Jeremy944S2

I'm trying to figure out if I can use my current wheels (18") for the track.

The car is a 1989 944 S2. Rear wheel specs are 10J x 18H2 (ET47). Rear tires are 265 35 18. I love the look these 18s give the car (wheel pic attached), but the driver's rear is scraping badly.

MY QUESTIONS:
Who's running 18s and driving hard (i.e. track) without scraping??
What do I need to do to avoid scraping??

THANKS! ~Jeremy

RMills944

Have you rolled the fenders? take something (a bat - that may chip the paint, or rolling tool) and you basically flatten that little lip on the inside of the fender. This may be enough to stop it depending on how bad it's scraping.

Tom R.

welcome to the 'my left fender is closer to the center of the car than the right fender' club. gotta roll the fender or grind the lip. i tried rolling my own, but end up grinding. two weeks later the car was stolen.

did you upgrade other parts of the suspension to go with the 18s? if not, you may get a real surprise on the track. the suspension isnt designed for the stress of the 18s.

cie_lab

I run 18s on my 951 w/275 35. I haven't done any hard cornering, but I did jack the car up by the axle and pushed down to make sure it cleared. Plenty of room even with the lip. My wheels are 10" and have a 58 offset. That probably helps considerably.

+1 what Tom said about stressing the suspension. And believe it or not, your car may look faster, but it will be SLOWER with the 18s as there is more unsprung weight with those bigger wheels. Maybe it's psypchological, but it sure feels slower to me after putting on the bigger wheels.

I don't ever intend to race with these tires. If I ever do race, I will put the stock 16s back on.

Oddjob

ET47 offset is probably a little too deep for that width (55-60 is around what you want). Rubbing depends a lot on camber, ride height and spring rates (how much the car will settle with load).

If you use a reasonable quality wheel (not a boat anchor), 285s on 18s will be faster than 245/16s on track - the extra tire width is worth a lot of rear grip (speed through the corner).

I use 16s for rain tires and 8.5, 10 x 18s with 245s and 285s for race duty.

Rock

What are those wheels called?

JayP

The main reason to go to a 16 (or whatever) is that's what you have. People who upgrade wheels usually go +1 or +2 and unless they buy lightweights the larger wheels will be heavier. Factory alloys are hard to beat when it comes to light and strong (exception for weight 16x8 Phonies).

Smaller diameter tires are cheaper/easier to come by. You can't swing a dead cat at the track without hitting specMiata race tires.

bleucamaro

I've autocrossed, and no bottoming, but with 4 guys in the car it rubbed getting on a freeway onramp. The rub area was on the inside of the fenderwell, above the torsion bar. The wheel has never rubbed.

DDP

I'm on 18x10 rear with 265 up front and 285 rear. I rub a bit up front on HARD cornering. In the rear I rub the fender lip. I'm going to roll the fenders this weekend and should be good to go. I'm also quite a bit lower then you are.

DDP

And Rock-

The wheels in the first pic are carrera lightweights. And the wheels on the track car are BBS.

CarbonRevo

I'm still waiting on getting my wheels mounted. 993 Hollow Twists. 18x8/10 with a 225/35 up front and 285/30 out back. I'm pretty concerned wether they will rub or not (jesus a 285 sure does fill ALL of the fender well). The rims fit fine and are pretty flush with the outside of the car. They are et65 on the back, which a lot of guys run and swear they don't rub.

My car has factory rolled fenders, but the S2's (as far as I know) have body strengthening points, and they are above the rear suspension setup, but below the shock mount and I may have to grind mine down. Another problem area will be one of the bolts on the spring plates. It's a VERY tight fit.

But boy I can't wait! I got a full set of bridgestone Potenzas (225/35 and 285/30) for $640 shipped. Tire rack wanted over $1k!

Wouldn't a et47 offset be a early offset? Correct me if I am wrong. Seems like a weird offset to run on these cars.

cie_lab

The 18s I bought aren't anything special (BBS-type knock offs). They are heavier than my stock 16 sewer lids (probably not original - don't know, option code wasn't clear no that) but not as heavy as I imagined. With the tires I'd say they were 5-7 lbs heavier than the 16s. At least comparing the 225s with the 235s. They do look trick and ride nice, but I'm a little freaked about all the stress-related warnings. I don't consider myself to be the type to abuse my vehicles, but DAMN it is hard not to floor it in the twisties. The car is so much FUN.

I would love to get the car on a track some day.

Oddjob

47 is a weird offset. Usually the widebody/turbo 993 and 996 rear wheels are around ET 40mm.

I am not familiar with any additional strengthening points on the rear of an S2 that change wheel/tire clearance.

18x10 ET65's should fit fine. I have run them on track with a stock suspensioned car w/o rubbing problems (had about -2.5 deg camber).