For street use only, what am I giving up by going to 7" wide wheels in the rear?
03-10-2002, 01:45 PM
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For street use only, what am I giving up by going to 7" wide wheels in the rear?
Hi. I have an '87 951 with stock phone dials, 16X7 in the front, 16X8 in the rear.
WheelEnhancement.com has a sale on 7X17 Porsche Factory 993 'Cup' 17" Alloy Wheels, 800 bucks the set. Seems like a great price. <a href="http://www.wheelenhancement.com/99317spl.htm" target="_blank">http://www.wheelenhancement.com/99317spl.htm</a>
What I'm wondering is, since I would be going to 17 inch wheels, (lower profile tires, ergo stiffer sidewall than my stock 16's), would I be giving up much in the way of traction or handling? Of course, I'd rather have the 8 or 9 inch wide wheels in back, but if the difference is not going to be noticeable in street use, I might take the plunge.
Opinions? Experience? Flames?
tia
Thaddeus <img src="confused.gif" border="0">
WheelEnhancement.com has a sale on 7X17 Porsche Factory 993 'Cup' 17" Alloy Wheels, 800 bucks the set. Seems like a great price. <a href="http://www.wheelenhancement.com/99317spl.htm" target="_blank">http://www.wheelenhancement.com/99317spl.htm</a>
What I'm wondering is, since I would be going to 17 inch wheels, (lower profile tires, ergo stiffer sidewall than my stock 16's), would I be giving up much in the way of traction or handling? Of course, I'd rather have the 8 or 9 inch wide wheels in back, but if the difference is not going to be noticeable in street use, I might take the plunge.
Opinions? Experience? Flames?
tia
Thaddeus <img src="confused.gif" border="0">
03-10-2002, 02:56 PM
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It will be a touch more firm with 40 sidewalls. 225 is about as big as you could go with them Much bigger and you might break a cord in the sidewall mounting them because you would have to stretch them too much.
03-10-2002, 03:10 PM
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[quote]Originally posted by Thaddeus:
WheelEnhancement.com has a sale on 7X17 Porsche Factory 993 'Cup' 17" Alloy Wheels, 800 bucks the set. Seems like a great price.<hr></blockquote>I don't think this is a very good price. Wheel Enhancement doesn't sell anything at what I consider to be good prices. You can buy brand new 17" takeoffs in 7 and 9x17 WITH tires for $1300 from places such as <a href="http://www.thecollection.com" target="_blank">The Collection</a>
The reason these 7x17s are "on sale" is nobody wants them. People have probably traded in these 7" wheels for something wider and Wheel Enhancement is just trying to move them by offering them as a set. I think it would be a MAJOR mistake to get something like this. Heck, I've got 7x17 996 twist wheels on the front of my S2 and I wish they were available in 7.5 or 8.0, which would be a better width for my 225/45-17 tires.
You've got a turbo, you really want the wider rubber, such as a 255/40-17 on the rear.
WheelEnhancement.com has a sale on 7X17 Porsche Factory 993 'Cup' 17" Alloy Wheels, 800 bucks the set. Seems like a great price.<hr></blockquote>I don't think this is a very good price. Wheel Enhancement doesn't sell anything at what I consider to be good prices. You can buy brand new 17" takeoffs in 7 and 9x17 WITH tires for $1300 from places such as <a href="http://www.thecollection.com" target="_blank">The Collection</a>
The reason these 7x17s are "on sale" is nobody wants them. People have probably traded in these 7" wheels for something wider and Wheel Enhancement is just trying to move them by offering them as a set. I think it would be a MAJOR mistake to get something like this. Heck, I've got 7x17 996 twist wheels on the front of my S2 and I wish they were available in 7.5 or 8.0, which would be a better width for my 225/45-17 tires.
You've got a turbo, you really want the wider rubber, such as a 255/40-17 on the rear.
03-10-2002, 03:57 PM
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I have to agree w/Tom, although I wouldn't pay $1300 for replicas even w/tires. I'm a big weight fanatic though, and the replicas are always heavier. Scan the classifieds, you might find something there that would be about the same price you're looking at, and be in the widths you would really want, unless you just want narrower ones anyway. I also think the 225 needs a 7.5" and the 245 that came standard on the Turbo S was DEFINATELY too small for the 9" rim- it's obvious just looking at them. I believe that's why the 968 went to 17x7.5 & 7x9 C2's w/225/45 & 255/40's- it balanced them out better...
OOOOOOOOOOO!
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03-10-2002, 10:56 PM
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[quote]Originally posted by Robby:
<strong>I have to agree w/Tom, although I wouldn't pay $1300 for replicas even w/tires.</strong><hr></blockquote>I'm not talking about replicas, I'm talking about brand new wheels and tires from a new 996 or Boxster. People buy the cars, then don't want the 17s, so upgrade to 18s or 19s, and the dealer sells the "old" 17s cheap. The Collection is a huge, multi-make dealer in Florida. I bought my 996 wheels from them a couple of years ago. They move a lot of cars and their stock changes continuously.
<strong>I have to agree w/Tom, although I wouldn't pay $1300 for replicas even w/tires.</strong><hr></blockquote>I'm not talking about replicas, I'm talking about brand new wheels and tires from a new 996 or Boxster. People buy the cars, then don't want the 17s, so upgrade to 18s or 19s, and the dealer sells the "old" 17s cheap. The Collection is a huge, multi-make dealer in Florida. I bought my 996 wheels from them a couple of years ago. They move a lot of cars and their stock changes continuously.
03-11-2002, 04:52 AM
#12
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Check out the ads in the back of Excellence. There's usually a couple of outfits selling 17x7/9" 993 replicas for $1095 WITH tires! I even recall a set for $995 (no tires).
03-11-2002, 10:38 AM
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[quote] SPA's are my all-time FAVORITE! They look so DIABLO-ISH. Do I smell 2 group buys? <hr></blockquote>
I like them too... but they are heavier than my Rivas at 23lbs!!! Exotich HP has the SPA's on his white cab.. and it looks good! Not sure how they would look on my 951.....
I like them too... but they are heavier than my Rivas at 23lbs!!! Exotich HP has the SPA's on his white cab.. and it looks good! Not sure how they would look on my 951.....