Will this even remotely fit and not rub on my 89S4 if I roll the front and rear fenders a bit?

>> Front 225/45/18, ET52
>> Rear 265/35/18, ET 40

I have to assume that they will.

 

brendan,
fronts are fine. rears will be tight but most likely will fit with some roll/slight flare. depends also on the width of the wheel (i assume 10" rear.) i have 11" rear with 45 offset and 295 tires that fit with a bit of roll/flare.
if you calculate it out from a stock wheel of 8" and 52 offset, you're adding 10 mm tire width outboard (245 to 265 spit inboard/outboard) plus the difference in offset or 12 mm for a total of 22mm or about 7/8 inch of increased tire on the outboard side. the wheel itself will be 1" wider outboard (8 to 10, 2" split inboard/outboard) and push out the extra 12 mm for the offset difference so the outer wheel face will be give or take an inch and a half further out than the stock wheel face.
bottom line-should work.

 

Brendan,

Send me an email, and I will forward you the wheel fitment calculator I made in Excel.

 

Brendan, you are a bad-boy! for not giving us the width of the rims as it profoundly affects the calculations.

However, it looks like you’re going after Boxster or 911 rims, and with those offsets, especially the rear, I would stay away from them, and here’s why.

Let’s assume you’re going to put them on a S4.

First the fronts at 52mm offset:

8.0” x 52mm = 1.01” additional extension towards the fender
8.5” x 52mm = 1.26” additional extension towards the fender
9.0” x 52mm = 1.51” additional extension towards the fender

Unless you are going with the 8” fronts, I would stay away from these wheels.

Now the rear at 40mm offset:

09.0” x 40mm = 0.98” additional extension towards the fender
09.5” x 40mm = 1.23” additional extension towards the fender
10.0” x 40mm = 1.48” additional extension towards the fender
10.5” x 40mm = 1.73” additional extension towards the fender

Unless you are going with 9” rears, I would stay away from these wheels unless you’re willing to modify your fender wells.

As a point of reference, I just bought new wheels for my car. After LOTS of research and constructing a spreadsheet to help visualize the results, I ended up with:

09.5” x 18 x 68mm (265 x 35) front = 1.13” additional extension towards the fender
10.5” x 18 x 59mm (285 x 35) rear = 0.99” additional extension towards the fender

..and they fit perfect!

If one wanted to be super-safe, go with a 9” x 68mm front, or, keep the 9.5” and use an even greater offset such as 70mm. I am happy with my current configuration though.

An interesting side-note. While looking for wheels to buy, I found some wheels on a vendor’s web site and called them up. These wheels were bought for a customer, but the customer bugged out on them. I asked to talk to someone regarding their offsets as I wanted to be sure they would fit onto my car with no hassles. That person wasn’t available at the time, but I was assured that that person will call me back. They never called me back. I called them back four times with the promise that the person with the info on the wheels will call me back, but they never did!

I am incredulous to this day regarding that non-transaction. I ended up going to By-Design and bought a set of HRE 540R’s. The final decision was between the HRE’s, or CarGraphics ‘Racing’ wheel. CarGraphics was out of the running by default as they could not make a wheel with my specs.

As always, a big learning experience.

 

good info on the wheels, I've started looking for some.

what is the bolt pattern to ask for?

 

good info on the wheels, I've started looking for some.

what is the bolt pattern to ask for?

 

5x130

 

Brendan, I have very similar offsets on my wheels and the fronts fit fine, but the rear is tight. I have 255s, but they only clear by about 1cm. No rubbing under any condition, but I think 265 would rub. You may just need to roll the rear a little.

 

Wow.

Me = late to this thread.

I got the wheels I was talking about.

I hope the purchase and shipping goes well. I am going to have them painted or power coated to a dark, dark gun metal grey color.

1750 for 80% Mich Pilot Sports (eh), and 18x8, and 18x10 wheels. F52mm, R40.

These are supposed to be Factory turbo twists. Not replicas, and I sure hope so.

I understand that there is a way to tell the difference - in that the replicas have a closer distance between the lug hole and center cap, and the oems are farther away?

 

Congratulations on the purchase of your new wheels; I hope you are happy with them! <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />

Post some pics when you're done, plus let us know how they fit.

 

brendan,
i thought that factory wheels had porsche part numbers stamped on them whereas replicas don't.

 

perhaps the big question is are they round ? 18 inch rims with low profile tires are far too easy to bend for most roads . Often people decide to " upgrade wheels " after they have damaged their existing wheels . But then again Brendan since your car has not run for several months.......I guess it may not matter ! Perhaps you could borrow someones spare "brains" and at least drive around the block once.

 

Jim, if we were living back east, or the midwest I'd agree, however the roads in the southwestern states rarely possess the terrain typical of that which produce bent wheels.

The phobia over bending an 18" wheel is simply a blanket wariness based on other areas of the country where the conditions warrant this concern.

Think about it - when's the last time you saw a 'real' pothole in the road?

Brendan - I'd be concerned about those rear wheels. With that 10" width and 40mm offset, I doubt you'll be able to fit 265 tires. Hopefully I'm wrong.

 

Randy , I have several bent 17 inch rims from local people (one fellow has purchased 7 rims thus far) , one 18 bent sent to us by a Porsche dealer who thought we might be able to use it for something . But you are correct with little or no rain to hide the bumps and pot holes (we now have them in parts of Orange county; budget crisis ? ) it is not as risky as some other parts of the country . The three original GTS C-2 17 inch rims for my 1980 are bent a bit .

 

There is a guy in Fairfield NJ who is a master at repairing bent wheels. True there may be many like him accross the country, But this guy will recondition the wheels beyond belief. Currently he has my BBS wheels and is recoloring the centers. He goes by the name : USA WHEELS.
Back here in the east the roads are horrible. Lots of people run 19 20 and 22 inch rims. You can't go to the store and back with out dinging the edges. I'll stick with the 16 inchers.