[wmuldowney]

I need to get new wheels and tires. I am on the fence about 17 vs 18's (leaning towards the 17's) but open to suggestions. I have read a lot of posts and most people favor 17 for ride and 18 for handling/looks.

My question is: What would your tire size recommendation be for the 17's and/or the 18's

Also if you have an opinion, I would love to hear it. I

Side note: If I do some racing in the future I will get a second setup for that, these will be for street/daily driving.

18's 8.5" front 10" rear

17's 7" front 9" rear

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[flash]

ups and downs to both setups - i am wrestling with this very problem

<b>17s</b>
ups - lighter weight - more comfortable ride - less expensive tires - could run 9" rims all around with same offset which would allow rotation

downs: less grip in the rear - sidewall flex would make the car less stable at the edge of the envelope - not as attractive

<b>18s</b>
ups - better grip in the rear due to the ability to run a 10" rim with a 285 - look great - phenomenal turn in and stability

downs - heavier than i want, robbing me of acceleration - expensive tires - cannot rotate - adds stress to front suspension components - cannot track safely without upgrading spindles and hubs

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[rhudeboye]

Amazing the difference an inch makes

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[RPM]

17's - "not as attractive"

Subjective to be sure. Some 18s look too big and upset the nice balance of the car's design.

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[flash]

agreed - unfortunately all of the 17s i have seen that i like are too heavy - i may just have to bit the bullet though - my tires are aging out and i have to make a decision soon

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[968gene]

Carrera 9's (9x 18 BBS) work all the way around 996.362.138 and are lighter than the 9x17 (dare I say it..) Cup I's.

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[Fox944]

i wish there was a set of 18" wheels that i liked and are lighter then mine. Everything i like better (styling wise) is heavier then what i have now. They are all more expensive as well. (bangs head)

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[MC968CS]

Does anyone know the weights of these in 17 or 18"? http://www.forgeline.com/products/competit...eries/zx3r.html

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[94SilverCab]

Probably easier to call them and ask...

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[Willem968RS]

I don't read anything about the advantage of better traction with 17’s.. On track (and street for that matter) you can use more gears if you run 17's because the smaller wheel/tire size gives you more revs at the same speed!
On a track with short straights, you use also the 5th gear and have more gears to choose from coming out of the different corners..

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[flash]

not true at all

to get more revs per mile you need to have an outside diameter smaller than stock - the 16s with stock tires are exactly the same outside diameter as 17s with their stock tires, and the same as my 18s with the sizes i have (all are 25")

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[craigawoodman]

The gearing depends on the overall rolling circumference of the tyre (in part the overlal diameter of the tyre). That is why, when you go up in width, you go down in profile.

The tyre nomenclature is pretty easy to read once you know how - 285/30ZR18 means, 285millimetres wide, 30% of width is the height of the sidewall, Z or other letter is the speed rating of the tyre, R is radial and the last number is the rim diameter in inches.

Manufacturers quote overall diameter so you can compare. Not all tyres are the same either. Even though they quote that they are 285's or 255's, you will find one will work and one might touch the guard - depends on mold, tyre sidewall strength, etc.

I run 18's on the car (I still have the OEM 17's). 235's on the front plus 285's on the rear. Grip is excellent along with overall balance of the car.

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[Darth Vadar]

Just my 2 cents... I struggled between 17 and 18 inch wheels for my 94 968 and after reading some of Flash's posts on the subject, I started looking closely at weight for the packages... bottom line I just could not justify the higher weight of the 18" packages!!

So I picked a 7.5 x 17 front and 9 x 17 rear in the Cup4 hollow spoke wheel, and went with the Dunlop Z1's in 225/45 and 255/40 sizes, and they turned out to be for me at least, a fantastic package! Super handling and performance, without feeling heavy or lumpy, and they look nice too!

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[Cloud9...68]

Sharp! I personally think 17" is the optimal wheel diameter, and bemoan the push to ever larger and larger diameter wheels, squeezing out the availability of 17" tires. It's a very unfortunate triumph of form (and even that is subjective) over function.

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