My tire options and fitment. |
|
Porsche, and the Porsche crest are registered trademarks of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG.
This site is not affiliated with Porsche in any way. Its only purpose is to provide an online forum for car enthusiasts. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. |
|
My tire options and fitment. |
patssle |
Oct 4 2015, 01:38 PM
Post
#1
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 981 Joined: 28-August 09 From: Houston, TX Member No.: 10,741 Region Association: None |
I'm currently running 185/65-15 cheapo tires. I want to upgrade to some performance tires (g-Force Sport COMP-2) and the only size I can get is 195/55-15. My passenger rear tire has the closest gap between the tire and fender being about 1/2" calculating for the widest part of the tire. None of the gaps on the other tires are the same and all are bigger. Also my rear tires have a rather significant negative camber as my inside threads are significantly more worn than the outside.
Should I be concerned about changing tire size at all and especially if I get an alignment which may reduce the camber (so the top part of the tire would be moved outwards)? |
Dave_Darling |
Oct 4 2015, 05:59 PM
Post
#2
|
914 Idiot Group: Members Posts: 14,982 Joined: 9-January 03 From: Silicon Valley / Kailua-Kona Member No.: 121 Region Association: Northern California |
Yes, you should be concerned. The 195-width tires are going to be about 10mm wider than the 185s. (The actual widths can vary from brand to brand, even from tire model to tire model!) That means about 5mm inboard, and about 5mm outboard. 6mm is about 1/4", so you're going to have the sidewall about 1/4" closer to the fender, if you make no other changes.
If you take out some of the negative camber in the back, that will move the top of the tire outward, reducing your clearance further. Not sure how much, though. And finally, your photos are presumably taken at static ride height. But the wheel does move up and down relative to the body as the suspension gets compressed by bumps or cornering. So there's a good chance that the widest part of the tire will wind up going up to the fender lip, or maybe beyond. Add all three of those factors together, and I would definitely worry. What wheels do you have on the car? If they're not specifically 914 wheels, that may be one of the sources of your troubles. Real 914 wheels move the tires inward in the fender more than Bug-offset wheels do... --DD |
patssle |
Oct 4 2015, 07:17 PM
Post
#3
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 981 Joined: 28-August 09 From: Houston, TX Member No.: 10,741 Region Association: None |
I'm running the Mahle 4 lug wheels.
The space on the drivers rear is about 3/4" between the widest part of the tire and fender. So this one tire is really the only concerned spot. There just aren't that many performance tire options. The Yokohama s.drive is in 185/55 but that reduces the diameter by 6% 24.5 to 23. My car is already lowered so I'd probably need to raise it back up a little. |
lonewolfe |
Oct 4 2015, 08:52 PM
Post
#4
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 819 Joined: 12-September 11 From: Oakland, CA Member No.: 13,549 Region Association: Northern California |
You can always run 205/50-15 FALKEN AZENIS RT-615K 50R. A very sticky high performance tire.
|
Dave_Darling |
Oct 5 2015, 09:08 AM
Post
#5
|
914 Idiot Group: Members Posts: 14,982 Joined: 9-January 03 From: Silicon Valley / Kailua-Kona Member No.: 121 Region Association: Northern California |
Not without massaging the fender, he can't.
All 914s are slightly different. That's why we tell people that "205s will fit on most 914s." Because there are cars where they don't, like this one. Pat, you can pull the fender out slightly to give yourself more clearance. You can also use the "baseball bat" method, or use graduated pieces of PVC pipe, or a dedicated fender roller tool, to pull the fender out a little bit. Do you know if your 914 has been hit on that side? If so, the repairs may have moved the fender in a little bit. Other repairs may have done so as well--for instance, if the suspension pickup points were repaired. Or if the trailing arms were reinforced, they could have been warped slightly. If you don't want to modify the body of the car, you may be stuck with skinny tires. Remember, though, that these originally came with 165/80-15 tires. So the skinny tires will be closer to the original experience... (He says, looking for the silver lining.) --DD |
EdwardBlume |
Oct 5 2015, 12:42 PM
Post
#6
|
914 Wizard Group: Members Posts: 12,338 Joined: 2-January 03 From: SLO Member No.: 81 Region Association: Central California |
I ran 195 60 15s on racing tires and was tight with 1/4 spacers. I ran 205 60 15s on street tires and was really tight with 1/4 spacers.
Results may vary. Dave is right about having to roll the fenders, but not on every corner. I was OK on one side, but not on the other. |
Shredhead |
Oct 5 2015, 12:53 PM
Post
#7
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 110 Joined: 10-August 15 From: CT Member No.: 19,047 Region Association: North East States |
|
sean_v8_914 |
Oct 5 2015, 01:30 PM
Post
#8
|
Chingon 601 Group: Members Posts: 4,011 Joined: 1-February 05 From: San Diego Member No.: 3,541 |
fender roller machine will not work on flat topped 914 fenders.
show us your fender. it looks pushed in, a bit concave. i would not roll that nice lip but rather pull the center 1/3rd of teh fender face tire tucks as it travels upward taller profile tires sidewalls balloon out more than low profiles 195/55 will be closer to correct rolling diameter |
EdwardBlume |
Oct 5 2015, 01:44 PM
Post
#9
|
914 Wizard Group: Members Posts: 12,338 Joined: 2-January 03 From: SLO Member No.: 81 Region Association: Central California |
fender roller machine will not work on flat topped 914 fenders. show us your fender. it looks pushed in, a bit concave. i would not roll that nice lip but rather pull the center 1/3rd of teh fender face tire tucks as it travels upward taller profile tires sidewalls balloon out more than low profiles 195/55 will be closer to correct rolling diameter (IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) I was running with camber as well. |
patssle |
Oct 5 2015, 05:08 PM
Post
#10
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 981 Joined: 28-August 09 From: Houston, TX Member No.: 10,741 Region Association: None |
Yeah it definitely has a nice lip that would be ruined. Do I need a body guy to pull the fender out without touching the lip? I've never done any body work. It looks like my drivers side sticks further out which explains the increased gap over the passenger side. I don't know the history of the car so who knows what is original or if it has been hit.
|
patssle |
Oct 5 2015, 06:34 PM
Post
#11
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 981 Joined: 28-August 09 From: Houston, TX Member No.: 10,741 Region Association: None |
This handle is about 16mm / .62". I'm running 140 Weltmeister springs on Bilsteins that are set to the 5th notch from the bottom out of 6. How far would the tire come up in operation? My dad weighs 220 and can't compress the suspension that much shoving down on the fender. Second thoughts on it being safe adding .4" total (.2" on outside) to tire width .51" reduction in sidewall.
It would definitely be close. |
patssle |
Oct 6 2015, 04:37 PM
Post
#12
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 981 Joined: 28-August 09 From: Houston, TX Member No.: 10,741 Region Association: None |
Bump! Any opinions on getting that fender out more or just leaving it as is being that the handle fits in the last picture?
|
markyb |
Oct 7 2015, 02:39 PM
Post
#13
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 100 Joined: 27-November 11 From: Rochester, Michigan Member No.: 13,823 Region Association: None |
I'm running the exact same rims with Kumho 195/65 rubber. I have negative camber, the tire measures 1/2" from vertical when I put a level against it.
The tires fit fine, as you'll find in the specs noted elsewhere in the forum they are within a percent or so of original spec tires. My springs are very weak, soon to be replaced, but with these tires clearance looks fine even if I put new springs and align...let me know if you need any pics or measurements. This is an original unmolested car, it should give you a good idea of what might fit |
Dave_Darling |
Oct 7 2015, 02:46 PM
Post
#14
|
914 Idiot Group: Members Posts: 14,982 Joined: 9-January 03 From: Silicon Valley / Kailua-Kona Member No.: 121 Region Association: Northern California |
That's nice for your car, but 914s differ from car to car. And even from side to side on the same car! There are no guarantees about tire fitment...
--DD |
markyb |
Oct 7 2015, 03:23 PM
Post
#15
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 100 Joined: 27-November 11 From: Rochester, Michigan Member No.: 13,823 Region Association: None |
That's nice for your car, but 914s differ from car to car. And even from side to side on the same car! There are no guarantees about tire fitment... --DD Dave, My thinking was that OP would know roughly where his fenders should be vs. where they are now since we have similar rims and tires, that way he only moves the metal where needed. The tough part, as he is requesting, is how to move it |
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 5th May 2024 - 06:56 PM |
All rights reserved 914World.com © since 2002 |
914World.com is the fastest growing online 914 community! We have it all, classifieds, events, forums, vendors, parts, autocross, racing, technical articles, events calendar, newsletter, restoration, gallery, archives, history and more for your Porsche 914 ... |