Franks928s

I've read multiple threads on the topic of 19" wheels (hours today) but need to bring it to the forefront of starting another post due to a high sense of urgency. I have an opportunity thru a porsche contact to buy a set of the new turbo spoked wheels with the titanium two tone finish.

Background:
MY87 S4
Wheel candidates: 19" turbo I; 8.5x19 et56 front, 11x19 et51 rear
No tires selected yet if wheels should be purchased

Goals:
Not to roll fenders , if possible
Reasonable fit within wheel wells - looks to scale with car
Effective steering
Not an overly harsh ride
Wheels fit with BIg Red Caliper/Rotor setup (planned)
"kick-***" look

Associated questions I need help with!

1. Those curently running 19", do you feel your ride comfort declined? How would you describe it?

2. Anybody experience bent wheels due to low aspect ratios?

3. Any steering impacts since the fronts would not be at the optimum et65?

4. Any suggestions as to tire sizes that would fit well on these wheels with this car?

5. Are these good wheels/offsets to consider for the S4?

6. If you had the opportunity to do it over, would you still have moved to 19"?

Frank

Dean_Fuller

I don't have 19" but I can tell you I felt a BIG difference in ride quality going from 17" to 18".

Chuck Z

See comments above.

mark kibort

no mods, but a fender roll? if so, then go 9.5" and 11s with 8" backspacing. run 265 front and 295 rear and you are good to go. (can actually run 275 and 305 with some very slight rolling)

I used to go back from 17s to 18s all the time, and didnt notice a difference, but that was on the race car. with a car so big and heavy like the 928, and stiff sidewall tires to begin with, you wont notice any difference, but it sure will look cool.

smudaaar

I have 19's on my 1980/81 euro "S" If I did it all over again I would go with 17 or 18 max w/a 10" wide rear tire. The car looks cool but is a little scary in the rain and the Michigan roads are rough at best!

thal

i love the look of your car smudaaar!

Cosmo Kramer

I had 18's and moved down to 17's and couldn't be happier for street driving. If I was on the track 18's would be better as I do notice a bit more roll with the larger sidewall, but the ride quality drastically improved with the 17's. I was contemplating 19's too but decided not too, glad I did. Plus on an 85, 19" wheels will make your brakes look tiny.

AO

With the 11" rear and a 51ET it'll be VERY close to rubbing. There are slight variances between cars and tires that may affect this - tires are the biggest variable. On my GT which has a more substantial fender liner in the rear, I had some rubbing issues on the inboard side (agaist the liner). I installed a 3mm spacer whch then made the outside rub. The '91's had rolled fenders fromt he factory, the '87 does not. Even with the factory rolled fender lip, I still had to flare it a bit.

I guess what I'm sayng is it'll be close - your tire selection will probably determine if it'll rub or not.

Cosmo Kramer

Sorry, missed the second car in your sig, S4 brakes and a planned big brake upgrade you will be OK!

As Andrew stated, the 51 offset rear will have to be carefully shoehorned in. The 19" 11" wheel does not have a lot of tire options that meet the proper rolling diameter. The ones Chuck has on his GTS are 26" diameter which is 1" above the proper spec. He probably doesn't notice the difference on his 5 speed GTS with all that power, you will with the automatic S4.

Franks928s

Thanks Ted. Question -I'm not sure if I read this or just dream't it With respect to the 25"diameter standard - is there an acceptable 3% deviation to it?

Frank

Franks928s

Thanks for your input. Why do 19"s make it less acceptable handling in wet weather? is it because the aspect ratio is smaller? I live in Charlotte and we can get some nasty rain at times. It just makes me wander...don't most of the new porsches have very small aspect ratios? IF so, why the difference with the 928??...hmmmm

Frank

Franks928s

Dean - can you describe what you mean by "BIG?" Thanks!

Frank

AO

Technically, you can run as big a tire as you want. The thing you need to watch out for is if the front diameter differes too much from the rear, you can potentially throw the ABS into a tizzy. The other thing you should consider is that your speedometer will be off.

Franks928s

Chuck - have you experienced wet traction issues with your 19's? (or doesn't that beauty not see those inclement environments)

Frank

Franks928s

Thanks Mark for your reply. I'm still learning and a bit confused with specing the wheels. I understand how to calculate the overall diameter and that it shoud be at the 25" mark, preferably. However, I 'm having a challenge understanding how the width fits with the S4. Woudln't 295's equate to a 11.6" tire (295 divided by 25.4)? What is the widest the S4 can handle without rolling the fenders?

Frank