Yabo

Well, I'm betting that the 17s wouldn't clear, or woudl come close to not clearing the brakes.

I'm sure there's other reasons, but there is that.

JustinL

My philosophy for performance is: Pick the smallest diameter wheel you can fit over your brakes. Also make sure there are tire sizes you want for your wheels. It's hard to find street tires for 16x9.

xsboost90

the largest wheel you can get w/o going over the stock outside diameter would be ideal. That way your gearing is correct. If you dropped the outside diameter down abit it would drop your gearing down, etc. Though a smaller sidewall would increase turn in performance and handling, having very little side wall on the street can be worse because of all the hazards and bumps. Your tires tend not to stick when they are bouncing off the ground. I think for the 944 series 17/16's are prob the best setup- 15's for autox- i run 18's and i like them but i have 16's for the track and they are slightly lower profile than stock.

Mongo

I've been using 15" wheels with the stock 215/60/15 tire size and haven't had any complaints about sidewall stiffness. Then again my pressures are 36 in the front and an astonishing 40 PSI in the rear

M758

15 inch wheels were LARGE in the day and 16"s were MASSIVE.


Now that is not the case.

I think that for road use a 16" wheel is perfect. Enough sidewall flex to provide some comfort, but still plenty sporty. For a 944 NA I believe 225/50's on 15" wheel provide the best performance due to the short sidewall and shorter overall diameter. 1" less than stock.

951's and 944S2's need to run 16" wheels to clear the brakes. On those cars there is no "shorter" overall diameter with the current section of tires. Therefore the choice fo 16 vs 17 comes down to alot more factors. Even 18's can be run on track if you opt for a true racing wheel. Costs for the wheels and tire can be very high. Most casual track guys will be better served on 16 or 17" wheels.

xsboost90

your not pushing it hard enough if you have no complaints with stock sized tires.

Catfood

I like that beefy rubber, what did you have to do to get it under the wheel wells?

Legoland951

Your not pushing it hard enough if you have no complaint about street tires

StoogeMoe

It's in the rules that F1 cars use a 15 inch diameter wheel. Believe me, if this wasn't the rule, they wouldn't be using them.

Ideally, you want a tire wheel combination that doesn't deform under loading forces, gives you infinite traction, has zero rolling resistance, and is weightless. Anything else is a compromise.

V2Rocket

I have 15x7's in front on 215/60s and 15x8's in back on 225/60. It's a comfortable ride, the tires absorb smaller hazards and stuff pretty well, but the real thing in ride quality is suspension...the stock springs and shocks are stiffer by far than, say my Q45 with 15x8s, 225s all around.

xsboost90

i do- thats why i have track wheels as well.

J1NX3D

massive thread dig, but only cos i have a question and i used search and found this thread!!

whats a good size track tyre for 16" 7's and 8's? car is a street '86944 n/a.
thanks

currently have street tyres (bridgestone g3's), 205/55/r16's and 225/50/r16's at factory pressures.

gcb951

I just got a pair of Cup4 for a steal. With this set up I can get 225s on front and 255s in the rear. Right now I have 205s and 225s on 16 inch Momo wheels. I was having traction issues in the rear even up to about 80 mph and at the time I was only running about 11psi. So I really had to move up. If anyone is interested in a set of Momo 16s let me know.

PorscheDude1

Offsets and Pics of the MOMO's?

gcb951

I'll have to dig up a picture of them. Not sure what the offset is but they are on an 86 951.