Dave

Danno, I hate to make this more confusing, but for the 85.5-86 cars the standard wheel was the phone dial, 15j7 on the NA cars and 16j7 & j8 on the turbos. The option was 16" phone dials or forged (read Fuchs) 15j7 & 8 on the NA, or 16j7 & 8 forged on either car. AFAIK all turbos have 16" wheels due to the larger brakes. I never measured the setback from the fender lip, but my original wheels were 15" PDs and the back was set in about 1/4" more than the front. I currently have 16" Fuchs on the car and there is less clearance in the rear than the front. This didn't help, did it? In the next few weeks I'll be switching back to the phone dials (my snow tires are on them) I'll check the offsets and measure the tire to fender.

Danno

Whoops, sorry the '85.5-86NA does have Dials as standard. Just in 15" instead of the Turbo's 16". The '86 Turbo PhoneDials are great upgrades for '83-86 944NA BTW. With the rear 16x8" wheel, the outside edge will be 1/2" out closer to the fender than the stock 15x7" wheel. I think this is the situation with your 16" Fuchs as well (or do you have 16x7"?).

Dave

8s in the rear, It doesn't look like a half inch difference but I didnt pay that much attention when I switched the wheels. I can tell you that there's very little room to spare, the 245-50/16 Hoosiers that were on the rims when I got them, rubbed a bit.
Only if you like a bit of extra unsprung weight

Almost forgot...Pensive, maybe you can find someone who will trade your '87 wheels for '86 wheels, that would give the same offset without the expense and headache of spacers.

Adrian

Dear Danno,
We woul dneed to find somebody with a set of genuine factory specifications for the range of 944s. Or the factory maintenance manuals for the specs.
I very much doubt there is a stock standard 944 out there any more. I have never seen an early and later and late model 944 lined up side by side to look at the wheel track. It may well be different between ROW and USA versions as well.
I do not know how to go from here because the only source of data on the net I have found on the subject has been claimed as inaccurate and bogus.
So I make the suggestion that we try and head back to the official books for the specs.
I do have to disagree with using what you call wheel adapters, we call them distanzscheiben (or distance spacers). The aluminium ones as long as they are used to retain wheel track make no measurable difference to road performance. Unsprung weight may only be affected if spacers and heavier wheels are used. This takes some balancing of data but is not too difficult. I use these only in winter, myself. If they are torqued up correctly and I have never had any problems and never needed to check them. Steel ones, well they are heavy and may well have a noticeable affect on performance,
Ciao,
Adrian
911C4

PS: There are other examples of this confusion and differences between USA and ROW versions so 944 owners need not feel alone.

pensive

Wow Danno..that's some nicely laid out info there..thx! I have an '84 though and wheels with the post offset (They fit on...but they JUST come so close to touching that front end shock). They are 15"s also.

Are you saying though that with the rear end on the '84 the way it is, that I can't really put them on? That would really be horrible and make for a new listing on the rennlist classifieds.

Thx again guys for all of the info....
pensive

Danno

Sure, you can put the '87 wheels on, but rim-edges won't be in the same location as your stock '84 wheels (they'll be about 1" inset deeper into the wheelwell).

If you say that the rim is "so close" to the front strut, then having a tire on it will probably make it rub.

Whoops, I made a mistake on the parts list. I gave you the listing for the '85.5-86 cars to use '87 wheels. The only difference is that you'll need a 100mm rear wheel-stud on the pre-'85.5 cars. That's to clear your existing 21mm spacer and the additional 28mm spacer.

I know, all this is a lot of hassle, but I think it'd be safest to have the rims in as close to the stock positions as possible. Especially in the front because it affects alignment settings and steering feel.