nota_troll

Basically I'm considering buying new rims for my car, ie. Fikse or Kinesis in 18"s.

Or should I just buy standard 993 17"s with DOT spec tires?

TIA.

cmoss

Not sure if one or the other is better, but if you're just getting started--like I am--it's doubtful you'd be able to tell the difference. I say stick with the 17" wheels for the track, and buy the 18" wheels for the street.

Cheers,
Chris

DJF1

buy the 18's for the street, keep the cups on for the track. Have you driven on the track by the way?

Robert Henriksen

Search the archives for all the discussion about this you can stand.

nota_troll

Robert - Thanks. I knew better. My bad.

DJF1 - I've been on TWS once in a friend's 993 and a couple of times with my motorcycle.

<a href="http://raceshop.org/motorcycle/events/track/20april02TWS/20april2002.htm" target="_blank">http://raceshop.org/motorcycle/events/track/20april02TWS/20april2002.htm</a>

Mike in Chi

I strongly recommend running 17s on the track -- be they on oem Cups or lighter aftermarket wheels. You probably won't notice the difference between 17s and 18s. More importantly 17" tires are cheaper - you'll thank us later.

Robert Henriksen

That's funny, I didn't know you knew Brenno/Haas/Melissa/et al.

nota_troll

How do you know them? Haas, Brenno and I did that trackday. I almost bought Haas' 911.

Robert Henriksen

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by nota_troll:
<strong>How do you know them? Haas, Brenno and I did that trackday. I almost bought Haas' 911.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Too bad you didn't - I know he's not happy it wound up w. a cage installed.

I met Haas through Dave Mundy, and PCA events; he's been instructing at DEs for quite a while.

nota_troll

Didn't think I wanted that large of a project car. Always wanted a 993 and got a pretty good deal on mine.

See you this weekend at TWS?

FlyYellow

let's spend a second on the theory about 17" vs. 18" wheels.

- The lighter the wheel the better
- The larger size wheels provide stiffer sidewall resulting in better turn-in
- The smaller the overall circumference (height of tire+wheel) the less energy it takes to turn the wheel a rotation
- The less tire width you have (in the rear) the faster you accelerate but handle worse. so this one is a trade off
- The larger size wheels correspond to less tire weight (assuming you are maintaing the same overall circumference).

So assuming this is correct & that you are not optimizing for cheaper tires but rather performance. would it be reasonable to say:

- the technology hollow spoke 18" wheels weigh less than the cup wheels.
- the added width of tire sizes may slow your acceleration a little but make up in imporved handling.
- the 18" tech. wheels will provide stiffer side walls

so for the most part i would say that 18's are superior to 17's.

what am i missing?

Cheers,
Boris

DJF1

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by Boris Teksler:
<strong>

what am i missing?

</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">How expensive 18" track tires are compared to the 17's and the ultimate use of them. Looking for 10nths get the 18's and racing slicks. Looking for fun stay with the 17's and enjoy the savings.

nota_troll

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by DJF1:
<strong> </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by Boris Teksler:
</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">How expensive 18" track tires are compared to the 17's and the ultimate use of them. Looking for 10nths get the 18's and racing slicks. Looking for fun stay with the 17's and enjoy the savings.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Yeah. I keep coming back to this one. Not sure how readily trackside 18" tires are.

TrackJunke

It is also sometimes harder to find a tire place that can mount a low profile tire on a 18" wheel expecially without damaging the wheel.

George from MD

As one who runs 18's I will say the tires are much more expensive. And while there are the advantages cited by Boris I don't think you'll be able to tell the difference- and this is after all a DE event and not a race.

Having said that I would buy the lightest strongest wheels you can afford. A number of folks have told me about Porsche replicas failing at DE events although I've never seen it myself. And I do think you could tell the difference between a heavy and light wheel given the same tire- I know I could.