fiily

Just wonder what people's thoughts are on doing a 4 wheel/tire setup 18x8.5 on a 944?

If you have done it, what sized tire would you recommend? I am thinking of doing all 4 tires the same size, so I can do tire rotations and prolong the life of the tire instead of doing just the fronts and rear separately.

Dougs951S

I'd run 255/35/18's all around. less than 1% taller than stock tires. I'd like to run an 18x8.5 in front as well, but I cant get a matching OEM wheel in that size so I'll eventually settle for an 18x9 up front. There is plenty of room with careful offset calculations, especially with 2.5" springs.

fiily

+55 offset on all 4 rims for my 88 944 is what I am thinking.

Butters944

55 offset sounds about right, will have your wheels poking 1.5cm from stock offset (15x7et52)...

As far as tires I'd go smaller than 255.. Just my personal experience but I had rub issues with 255s in the rear of my car and 235s in the front... I know people have run 255 all around with no issues though, but that's my 2 cents.

Square wheel setups are generally awesome on 944s from what I've researched because it keeps the steering neutral with that 50/50 wait distribution.

If I were in your situation I'd probably put 235/40 tires on it.. I'm installing a set of 18x8s all around this year and going with 225/40/18 because it'll be nice on my bank account.

morghen

I would not put too wide tires despite the looks being better.
I am running 225/45/17 Conti Sport 5(had 3 before) tires on all four corners, on 9" wheels.
The car feels nicely balanced and very nice to drive at all speeds(much better than with staggered wheels/tires), its also acceptable to drive in the city, which is important since mine has manual steering.

On 8'5 I recommend 225 tires.
Here is a picture of 225/45/17 on 9" rims:

fiily

Would these fit my 88 944 without spacers or rubbing?

Front 8.5x18 ET46 - 225-40-18
Rears 10x18 ET51 - 265-35-18

mikey_audiogeek

+1

Dougs951S

I hear the small tires being cheaper...but what is the point of putting on heavy 18" wheels to run the exact same width tires you can slap onto stock wheels? Maybe I'm looking at this from a different point of view (performance vs looks) but the only reason I went to larger wheels and the only reason I choose 18's over 17's was the availability of 10+" wide wheels, allowing me to to get as much rubber under the car as physically possible.

morghen

If you buy premium tires based on their rated performance lower width tires are more than sufficient for the power levels the 944 produces. If you buy non premium tires or badly rated tires than you need more rubber under the car.
That will increase mileage tho. Not a problem in US i guess where the fuel prices are quite low. But the thing is that the car will feel much more nimble with thinner tires. I had 245/40/17 tires and the car felt like an earth mover, heavy and difficult to chuck around. 225 tires make all the difference + the fact that i bought premium gives more grip than the old 245 tires.

Butters944

My 18x8" BBS hollow spoke wheels are going to be a HUGE weight improvement over my 17x7.5/9 mille miglia twists. And in my experience, thinner tires on an NA car make it feel more fun and peppy.

Dougs951S

Maybe for an N/A car sure, but I spin my 265 section width michelin PSS (a VERY sticky tire) like they're donuts up to about 80 mph (380+ rwtq and the cooler ambient temps are probably a factor also). I don't have nearly enough rubber

Can I tell the difference in steering response between stock wheels and my (pretty light) 18's? Of course!

But I like having traction on boost; you can't have your cake and eat it too unfortunately.


I also can lock up my (stock) brakes pretty easily since my front tires are only 225's. Definitely need more grip all around. I need wider wheels.

Fiily, I guess this is a good time to ask, are you N/A or turbo? Along the lines with what Morghen was saying and alluding to what I said earlier about looks vs performance, if you are N/A I'd encourage you to steer clear of 18's wheels unless you just HAVE to have the look. Bigger than stock wheels negatively effects handling in a pretty big way and should only, imho, be done if you just have zero traction with stock wheels, IE laying down some decent power.

fiily

Sorry, mine is a 944 Turbo.

So, thoughts about those wheels/tires and offsets I mentioned? Gonna get the BBS RS's redone while I put 18"s on.

Thanks all