Magdaddy

I'll see your lip...and raise ya

Mavel

Hi guys,

I'm in the process of ordering a set of Tramonts for my NB 993 convertible.

By looking on your last pics of your beautiful rims, my initial thought was that the width of the rear tyres does not protect the rims when maybe touching a side walk curb that much.

Does a different tyre protect it more?
I had 10x18" RH AG Cups on my former 993 Targa with 265/35 Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's and I at least felt that the edge of the tyre was protecting the edge of the rim a bit more.

Could rear 9,5" rims with the same 265/35's protect the rim better and would it look ok?
What ET should I choose in that case?

Grateful for answers and comments from all!

Pat

Jlaa

Good to hear it Mavel!

I doubt that the tire offers much protection from curb scrapes. The outer edge of my 265 tire is every so slightly (like 1mm maybe) proud of the flange on the wheel --- so not really, no protection afforded by the tire.

That said, alps told me that on his silver RS car (in the beginning of the thread) he mounted 285 section Dunlop sportmax tires on his 18x10 ET+59 Tramonts in the back without any rubbing. Maybe you might try 285s on 10" wide wheels instead of moving down the 9.5" wheels.

I have attached pictures of his silver RS on 285s as well as 265s. (First one is 285, second one is 265)

Magdaddy

I have Hankook tires, Dick in Tenn has Sumimoto's. The best way I can describe how the rim sticks out from the tire is...compare the actual wheel beads inside and out on an oem wheel. The outside wheel lip, is shaped differently from the inside lip. The outside lip sits well inside the tire, the inside lip is "squarish" and sits more "proud" of the tire. That inside lip allows wheel weights to be hammered on if wanted.

It seems that the Tramonts, use the same lip shape(the shape on the inside of oem wheels)...on both wheel faces. There must be an industry name for that lip profile. I don't like it, as it makes the tire's looked stretched. All down to the shape of the wheel lip, don't believe that different tires will make a difference.

I have the same Hankooks on my oem 996 TTS wheels(same 295 on 11" rear), and the rear tire is well outboard of the wheel lip. All down to the Tramonts...

Mavel

Thank you for your answers and extensive info Jlaa and Magdaddy!

Personally I like the look of Alps rims with the 285's. The tire does not look that stretched, and I agree Magdaddy, it must be the shape of Tramonts outer lip that makes it stand out more than the tire.

If I want to have the same look as Alps 10x18 with 285's, but using the 265's instead, is it then 9,5" that I should choose or even 9" ?

If I choose 9,5" and I want to have the rims at the same position as the 10" choice, should I then choose an ET 6mm less = ET 52 on a 9,5" instead of 58 on a 10"
Am I correct?

And to get same look on the fronts then I should choose using 8x18" ET 47 ....?
(ET 52 was my initial choice with 8,5")

Grateful for your thoughts guys.

Magdaddy

your difference in "et" calculations, versus wheel wdith, looks right...except fronts 52-6=46. Does your tire of choice limit you to the 265, as opposed to the 285? Afterall, the 285 does fit a NB with the correct wheel offset.

Jlaa

I have deleted my post --- my math is wrong.

Mavel

Good Mornings guys,

Thank you for your thoughts.

Magdaddy, no I'm not limited to 265's in tires size, but some times Swedish Car Inspections Authorities can be a pain about what's ok to fit in a wheel arch.
I had a discussion about that when I had a set of RH AG Cups on my former 993 Targa, but my rhetoric saved me as I stated that the RS has the same body and arch size and it uses 18".

So what's an ok ET if If use 285's ? What does Alps have ?

When I look at Jlaa's pic's above, I think that there is a BIG difference in how the tire looks on the front wheels compared to the rears!!!

Just look at the angle of the tire towards the lip !!
The front tire looks just fine by me, but the rear tire looks to stretched for my taste.
It must be a 30 degree difference in that angle.

I asked Tramont about rim sizes yesterday and here is their answer:

"The dimensions 8,5 and 10 have been TÜV approved in Germany. The tyres are better maintained on the wheels. The vehicle is more secure/safer, the trajectory is more precise.

But we can produce the sizes you want."

Comments guys?

Jlaa

Hi Mavel,

Alps told me he used 18x10 WT+59 for the rears with 285 section tires. You might want to PM him or alert him about this thread just to make sure ---- straight from the horse's mouth.

From my perspective -- I'm a pretty OCD guy but the difference in "stretch" between fronts and rear wheels of my car doesn't bother me at all.

orangecurry

Don't know about you, but tire choice in 285/30 is very limited, and a 265/35 on a 10J rim looks 'wrong' to me.

Also IMO a 285 gives too much mechanical grip on the back of an n/a 993. Yes really.

The best balance for handling (not on a circuit) is 205/255, but 7J fronts don't 'stick out' enough. Spacers? Not a great solution.

7J fronts 9J rears



IMO the best compromise is 8J fronts and 9J rears. The factory MY02 wheel you see here looks correct with 8J ET50 wearing 225/40 on the front, but wrong in 10J ET65 wearing 265/35 on the rear.



Whereas the 9J 255/40/17 ET55 factory wheel looks better - so Porsche had the 9J at ET55 and the 10J at ET65 - maybe the perfect 9J rear would be around ET50, the same offset as the 8J front?

Magdaddy

IMHO...it's not the wheel width, or the et that make the tire looked stretched...as much as it is the rim lip profile. I have the exact same tire-295, on my oem 996 TTS rear wheels...they are 11" et 45, Tramonts are 11" et 38. The tire should look exactly the same on both wheels to my simple way of thinking. The 295 looks great on the TTS wheel, the tire sidewall projects well past the rim lip. On the Tramonts, the tire looks very stretched, and the rim is proud of the sidewall.

It all boils down to the profile of the Tramont lips...as I said earlier, I don't care for the look. But at this point, I'm trying to get used to it. For whatever reason, I never took an up close look at the lips on the real Speedline RS wheels that Ilko had on his C2 at Hershey.

No amount of tire past the wheel lip, will protect the wheel from curb damage, it's purely a visual thing. The Tramonts are a beautiful, relatively inexpensive, quality RS replica....just not perfect.

alps

I can confirm the dimensions and info on the Tramonts and tires from Jlaa are correct.

Fronts are 8.5x18 ET52 and rears are 10x18 ET59. The photos and tire widths quoted are also right.

As said, the tires do not really protect the rim. Photo below is the rear wheel with the 285 tire after a brush with a kerb - and it also shows how much the 285 pushes out beyond the rim.

While I agree the 285 on the 10" rim looks slightly better (and you may be able to achieve almost the same result with a 265 on a 9.5"), I tend to go with manufacturer specs and recommendations on the basis they have more experience and do things for a reason. I like the flexibility to fit a 285 in the future.

95% of the visual improvement will come from the beautiful wheel design and I can live without the rest coming from a slightly recessed lip. But if you weigh things differently then go for it and do the smaller rim.

Think you will be happy with the result either way.

Mavel

Thank's for your thoughts and comments.

I've given it a lot of thoughts and my conclusion is to go with what Tramont recommends and what's TUV approved.

8,5 x 18 ET 52 & 10 x 18 ET 58

So I ordered a set today.

They offered freight fro 130 € (178 USD) from France to Sweden, that was ok I think!

I'll post pics when they are on the car :-)

Have a great day,

Mavel

Jlaa

Good luck! Now that analysis paralysis is finished, i am sure you will be very pleased.

Mavel

So at last the rims and tyres are on the car.
I'm very satisfied with the result :-)