ignacio

zz and karlooz

take a deep breath!

my point is that wheels and tires are a poor place to make an aesthetic statement.

paint color is a benign place to express yourself.

excessively large wheels make for very fragile tires because their side wall height is so small. they are also more prone to hydroplaning.

finally, you both ignored my plea for any evidence that increasing the wheel size beyond 18" makes any difference in cornering or braking, even in the dry.

fahren affair

the 996tt shootout in the current "european car" magazine bears this out. tuners who ran 19s switched to 18s for all the track tests. there are many more tire choices with 18s.

fwiw, i think the jump up from 17s to 18s on a 996 is a huge performance improvement. every 996 i've driven with 17s had less grip and squirmed under load (cornering) compared to 18s.

karlooz

first - maybe you should take your own advice. take a deep breath. that was my first post and it now your 4th post. just chill.

second - aesthetic statement, still to each his own, i have my opinion, don't infer that it is a dumb one because i don't agree with you. lapis blue sucks, it just sucks, i can't believe you chose that crap colour. sound like a logical response?.

third - where's your evidence of increased hydoplaning. it has direct relationship with the tire's contact patch not the wheel's diameter. if you said that a wider tire has increased hydoplaning characteristics then i would tend to agree with you.

fourth - where's your evidence that 19s do not have better handling characteristics and are more fragile? to a layman (me) i would guess because there is a shorter, stiffer sidewall, then turn in response is better. it may be on a small scale. 30 series tire's sidewall would have to be beefed up to compensate therefore a harsher ride, that i would tend to agree, but unless YOU show evidence that they are more fragile than 18s and 17s then don't bother with a response. in fact, YOU should show evidence to back up your ideas before you shoot down anyone else ideas otherwise don't respond, agreed?

i'm not going to stoop to a flame war. i saw it from you first post but i couldn't resist. i am done until you put up or shut up.

496 post to your credit and not a member? shame on you

01-996

Porsches with small wheels look like stupid SUV. Everyday I get home and look at my baby in the garge with 18 and stand USA suspension I want to cry. She looks like a shiny silver school bus. She needs 19's and a ROW suspension and that might not even be enough. If I didnt need a home movie theatre and trying to have a baby, she would have it all baby, have it all. Having the wheel wells filled out make all the aesthetic difference. If it was not for aesthetics, I would be driving a 2000 < lbs 81 SC....

oalvarez

ouchie! on the lapis blue comments....maybe that excluded "ocean blue"

good stuff

does my car look that bad?

karlooz

dude, you know what i was talking about right ? i wanted to show how subjective and emotional aesthetics is.

i absolutely LOVE the colour of your car and it was my first choice but i couldn't find one in my price range . i originally wanted something other than arctic silver cause i had an arctic silver boxster. i still LOVE my c2, even if it has 18" wheels

Scouser

Well I can't give you any hard evidence ignacio but I can tell you through experience that IMHO my 996 handles way, I say, way much better since I fitted 19" wheels.....and it handles way, and I say, way much better again since I moved from Pzer0s to Goodyear F1's.
When I say handle better I mean I can take a corner on a wide bend near where I live at 110 mph in the wet and stil feel there is more. I used to take my Audi A6 quattro to the limit at 90 mph on the same corner before it started to understeer. When I had 18" wheels on my C2 I could not take this corner at 90mph. Even with 19" PZeros I could only just get 95mph before the back started to swing. So as far as I am concerned a) 19" wheels increases road handling a hell of a lot and b) it can be further increased by choosing the right tyres.

It certainly isn't a fad. The increased wheel size fills the wheel arch and thus decreases drag. The less air space you circulate the better the car
will handle. Hence lowering the car and fitting 19" wheels is a typical setup for cup cars.

karlooz

hey sccouser,

i'm thinking of trying the gsd3s on 19"rims. what size tires are you running?

Scouser

Carlos, belive me they are unreal. And as a bonus they seem to be lasting well too and they are quiet (I have a cab so quiet is good). I currently only have them fitted on my rear axle but will eventually get them for the front too. (Front still use Pzeros).

Tyres I had fitted on the rears are 275/30 ZR19 F1 GS-D3

Fronts I will get will be 235/35 ZR19 F1 GS-D3

They ain't cheap but they are glued to the road. I love em.

ignacio

carlos

i believe "european car" provides evidence of better handling for 18's, notwithstanding scouser's observations. at least scouser has performance in mind, though. to me tires and wheels are about performance, not aesthetics. i would like to see scouser's observations replicated in a more formal comparison test.

re hydroplaning--haven't you noticed that as wheels get taller their lower profile tires get wider?

regarding fragility, please note that numerous car manufactures issue a warning to this effect when they build a car with a sports package with lower profile taller and wider tires, e.g.bmw, audi and mercedes. porsche instead issues formal recommendations every year in christopherous which you will note don't include any 19's.

my point is that 19'' tires do not provide any substantal advantage in handling in 996's except for a "look". to me performance trumps looks any day. i think it's silly to sacrifice performance for a faddish look, no matter how "cool".

i do agree that 18's provide better handling in summer tires than 17's. the opposite is true in the snow, because of the wider tires on 18'' wheels.

your comparisons citing color comparisons miss the point completely. btw, i like arctic silver--it's easier to keep clean than lapis blue. it just wasn't available at my dealer without a substantial wait for a c4s. imo, polar silver is even nicer--too bad it's so expensive and hard to get without a factory order.

peace

karlooz

maybe you should try a set of 19s and then decide. i went from 17s to 18s and there was a HUGE performance jump in handling. the turn in is crisper. i didn't get that "delayed" "squishy" feeling from the 17s (pirelli p rossos). i'm guessing going from 18s to 19s will achieve the same results but to a lesser degree.

hey with wider tires you get better cornering right? i think those in the shoot out went to 18s for the better range of tire sizes. you can get a better selection of tires, up to 315/30s in 18 but there isn't much for 19" fitments.

i think you missed my point completely. the color doesn't matter, it was the subjectivity of it all that i was questioning. you saying that "aesthetic balance, nonsense" was illogical, rather it was an emotional respose. let's keep emotions aside then we can all play nice. it's all so subjective nobody wins, but winning isn't realyl the point. it's what YOU think is aesthetically pleasing and who cares what others say. after all, who's driving your car? can i say that my opinion is right and yours is wrong? nope.

i've got a set of 17s sitting in the garage if you want them

ignacio

carlos

i suspect that beyond 18's one has exceeded the point of diminishing returns with regard to cornering. porsche is very specific regarding their tire and wheel recommendations which they seem to test very thoroughly on a yearly basis. i don't know any other car company that does this.

i am pleased to be discussing performance rather than looks. i don't dislike the look of large wheels. i just think the looks are much less important than the performance characteristics, which are often compromised by huge wheels and tires.

btw, i may be interested in some 17'' wheels for snow tires next year. i suspect snow is not a factor for your location. please send me a private email.

karlooz

i can accept that. BTW i heard/read of a rumour that the 997 has 19s as an option. it's all but a rumour though.

good to hear your C4S is not a garage queen and it' s driven in the snow

ignacio

as you know, 997's have spawned countless rumors--we'll soon see which are right.

i drive my c4s daily--35k mi in 23 mos. it goes well in snow below 8 inches--beyond that it's a great plow!