5CHN3LL

Great info...please post your longer-term observations.

Dennis C

I think the Sport Technos look great! I like your idea of painting or finishing them to your liking.

kgoertz

I thought I'd update after driving for the past month on my 18"s. I switched back to my Sport Techno's and replaced the worn rear tires with new Hankook Ventus V12s. Not my first (or my second) choice of tire but I already had the fronts. I’m extremely happy with the decision to drop back to 18”s. The car is much more comfortable to drive, manages bumps without getting upset, and handles noticeably better.

But I am convinced that the biggest change wasn’t due to the smaller wheels, but rather because the smaller wheels meant I could increase the suspension travel without raising the car’s height. Essentially the extra 1” of diameter on the rear wheels means either increasing the ride height by ½” OR lowering the suspension by ½” to compensate. That was the killer.

Previous wheels
Antera 343 19x8.5 wheels (25lbs?) with 235 35r19 diameter 25.5
Antera 343 19x11 wheels (27lbs?) with Pilot SS Pilot SS 295 30r19 diameter 26

‘New’
OE Sport Techno 18x8 (20.7lbs) with Hankook v12 evo K110 225 40r18 diameter 25.1
OE Sport Techno 18x11 (26.2lbs) with Hankook v12 evo K110 295 30r18 diameter 25

My car has had 19” wheels since I bought it many years ago. While I loved the look, I was never really happy with the ride quality. I raised the car from the original height a few times just to make it capable of going over reasonable bumps at speed. And to stop rubbing my front bumper on driveways. I originally had TechArt coilovers but recently replaced them with H&R since the TechArt shocks were done.

My first step was to drop down to 18” Sport Techno wheels with stock tire sizes without changing the ride height. There was a slight improvement in ride quality but not as much of a difference as I had hoped. My guess is that the extra sidewall on the front helped a little. The car felt a little less harsh going over small bumps but I still had to slow down for train tracks and dips in the road. The back end would still hop a little too much when accelerating and break loose. Slightly better but not enough (IMO) to justify moving to a smaller wheel.

I drove that way for a few weeks before adjusting the suspension. Since the diameter of the 18”s are smaller the car was noticeably lower. I then raised the car by 2 ‘turns’ on the front (maybe 4 mm I think) and 4 ‘turns’ on the rear (8mm?). The change was less than ½ of inch but it made a shocking difference.

I have a really bump country road near my house that I use as a suspension test. With my original 19” wheels and height I had to slow down considerably (~40-50km/h) to go over the worst bumps without bottoming out the suspension. Possibly slightly faster with the 18” wheels at the same height. But I can easily take the same road at 70-80km/h after raising the car up just a little.

So the differences I noticed are

• much softer over small potholes, road bumps etc. And I have much less fear of bottoming out the suspension which makes the drive _much_ more enjoyable. My wife is happier in the car
• noticeably less wheel hop when accelerating hard on a bumpy road
• suspension actually feels like it is doing something. You can feel it absorbing the road bumps more noticeably than before
• turning is noticeably easier at low/medium speeds. I attribute that mostly to the thinner front tires though. The lighter wheels might also contribute (not sure).
• it feels like the engine winds up slightly faster. Could just be wishful thinking. It definitely isn’t slower though and I think the gearing is a little better with the smaller wheels. Maybe enough to avoid having to drop to 2nd gear at the track that I occasionally run at
• understeer seems slightly worse and I don’t think it has as much traction as before especially in wet. But I’m fairly certain that is due to the Hankooks compared to the Michelin PSS. I loved the Michelin PSS but they don’t seem to be making them in the 18” sizes any more. Very sad and probably the biggest negative dropping to 18”s. Likely try the RE11A next time
• It is hard to say whether or not the drop in wheel weight is noticeable but I’ll hopefully get a better idea once I take it to the track.

Note that my ride height is still below the C2 RoW height. I don’t have the numbers in-front of me but I believe it is slightly higher than GT3 settings measured from the points shown in Adrian Streather’s “996 The Essential Companion” book.

So at the moment I’m very happy. And I wouldn’t recommend upgrading to 19” wheels unless your top priority is for ‘bling’.

I apologize in advance for the poor picture quality since I don't think the pictures really do the 'new' wheels justice. But it gives an idea of the extra room in the wheel wells.

mcbit

Much prefer look of the Sport Technos to your earlier wheels.

tshort

Re tires, have you looked at Dunlop Direzza Star Specs? I don't know how they compare to the Hankooks, but I just put a set on my 996 and did a track day with them and loved them.

kgoertz

Thanks. They are growing on me and I think I prefer the look especially after polishing the face (since I admit to liking a little more bling). Definitely no plans to go back.

kgoertz

Thanks. I haven't really looked yet at the Dunlops yet. But I'll add them to the list. Thankfully my Hankook's are brand new so I should be able to put off the decision for a year or two

Bubrubb

Wow, not sure how I missed this thread.

I have a set of heavy Fiske knock-off 19" for show and have Hankook Ventus V12 on them.

I have a set of 18" Sport Technos for go with the Dunlop Direzza Star Spec II's. First autocross is tomorrow, so I will report back my feelings after some hard laps on the Dunlops.

The 18"s are much more compliant over bumps, expansion joints, etc.

I am also running 275 at the rears on both setups. 245 on the 18"s in the front and 235 on the 19"s in the front.

JohnCK2014

I went from 19s to 18s and I would never go back. The car was nearly undrivable on the 19s. The suspension made even the smallest bump just brutal. The 18s and the extra sidewall made a huge difference. I highly recommend going to the 18s.

rainmn

I drove my car one time with 19s on it...the day I test drove it. It had 19" lobster claws on it, which I had swapped out for the original 18" twists.

Even with only one drive on the 19s, I could immediately feel the difference when I picked up with the 18s on it.

beetleything

Watch this video - quite informative


I will look for another where they test a porsche and the driver said it was better on 18's than 19's.

beetleything

OK here it is - race driver in a standard 997 with 18's and then the S with 19's....

he does not like the 19's - says harder to control etc ....

Watch around the 5-6 minute mark.

johnireland

Imagine what might be possible if you dropped down to 17s!

The Big Wheel Bling game is not new. Back in the GTI Mk3 days there was an article in R&T (I believe) about how the cars in Europe came with 14s but for the US Bling market they upped it a size...with a loss in ride quality and handling. The over-tiring of the car created more drag on the horsepower. When the Audi TT was first introduced the dealers loaded them up with oversized fancy wheels for a fast $6000 mark up. All the car makers today are sacrificing common sense for profit margins, Porsche included. The 19 and 20 inch wheels are really just cosmetic...and one could probably say the same for many of the 18s as well.

My 993 came originally with 16s as the standard setting and 17s as the option. I also got caught up in the look of the bigger wheels. I sold the 16s and put on 17s. On the high speed sections of the big track at Willow, there was more stability. But on tight circuts and back roads the 16s gave better performance and far better ride. Before I bought my 996 I was looking at getting another 993. One had 18s and all the other trick suspension stuff...and the owner had to be careful about the wheels making contact with the fenders on hard suspension compression.

I was thrilled with I found my 996 and it still had its 17" original rims. I actually prefer seeing more meat on the wheel...and with Los Angeles street conditions I have less chance of damaging a wheel with the 17s. As counterpoint to the big wheel look, I've always felt it makes the brakes look too small...like looking at SUVs with 20s.

In reference to F1...the current 13" wheels are part of the formula's rules. There has been recent talk about trying 18s but so far the cars seem to do just find with those little wheels.

Bubrubb

Dunlop Direzza Star Specs on 18"s are AMAZING!

I was consistently back 4-5 seconds in my class for autocross through the last 4 events.

I went to the 18" wheels with the Dunlops from the 19" with Ventus V12's and won my class by 7 seconds. I also went from 235 fronts on the 19" to 245 on the 18"s and had the car aligned with added rear negative camber and a tiny touch of toe in.

johnireland

New or used cars, don't get suckered into the big wheel scam.