/tire assembly versus the phone-dials I had on (these became wheels for my Blizzaks). Ride quality barely changed, but handling was nice.

The big question is what tires do you want to run and what sized are they available in. I found 15" tires/sizes to be very limited.

The 968 wheels are a direct bolt on (correct offset, 7" front with 8" rear), have big 5-spoke openings (good ventilation and you can bleed brakes without removing the wheels), and were reasonably light.

I may sell a set I have soon, mounted with pretty good SP8000's. If you're interested, send me a PM and we can talk.

peterr

YES!

That was exactly it. I found infinitely better selection of tires at the 16 inch size vs 15.

I think any of the 1987 or later cars can use Turbo, S2 or 968 wheels?

Litespeeds

My intentions are to get this car track ready so I can have some fun but at the same time, thinking that I might also race in the Spec 944 class so whatever I do to my car, I don't want to redo it again.
In Spec 944 class, you have to run either the 15" phone dials or the 15" cookie cutter wheels with 225/50/15 Toyo RA1 tires. I know these tires are quite a bit smaller in diameter than the factory tires and that will change the speedo and acceleration characteristics of the car. Obviously unspring weight is a big factor in handling and acceleration so going with the big 18" wheels is more of a bling bling factor.
It is true that 16" has more variety in race tire selection but also in 18" too. If I am not racing but just going to the track and having some fun, I am sure the 18" wheel setup will work just fine but I know that is alot of money that can be well spent for my suspension and brakes. Just getting a feeling of what everyone thinks.
The stock tire is 215/60/15 which has an overall diameter of 25.16 and the 225/50/15 is 23.86 diameter. The difference is about 1 1/4 inch. If I go with the 18" wheels with 225/40 and 265/35, the diameter is 25.09 for the front and 25.30 for the rear. I just have to find out the weight difference to see how much of a factor it is going to be.
On my NSX, I have 17x8 and 18x10 wheels that I drove on the track and I actually bought some 16x7 and 17x8 lightweight SSR Integral wheels and drove it on the track. Believe it or not, I like the 17/18" combo better. Tires were S02 on the 17/18 combo and Falken Azenis RT215 for the 16/17 combo. Then again, the NSX has enough horsepower to push around those heavier wheels too.

m21sniper

"I agree that they scream Porsche but I can understand if someone does not like them since I am not too hot on the cookie cutters or the 928 style flat disc which also are classic Porsche wheels"

LOL, i agree with you WRT the slotted dish rims. That's what my 928S came with, and i couldn't get the phone dials on there fast enough.

Those slotted rims are hideous, lol.

bloodraven

The onyl rims I like are the fuchs for anything before the 968...everything else is just...fugly! Phone dials are okay, I have seen some nice ones out there..cookie cutters, d-90s, and those 928 dish rims are terrible looking. and don't get me started on BBS rims...

tifosiman

Well, you can't use fuchs on late offset cars ( in case you didn't know that, there were a bunch of those made from 1987 until the 968 was released). What do you propose for those owners to do? Let the cars sit in the yards on concrete cinder blocks?

Techno Duck

Personally , i love the look of phone dials. I just bought a set that i plan to use as summer / autocross wheels. And i to had much trouble finding tires for them. You are basically limited to H-rated tires if you plan on buying all-seasons, i could only find one pair of Falken tires in the stock size of 215/60/15 that were V-rated. There are however still a reasonable selection of summer tires available..i am personally going with the Yokohama ES100 next season.

Im wondering however...other than extra weight, arent the differences in overall diameter (including tire and rim size) not much different between a 16 and 15 inch tire? For example stock size on the 944 was 215/60/15. I am currently using D90's with 225/50/16. Is the difference in size really that much to throw you off? Anyone know the weights on the D90's and PD's?

jabbadeznuts

18" wheels are a no-no on a stock suspension 944.

bloodraven

No, but some people like D-90s...so I figure, I don't have to deal with it...its their decision on what they like...

And **** off...dude...I'm usually cool with you, but whats with being a smart *** on what my opinion is?

tifosiman

I wasn't being a smart ***, just making a statement about wheel fittiment and offset issues as you tend to be a bot "confused" on that in every wheel post.

**** off yourself. Did anyone ever tell you that you look like the comic book store owner from the Simpsons?

Wooooorrrrst Wheeeelllsss Evvvveeeerrrrrrrr.