deja

Morning.....

I've had a good look all over the forum for the last hour or so, trying to find anyone with 19" Wheels on their (stock) car.

I'm currently running 18" BBS RS II Wheels (Nice and light 2 pc rims) with 225/40 front and 265/35 rear, on my 91 car (Turbo Cab) and I have never had a problem.

I'm curious to know if anyone has been down the 19" route on the 951 (or 944 / 968 even). I'm aware of the issues larger wheels can offer, but having changed to 968 caster blocks and keeping a general eye on things in the wheel bearing department, I have covered the last 10K on my 18s without a hitch.

On paper, 19 inch wheels should fit. Based on my existing experience of using a front tyre of 225/40/18 size, a 215/35/19 tyre actually has a slightly smaller rolling radius, so theoretically should offer no fitting (size) problems on the front.
On the rear, again having used 265/35/18 without any problems, a 265/30/19 has an almost identical rolling radius to the 18", so in theory should work.

However..... past experience has taught me that theory and practice are two totally different things (especially when they are MY theories), so can anyone offer any information? I'm interested to know if anyone has, or knows of someone who has fitted 19s, and what wheels they were, what tyres they chose and what issues they had.

Thanks!

RolexNJ

I don't know anyone that is using 19 inch now or would want to? Most would use 18 inch. Why do you want that size? I've seen a few cars with them on, and it didn't look right. And depennding on what off sets you have with 18 inch, and without modifying the body too, you can go very wide.

With the right 18 inch rims, and off sets, people can run wide tires. A friend of mine is running 225/40 and 295/35 PZero Corsa Pirellis on Factory Carerra Lightweights from an '02 996. And oh, his car is an 1987 944T, and he did roll the fenders a bit too, and still has room and no running at all. They are 8" and 10" by 18, they are the stock offset too. No spacers no rub, and his car is so low it won't clear a beer can laying on it's side. He runs full coil overs with no torsion bars and 550# frt and 700# rear springs. Here is a link to his web site too.

Cheers,



http://gallery.rennlist.com/gallery/album44

deja

Thanks for the quick response Rolex....

I thought the 'WHY' question might arise!!

I'm toying with an idea, that's all. I've seen some wheels that I very much like, but they are only available in 19 inch.
My 18 inch BBS wheels are very nice, and make the car look great (Must update my avatar - not that car), but I've had them quite a while and fancy a change. and these 19 inch wheels I have seen are fantastic. It is a Turbo Cab, so it is worth bearing in mind that it perhaps doesn't get treated in the same way as a coupe - The Racing / sport aspect is diminished, in favour of aestethics. Obviously it's still a 951 - but it's never gonna be hammered round a track, running 375bhp, if you know what I mean.

About 7 years ago, I remember being frowned upon for fitting 18's on a 951. At shows/meets around the country there used to be sharp intakes of breath and muttering about wheel bearing faliure etc, but 18's have become reasonably acceptable - in general we all consider 17's to be the 'norm' now.

So, I've made my case - those are my reasons (flimsy, I know!!)

thingo

This is the only car I have seen pics of, I am a bit partial to 19s myself, but I like shoes generally. No comment on the mesh...Just normal offset issues
Each to his own.

Ballistic-Chapman

19'' rims. This car was on ebay a few weeks ago. Sold for 26,000! Anything larger than 18'' doesnt look great IMO.

RolexNJ

Ballistic:

Thank you for reposting that. I had initially posted that car from eBay a few weeks ago. It was very nice, but for me, I didn't like the way the 19 inch wheels looked on it. And I still can't believe they got $26K for that. I am surprised.

Hoosier Daddy?

I think Duke is gonna be running 19s when he finishes his build. Had a pic in his "go big" thread.

ross255

deja

what offset are your 18 wheels?

333pg333

Well I have 2 sets of wheels and tyres. My roads are 17" and definitely look too small. My tracks are 18" and look good but I always think that the arch could be filled even better proportionally. I don't mind the 19"s even though that is against the preferred opinion.

M758

Wow... I like my 16" CS wheels. 17's are pretty good to, but I think even 18's are not quite right. Sidewall gets too short for our cars. Maybe ok if you are racing and get the right tire. 19's seem like all show and no go (heavy & crappy on road feel).

But then again I tend to buck alot of "cool" trends.

deja

Ross255, the 18's that I'm using at the moment are 45mm Offset on the front 8" wheel, and 50mm Offset on the rear 10" wheel.

You fitting 18's to yours?

Guns951

19" wheels raise the body too much...just go wider to, oh say 13" wide

ross255

deja
i am unsure to go 17 or 18. I never thought you could go so low on the offset without it rubbing the outside arch. As when i measure the gap on my 16 stock wheels there is only about 10 to 15 gap

TurboTommy

Asthetically, I find the "rubber band" look doesn't really seem to suit the 944 series body style. Even with 18"s I feel, "something doesn't look quite right". Although I would entertain it if I could get the car as low to the ground as possible; but then other issues would need to be addressed.

Mighty Shilling

there isn't much that can make a 951 brake rotor look small... a 19" wheel does though...

so that means, Carrera GT brakes MUST be retrofitted.