gmendoza

I need new tires for my S4 but I'm having a hard time matching tires. I also had a set of 18" wheels that fit perfect on the 928 with way more tire choices.

My fear is that ride will be compromised too much. How bad is the ride on 18" wheels?

Randy V

Welcome to your second post in two years.

This has been discussed extensively. Try a search for many of them.

Go with 18".

928porschepatrick

No problem driving with 18" its a lot better then 16 "

Speedtoys

An 18" setup will give you more road feedback..the previous comment on 'better' is likely performance related.

But..Ya..you feel more..because you would be surprised at how much a tire with MORE sidewall, and is less stiff, sucks up road issues.

IE: If I was to move to san francisco..Id be on fatty 16" tires as fast as I could be for general daily use.

928porschepatrick

but i have to say that i have red Koni's. not recommended with the 20 yo stock setup in my case.

IcemanG17

My impressions were the 18" setup was worlds better than the 16"...granted I had crappy no name all season tires in 16" that were awful....so going to a quality tire (conti sport contact) changed everything for the better!

GlenL

18" will have better handling but 16" can be more safely set with lower pressure to have a more comfortable ride. Tire choices make a difference in there as well.

FredR

18 inch wheels should not give you any problems. They have shorter thus stiffer sidewalls so transmit more of the shock but in practical terms I doubt most would even notice this. One thing you may notice is that there is quite a range of makes and types in 18 inch and some have better performance than others and some make more road noise than others. Ultra high performance tires are generally suited for summer weather and the manufacturers do not recommend them for cold weather use so cxonsidering it is onset of fall you may need to consider this unless you plan on having a summer and a winter set.

Regards

Fred R

finally!

yeah, what you said.. uh, what did you say? Sorry, too distracted by your avatar! <snort>

jorj7

I've run 16", 17", and 18" wheels on my cars. I found the brand/model of tires made more difference
then the diameter of the wheel in ride quality, handling, and noise.

pcar928fan

I agree with George. There will be good and bad in EVERY SIZE! I tend to be cheap with my tires and have run 16", 17" and 18" and for me the 17" with stock sport suspension is a pretty nice feel and compromise for the street. Not to harsh...but not to soft either. I could put up with 18" and sport suspension even. 18" and stock suspension is maybe a touch softer than the 17" and sport suspension but not much. They are VERY CLOSE!

I MUCH prefer the look of a current style 18" wheel personally... and as you have already found, tires are much easier to source for that size rim.

gmendoza

Great, thanks for the info guys! I'm in southern CA so winters are not an issue.

I didn't realize I registered in '09 when I bought my first Porsche. Now I have 3; man time flies!!!

James Bailey

Worth mentioning that in the early years Porsche offered 15 inch rims for the 928 for a better ride than the sporty low profile 16 inch wheels and tires and many automatic cars were fitted with them
Of course a Buick or Ford LTD from that time floated like a boat

Jeff928S4

I went from the stock 16" (with manhole wheels) to an 18" (with Twist wheels) and find the car "feels" a lot closer to the ground and more "go-carty", if that makes sense.

James Bailey

Yes it does ..."more "go-carty", if that makes sense. " ....go-carts have no suspension none, zero, zip,nada so removing much of the flex of a taller sidewall transmits more road variations also tightens transitions from left to right......