Tires for my 944.
#1
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Tires for my 944.
have been looking at tires for my 944, but have some questions for the knowledgeable folks here. My current tire size is a rather thin and yucky 205-60-15. The stock "cookie-cutter" wheels are what I think keepers, so I am trying to find out if any one has an idea as to what tire size is best. Can I go wider in from and stay the same in the front with out a decrease in handling? I am looking at PZeros but they do not make a 15' that I can find anyway. Has anyone out there faced this dilemma? If so please let me know your success. Thanks all,
Chris.
Chris.
#4
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I've got a 944s2 that the previous owner outfitted with 17" Boxter rims, and he also had wider than spec tyres on the front (225/45R17). I'd owned an 86 944 previously with stock "phone dials", and the handling was far superior on the stock set-up. The steering on the s2 with the fat tyres and big rims was comparatively heavy and unresponsive, and prone to tramlining.
I've just put thinner new tyres on front (205/50R17 Yokohama AVS V102) and that has helped somewhat, the steering is lighter, but the overall handling is still not as good as the stock set-up I had on my previous 86 (which, admittedly, was very good). I really wish the previous owner had just stayed with the stock 16" s2 wheels; the 17" Boxter twist rims look nice but I thinks it's nuts to compromise handling for appearances. It's not that the 944 is so desperately ugly a car that it really needs Boxter rims to show it's face in public...
So I'm kind of conservative on messing with wheel and tyre sizes from the stock specifications. I feel the whole suspension has been pretty much finely tuned to the wheels they supplied with the car in the first place, and diverging too far from the stock set-up is going to inevitably lead to performance issues at some point.
Also, before you change rim size, you might want to check the prices for tyres that fit that size rim, and are suitable for the car. Some relatively rare sizes (such as 205/50R17, for example) can be rather expensive... economies of scale.
-Mark
I've just put thinner new tyres on front (205/50R17 Yokohama AVS V102) and that has helped somewhat, the steering is lighter, but the overall handling is still not as good as the stock set-up I had on my previous 86 (which, admittedly, was very good). I really wish the previous owner had just stayed with the stock 16" s2 wheels; the 17" Boxter twist rims look nice but I thinks it's nuts to compromise handling for appearances. It's not that the 944 is so desperately ugly a car that it really needs Boxter rims to show it's face in public...
So I'm kind of conservative on messing with wheel and tyre sizes from the stock specifications. I feel the whole suspension has been pretty much finely tuned to the wheels they supplied with the car in the first place, and diverging too far from the stock set-up is going to inevitably lead to performance issues at some point.
Also, before you change rim size, you might want to check the prices for tyres that fit that size rim, and are suitable for the car. Some relatively rare sizes (such as 205/50R17, for example) can be rather expensive... economies of scale.
-Mark
Last edited by Mark944na86; 09-10-2004 at 08:03 AM.
#6
I have had great success with my first set of replacement tires on my 15" cookies as well using 225/45/15" Falken's they gave me over 45k on one set and that was driving them fairly hard. I think 225 is the biggest you can go on 7' rim and I think your cookies are 7' wide.
#7
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My opinion...
225/50-15 is the ideal tire size for a 7x15 rim.
The car will handle great with the additional rubber.
I like Yokohama ES100's as they are cheap!!!
Joe
The car will handle great with the additional rubber.
I like Yokohama ES100's as they are cheap!!!
Joe