Advise on Fuchs wheels for an early 944

[MZ racer]

Hello

I am interested in changing the wheels on my 1984 944 from the non original 'Cup' wheels shown on the car in this photo to Fuchs. When I bought the car in 1999 it had Cookie cutters, after about 6 months I changed to the replica cups.

My quest is to get the car back to stock, in fact the only non original parts on the car are the wheels and the bee sting roof aerial.

Can anyone confirm the size of Fuchs wheels fitted to a 944 of this age if ordered as a factory option, where they 15"x7" all around, 15"x7" front and 15"x8" rears or 16"x7" all around.

One of the problems with any 15" wheel of this width is getting good quality new tyres at a resonable price, Michelins 185/70 vr15's are around £250.00 each!

In the last couple of days my thoughts have swung to thinking that 16"x7"'s all around might be the way to go, particulary if I was buying new replicas or new Fuchs from Porsche, as quality tyres are resonably priced.

Any advise or first hand experience would be appriciated.

Barrie

 

[TTM]

Hello,

If I understand correctly what's mentioned in the parts catalogue (PET), there was two choices with Fuchs wheels on pre 85 cars :
- 7x15" ET23.3 / 8x15" ET10.6
- 7x16" ET23.3 all round

Aren't 215/60 tyres usually used on original 7x15" wheels these days?
I would need to check but I'm pretty sure this is what my mate is running on his '84... Plenty of decent tyres available in this size at reasonable costs.

 

[Jonny944CS]

Hi Barrie,

Many run the chunky 215/60/15s - I think Porsche recommend the Pirelli P6000 for this size, although the feedback from owners seems to contradict this somewhat...

I run 195/65/15s with 7J Cookie cutters all round for road use. For a quality 'premium' tyre at a reasonable price (around £65 fitted), I can highly recommend the V-rated Continental Premium Contact 2s. I found them to be very quiet, offer plenty of grip in both wet and dry conditions, and have fantastic ride and steering feel. An added bonus came on the scales, they weighed in at over 1kg less (per corner) than my previous 215/60s.

According to my '84 sales brochure the cars were available with 185/70 VR 15s on the cast cookies, or 215/60 on the same rims for £158.22 extra.

As Thom mentioned the UK dealers offered an upgrade to the forged 15" fuchs (7J front and 8J rear) for £748.74 extra. Or if you were feeling particularly flush you could opt for the 7J x 16" with 205/55 VR16 front and 8J x 16" rears with 225/50 VR16s for £1124.99.

 

[MZ racer]

Jonny

This is great information, thank you.

What is your view on 15" v 16" wheels? Do you hear any feed back about replica Fuchs? I am seriously thinking about shooting for some new Fuchs from Porsche, however it is one big chunk of money to have tied up in wheels, the wheels would always have a good resale value if taken care of so that offsets the cost in a way.

Regards

Barrie

 

[Catamax944]

Standard sizes were 7&8 15 and 7&8 16 but you can use any size you want ,in front you can fit from 6" up to 8" and in the rear from 7" up to 9" . I recommend you go with 16" ,you will have a much larger selection of tires for these, and forget about replicas ,get originals . Some replica fuchs can have problems,they cost the same as used originals ,reseale price however is much lower, they are weaker and heavier than originals ,i dont see anything going for them.
Saw these the other day http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PORSCHE-911-FUCHS-WHEELS-TYRES-6-7-x-16-REFURBISHED-/110706641461?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item19c6a14a35
That's a great deal, i want them so bad but i'm too far away []

 

[bmnelsc]

I applaud your efforts to return to stock but as far as 16" tires go - the selection of high performance 16" tires is shrinking rapidly - in North America at least. I have a '91 S2 so standard tires for mine were 205-55/16 and 225-50/16 on 7 & 8 in D90 wheels. N spec tires shorten the list by quite a lot - down to Bridgestone S02 as the Continentals in those sizes don't seem to be available any more (here at least). I ended up with Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Positions and it took over a week to get them ordered in.

IMHO you would do well to review the tires available in your target sizes to ensure you can get the performance capabilities you want at a price you are comfortable with. Availability may affect your wheel decision.

 

[Frenchy]

Go on the TIPEC forum 944 section "Pixie" is selling a set of 15" with the correct offset CW Tyres.
Jim.

 

[944 man]

Sold in February I think?

 

[944 man]

ORIGINAL: Catamax944

Standard sizes were 7&8 15 and 7&8 16 but you can use any size you want ,in front you can fit from 6" up to 8" and in the rear from 7" up to 9" . I recommend you go with 16" ,you will have a much larger selection of tires for these, and forget about replicas ,get originals . Some replica fuchs can have problems,they cost the same as used originals ,reseale price however is much lower, they are weaker and heavier than originals ,i dont see anything going for them.
Saw these the other day  http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PORSCHE-911-FUCHS-WHEELS-TYRES-6-7-x-16-REFURBISHED-/110706641461?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item19c6a14a35
That's a great deal, i want them so bad but i'm too far away []

Theyre being sold by Steve Cheetham. Lodge Sports disappeared years ago really, but he seems to be ramping it up again, now that wheel clampings days are numbered...[]