docmirror

I'm pretty sure Roger at 928sRUS has put together a decent list.

At the risk of poking the bear, suspension bushings from 36 years ago may be in good shape, or they may be toast. I have suspension bushings from a 1963 Studebaker that look like new. Depends on the compound used at the time, and how/where it was kept. OTOH, my son had a 1998 VW Golf and the strut bushings were totaled after 12 years, and 144k miles.

hacker-pschorr

+1
In our current opinionated climate, everything must be black or white. Tires X years old are garbage, fuel Y days old is varnish, oil with 1ppm less than ideal ZDDP will snap your camshafts...

I was recently talking to a car collector friend of mine, very impressive collection of cars from all walks of automotive history. He was talking about the long time standard of finding a "southern car" - "never left Phoenix"...... as the standard for a perfect specimen. He went on to explain he much prefers finding northern cars never driven in winter. The excessive heat and never ending dryness is far worse than cars which actually live through 4 moderate climates. All the rubber bits, plastic, interior etc... fare much better in 4-season states than the much preferred "no winter" areas.
It's far more common to find cars around here spending life in a heated garage than cars down south sitting in air conditioned spaces.......think about that for a minute.

Years ago when I was more involved with the Ferrari world, I was chatting with a world renown guru who had a running theory timing belt issues with cars like the 355 were much more common in hotter climates as everything dried out and cracked due to lack of use compared to those cares "up north" in less desirable areas. At the time my father was driving around a 355GTS going on 7+ years on the timing belt I installed while the guru's on that forum were saying the belt must be changed every 3 years.

So like everything there is no 100% definite answer, sadly this is what most people want.... "Just do X on Y" so they don't have to worry about it......

Hell, the timing belt / water pump on my 79 must be 20 year old by now. The last record of any such work being performed is before 1997, the two owners after that could hardly afford to put gas in the car. I have another motor to install so I have no interest of servicing this one.


Bottom line as Doc was saying, inspect said parts before just assuming they are bad due to some random internet fact. If you do not posses the skills necessary to inspect such parts, pay someone who does.

chart928s4

I highly recommend Panamera 18" rims. Cheap on eBay - got my 5 spokes for $545 with color center caps. 10 spokes or buy-it-now are more. Tons of tires available. I went with Michelin Pilot Sport AS3+ and the combo is outstanding.

The fatter the better. 245/35-18x8 and 265/35-18x9 on my 91 S4 are firm but not bad, and very sticky. Your '81 has smaller wheel wells than S4s so tire size matters a little more. Here are my notes on tire sizes for these rims culled from posts. Good luck!

Notes from members/sources:
- Several members: 235/40-18 front 265/35-18 rear confirmed good on many (all?) 928 models
- The Forgotten On: 245/35-18 front rubs a little at full lock/bottomed suspension on an '81 but works on ‘88 S4
- Cameron: 245/35-18 front 265/35-18 fits/works well on the '87 S4
- pcar928fan: 245/35-18 front and 255/35-18 rear works well on GTS
- NoVector: 245/40-18 front and 255/35-18 rear works well on GTS
- oups59: 225/40-18 front and 265/35-18 rear works well on S4
- Tire Rack recommends 225/40-18 and 265/35-18

The Forgotten On

The rubbing issue I have with my 81 would be solved by rolling the inner fender lip. It's really that minor.

Putting on 235's solved the issue however without any other modifications.

hacker-pschorr

See his above responses, he doesn't necessarily want very sticky. That's going to be an issue since any tire with larger contact patches will further exacerbate the issue he has with having "too much" tire for the car.

Where did this information come from? I've had the same 10x18 and 11x18 wheels / tires on my S4 and various earlier cars without any difference in clearances.

Your tire chart doesn't mean much without corresponding wheel size & offsets.

Suspension setup & ride height also play a factor in what will fit. I had to install steering stops in my 87 to keep the 245's from rubbing my sway bar on 8+" wide et65 wheels. The same wheel & tire on my 79 doesn't have such issues but it sits over an inch lower.
Neither car hits the fender unless maybe I hit a huge bump at high speed while at full lock - but I cannot image what kind of situation I would be in for that to happen.

chart928s4

You are right to question the data since it's pure hearsay from Rennlist posts. However it was correct for my application. The tires are pretty close especially in the back but no rubbing.

I've never had an '81 or any other 928, or any other rims except stock and the Panameras. I searched every "928 Panamera 18 wheel" post I could find and that's the sum total of the info. I typed it into a document with a bunch of other tire size data. I thought it might save the OP from going through the same search and uncertainty.

The notes assume Panamera 18" take-offs 18x8 ET59 and 18x9 ET53. I've never had anything but those and the stock wheels on the car so I don't know about other setups.

Ride height definitely matters. I had to adjust all four corners up 1-1.5" to get to stock. But it's a huge improvement in feel and appearance (and splash guard longevity).

Finally, sticky was maybe the wrong word to use for all-season tires, but they grip very well at 30-90F and in the rain. The OP's current tires sound like my Bridgestone RE11s were - like hard plastic below 40F.

Edit: Reread the thread - yes, agreed - they might be "too much tire". Maybe skinnier is better in this case.

docmirror

I have just rotated the engine mounts on my airplane. They are a donut like arrangement that is set on it's side, and the bolt goes through horizontally. They need to be rotated every other annual. The date code on the PN for the rubber mount says '21-9'. That is the 21st week of 1949. Still good, no tears, no cracks, just sagging a bit. Gulp.

hacker-pschorr

Gotcha.
I've seen comments through the years where it was assumed with the front suspension changes that wheel fitment was an issue between the years.

This is definitely a confusing aspect to the usual tire thread, but I get it after he explained. Cars like the BRZ are super fun to drive around town and part of that is the properly sized tire for how the chassis was designed. Sure it's not blistering fast, but you can have a lot of fun with one in a around-about without reaching speeds that will get you arrested.