Melo928

I bought a set of Carrera III wheels and now planning to put 265/35-18 into rear. Where I need some opinions is that what size I should use in front.

I don’t track my car so ultimate grip is not what I’m after.

225/40 pros
+ Cheaper to buy
+ Less noisy?
+ Less steering torque?


Cons
Less side wall, bit harsh?

235/40’ pros
+ less under steering if pushed to limit
+ bit taller, fills wheel arch better (looking lower), bit softer when hitting pot holes

Cons
More expensive
May look “fat” compared to rear (265 in 10” wheel)
Road noise&consumption higher?

Due price, and similar stretch as rear I’m leaning at the moment towards 225. Is there some very good reason that I should buy 235 instead?



-mikko

jheis

Well, the 225 is marginally closer to the correct diameter, but the difference is negligible.

I went with 235s on the front to balance the handling with the 265s on the rear (and lessen the understeer).

James

RKD in OKC

If you are not interested in handling/balance, just go with stock widths. It's cheaper and will ride just fine. Most of the newer Porsches with wider rears i.e.. 265s have 225s on front.

I went with 235/285 on my GTS with Carrera IIIs. The 235s seem to trammel more (follow road unevenness)

tilac999

Any rubbing issues with 235/40/18? I like 275 on a 10" wheel more than Porsche's choice of 265.

jheis

No rubbing issues on my '89 with the 235s, but the fronts are mounted on 8" Panamera S wheels with the 59 ET so the offset is "right."

James

Randy V

I'm running 245 fronts on 18" CLW wheels - no problems at all and significant improvement in turn-in.

Brett928S2

Hi

I am running 275/40/18 on my 10 inch rears and my fronts are 225/40/18 on 7.5 x18 x 52 offset BUT....by mistake I tried 235/40/18s on the front and I couldnt turn the wheels more than 1/3 of normal travel.... so if I were you I would go 225/40`s ....

All the best Brett

tilac999

Thanks Brett. I'd rather err on the side of caution. What model is your 928?

FredR

you do not mention offset but if the wheels came from a Carerra then the chances are the front offset will be in the region of 52mm. You do not mention what variant you have but your avatar would suggest a 16V model. I am not sure of the spacial geometry on these models but if it similar to the S4 then you will get away with a 25 on a 52mm offset- a 235 will invariably be pushing it.

225's fronts are just not wide enough for a 928 to give good lateral traction unless you can get a shed load of weight off the car. Wider is better plain and simple and the wider the better generally until you get to silly numbers but the front and rear sections have to maintain a more or less constant width differential. My experience is that when you get a 265 up front the rear at 295 struggles to keep up with the front and the car tends to oversteer a tad, even with a stiff front bar.

If you are not intersted in corner performance then it is mostly irrelevant but when I had a 225 on the front with a 52mm offset the handling suffered compared to stock- I put that down to losing the NSR [neutral scrub radius] offered by the stock 65mm offset.

Regards

Fred

tilac999

My Turbo Twist IIs are 18x8 front and the ET is 50 or 52, I forget. Not optimal but what can one do? I think I'll go with 225/40/18 front to be safe and 275/35/18 rear. Overall diameter is very close to 25".

Melo928

Thank you all about sharing these experiences.

Answers were pretty much what I expected - 235 is giving better balance but could cause some trammling. 225 is gives more understeering but rides fine in commuting.

Carrera III has 8X18 et 57 in front and both size should fit without any problem. Tuff call.

Brett. Do you have a power steering problem?

Brett928S2

Hi

Mins is a UK S2 (16V)

The wheels are 52 offset though..so only 225...

All the best Brett

Brett928S2

Hi

No problems at all with power steering, although a little "tramlining" but nothing that bothers me, plus the extra width gives me LOTS more grip generally..

All the best Brett

Melo928

I was just wondering since wider tires made your steering turn only 1/3 of previous.. maybe lack of muscle power and power steering malfunction

Brett928S2

Hi

LoL..No...

When I tried to turn the wheel to reverse out of the tyre place the rear of the front tyre literally LOCKED on the inner wing..I could NOT turn the wheel further...

All the best Brett