Hello All,

What tire size do you all think would be the best balance of handling and feel for 2.7 MFi 230hp narrow body. I have a separate set of long distance/inclement weather tires (185/70 XWX on gas burners.) This is a street car and ultimate grip is not necessarily the goal. More about being able to get to know the character of the car with a bit of a traction safety net to cover potential unpredictable events (animals in the road, red light runners etc.)

Currently the car has a set of Toyo R1R 195/55's and in the future I will may go with something like an A052 or A008 Yokohama- bit more traction than the R1R. First I imagined 215's but- I kinda think the 195 high traction tire is going to be a good balance of grip and feel. These days I feel like a car that sticks too well keeps you from finding the sweet spot in handling..... Might just have to ring out the 185's for a while- haha.

Its all about this:

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Many of you are probably familiar with they build- its Doug's Snoopy. Hell of a car and almost ready for the road here in Japan. I'm just rambling and dreaming about what's to come.

Thoughts on feel vs grip with the 914 chassis please!

Pete

Just my opinion. Hi Pete. Mine is a warmed up 4 cylinder and on a play day, with 205's it would go into a controllable 4 wheel drift in a corner with little effort at speed. This build, mine is getting 225's to make it stickier. I know with some effort they will drift too. Yours is such a nice car, maybe grab a friend and your tires and fine a parking lot to slide around on. I'm in So Cal, but I took mine to a local ski resort and learned to drive on ice and snow in a big parking lot and then to el mirage dry lake for some 4 wheel drifting lessons. Helped me feel the weight and balance of the car. Have fun

Yeah- that's a good idea- slide it around a bit. If I can find a good lot maybe get out with the 185's in the rain and see what happens.

I did drive it around Seattle/bellingham a good bit on the 185's but only pushed it hard in a straight line as it was my first drive.

I have heard many say the 914 will stick and then the rear just lets go- but a good even slide sounds ideal. I was into BMW 2002's for years then a 964- polar opposites. Kinda hoping the 914 will fit right in the middle of those in terms of handling characteristics.

Pete

Hi Pete - I have approx. 240 HP in my 3.2 Six. My car is narrow-bodied with out rolled fenders or cut lips. I have 195x55x15 Yokohamas on it and they stick well. However, I know some new tires have recently hit the market in sizes that will fit narrow-bodied cars. The issue is some of these tires have such sticky compounds they will pick up and throw everything on the road into your fenders. So, if that is a concern, try to find a happy medium.

I really wanted to go with a 205x60x15 but am not sure it would clear the rear fenders lips and I will not roll/cut my fenders. I have not had any problems with traction with the Yokohamas, but then again I do not hammer it coming out of turns- it is street driven and usually pretty responsibly.

I have two sets of wheels, one with A-008Ps and one with A052's--they don't make the 008's in your size if you're running 15" wheels. A052's are a really great tire, would be a little concerned with wet traction as they're pretty tread bare but I really love them in Sunny SoCal and have pushed them pretty hard with a lot of HP and zero issues.

running 16” Fuchs with 6” up front and 7” out back, but most cars can’t fit 7”, but you can run the same 205/55-16 tires on either.
i do run a small spacer up front so that i don’t have scrumming inside wheel well in front on a hard turn. hive had AE-11 Potenza 200 wear rating performance all season and AX’d them, currently have Firehawk Indy500 300 wear rating speed rated high performance summer performance tires and like them a lot.

Thanks for all the responses. Many good points. I had the A052's on my 964 and they do pick up gravel- and wear quick on that car. But the lighter 914 would probably be a good fit.

At what point does is make sense to stagger the sizes? 16's would fit the drop spindle up front better.. but tire selection is limited relatively in the Yoko's that I like to run.


Pete

I did not see you list wheel size but on a narrow body car 205 is about as big as you can go and that might require some rear fendermassage.

Where are you living? Spent 3 years in Atsugi. Really enjoyed living there!

What were you doing here? Navy? I've been here for almost 20 years now- to my own disbelief. Its not a bad place to be for sure!

Yeah I'm on 15x6 Fuchs at the moment with 195/55 Toyo R1R's. I may have to but new wheels to pass the inspection here so I'm just thinking about what I want to have long term. Thinking of new Fuchs which would one up the possibility of 16's. Awesome roads around here- Toyama BTW- but they are a bit rough. Not New England rough but...

Anyway a bit of sidewall does wonders for the ride actually help grip over low profile tires when there are ruts etc in the road.

On my old BMW 2002 tii I had 195/5514's then 205/50/15's and that car was pretty light and set up semi stiff. But at decent on road speeds with A050's the car was stuck to the road and I never could break traction when I wanted to. The 205's would make better times on the track but the 195's on lighter 14's had better steering and traction feel on the road. but- that was a slightly heavier front engine car with less horsepower.

Yokohama Advan Fleva 205/55R15 part #110170132

That's what I run on my narrow 914 3.0 conversion, only good performance tire I could find that was close. A bit shorter than stock, I didn't like the look at first but the performance is worth it.
I'm buying another set.

Good to see lots of high power narrows out here. I will be in the same ball park with my 2.8, but I run 16x6 all around with 205/55/16 with no rubbing. I'll need new tires for sure when it all gets put back together.

Been mulling this subject for a long while as my Avon 185/70R15s age out.

205/60R15 A-008R CUs were the best tires I ever had on my 914, and just squeezed in. Was an amazing intersection of grip, finesse, and characteristics approaching and on them. And that was with 80~ hp. I'm at 200~ now, and 205/60R15 is sadly hard to come by in a compelling tire. There are some good tire choices in 215/60R15, and I test fit one on a 15x7R wheel and it fit…but it was going to need some work to let it walk around under load.

Currently leaning toward 215/60R15 on 15x6 to bring them in a little and then go to work massaging what needs to be massaged to get them in…possibly at all four corners. This narrow 914 is what got me thinking about 215s on 15x6s:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1970-porsche-914-25/

185 and 195 also very nice, particularly for steering, but 200+ hp really wants more tire. For those of us who want serious performance but don't want to flare the cars, 205 and 215 may be the sweet spot. 205/55R15 is a nice compromise, and I ran them for many years—nice to see those Yokos. There are a number of really good tires in 205/55R16, but I don't want to run 16s...

I run the same on my 4 cyl. and will buy them again if available when I need a set.

All good info from my narrow brethren. Sounds like 205's are a sure fit with the right offset and 215's are at the limit. What offset's are you guys running to fit 205's and 215's? the Fuchs I have are 15x6 which are ET36. I've searched but have not found the ideal offset for the narrow body. Also I have the reinforcement plates in the rear so that's probably a 1/4" of the inside of the wheel well....

Pete

There's no fuching way you can get 215's on without pulling the rear fender rears. To do that "right" you're into paintwork and body mashing.
Not all 914's can fit a 205 without a rub, my '74 (not rolled fenders) has about a quarter inch, I can't get the tip of my pinky between the fender and tire. Any wider and you're into bodywork, then you may as well go full nut and slap some GT flairs on.

Fuchs (.020) and cookies, 15X6 with the 205-55R15 tires I posted and 205-60R15 fit perfectly, both my '72 and '74 narrow bodies. The 205-60R15 would be the perfect size, but you can't get a good summer performance tire, that's why I run the 205-55 Yokohama's. Also keep in mind the 205 is already getting fat on a 6 inch rim, 215 would be even fatter.

I would love to bump up to a 205x60x15 on my deep sixes. But I can't find a good summer performance tire in that size and I do not know if they would fit all around without rubbing somewhere. I am not willing to risk a paint blister anywhere on my car for a tiny bit larger tire. I am certainly not going to be trimming the fender lips or rolling the fenders.

Pete, I ran 195-50 for years, street,suto-cross and track. Yokohama's worked great and had a lot of fun. Best, Mark

Thanks again-

I have a 16x6 from my 964 with a 205 on it. It should be within a few mm of the 15x6 Fuchs offset with a 21mm spacer- which I also happen to have. going to throw it on the rears just for kicks and see how it fits. I may take out the spring first and just run it up though the wheel well and see how clearance changes as it goes though the full range of motion.

Pete

I've never had a clearance issue with 195/65-15 with the correct ET wheels.

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Road grip was fine too, but I had 100hp less than you do

For that amount of power, I think I'd want the widest tires that I could stuff under the fenders. And I'd give some consideration to making subtle modifications to the fenders to fit even wider rubber.

205-60/15 at a minimum. Fortunately that's a popular size for Miatas, so it's pretty widely available in a variety of grippy compounds.

--DD

I snuck a set of 215/60R15s into stock(ish) rear fenders on a real Fuchs 911R 15x7. It fit, but I was going to need to relocate the hard brake lines and pull the fenders at least a bit so the tire could "walk" under dynamic loads. But it looked…doable.

My tire odyssey here; post #35 for the 215/60 on a 15x7R under stock fenders (lips rolled, but not much):
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...39516&st=20

Harvey Weidman made a set of 16x7s that were said to allow 225/50R16s into stock rear fenders (I think they were tweaked, at least a little). That 914 belonged to a member here, and it looked like it indeed worked.
http://www.retromodcars.com/features/sleep...es-a-993-engine




^ True that. How I wish there was a proper high-performance tire in 205/60R15…

With that said, what's nice about getting set up for 215/60R15s is that size was used on a ton of performance Porsches and so there are choices…and it's a decent bet that there will continue to be choices.

One thing to remember: Our cars are at least partly hand-built, and they vary from car to car. And also from side to side on the same car!! Typically, one rear fender will have more clearance than the other, but it isn't always the same side that is narrower.

That's why you need to check with your actual car, rather than blindly relying on what has worked for someone else.

--DD