which tyres and tyre pressure queries

[aporschefan]

The tyres on my car (944t) are as follows:

Fronts - 205/50/17
Rears - 255/40/17

Existing tyres are Pirelli Asimmetrico N2. I find the tyre extremely noisy. Also, i'm presuming the compound is relatively hard on these tyres.

Can someone suggest what is a good all round tyre? Something grippy, not too noisy, long lasting etc.

Also, what's the correct tyre pressure for this size?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Lowtimer]

What wheel widths are you using front and rear? Are they by any chance 911 wheels?
You have an unusually large difference between width of tyre front and rear.

If I were using 17" wheels, I would go straight out for the new Conti SportContact3. They've just won this years big group test in EVO, which pleased me since a few months ago I put a set of them in 225/45 17 on my BMW. They are extremely good, wet and dry: smooth comfy, grippy and quiet.

 

[aporschefan]

These were the tyres on the car when I bought it so cannot comment on the difference in size between front and rear.

I'm a complete novice at these things so can you advise how I can check the width?

As per my initial post, I thought the width is:

Fronts - 205
Rear - 255

 

[Lowtimer]

That's the width of the tyres, not the width of the wheels.

The width of the wheels will be cast on the insides of the rims. A standard 944 Turbo is on either 7" or 7.5" wide fronts, and either 8" or 9" wide rears. The width is marketd as a J size, and the offset is usually shown as well. So you should find a raised marking saying something like "7.5J ET 50" inside each rim.

The best tyre sizes for your car will depend on what wheel widths are fitted. if you have 17" 968 wheels, for instance, they are (I believe) 7.5J front and 9J rear. if you have those I would expect your car to be on 225/45 fronts and 255/40 rears. But if you are on 911 wheels you might have narrower front wheels.

 

[Copperman05]

I believe 951 tyres should be 225 front and 245 rear depending on what wheels are fitted, the S2 (and possibly early turbo) had 205 and 225.

Your 205 - 255 setup may induce understeer as the rear of the car will have significantly more grip than the front. Often people will fit bigger tyres for looks more than anything without thinking about how it will affect the cars handling.

Having said that I've now changed my S2 tyres to 225 front 245 rear (an equal increase front and rear) and the car appears much more planted.

 

[aporschefan]

Thanks for clarifying Lowtimer.

I'll check in the morning re the width of the wheel. I think the wheels are 911 gt3 wheels but am not 100% sure. Will (try to) upload a picture tomorrow.

 

[aporschefan]

Bearing in mind the current tyre size and assuming these will not change any time soon, what would you suggest is the correct tyre pressure?

 

[Copperman05]

Most run 36psi front and rear it would seem.

Edd

 

[Mike_Pollock]

I run 2.0 Bar front and 2.5 Bar rear on 205/55x16 and 225/50x16 with 7" and 8" rims - as per my manual -makes a change for me to say that!

 

[Lowtimer]

ORIGINAL: Copperman05

I believe 951 tyres should be 225 front and 245 rear depending on what wheels are fitted, the S2 (and possibly early turbo) had 205 and 225.

All correct for 16" wheels in 7J/8J or 7.5J/9J respectively

ORIGINAL: Copperman05
Having said that I've now changed my S2 tyres to 225 front 245 rear (an equal increase front and rear) and the car appears much more planted.

Funnily enough I've just taken the wide wheels off my late Turbo and now have it on S2 wheels with 205/55 16 and 225/50 16 tyres, same sizes as the early Turbo fit, in search of greater fluidity and sensitivity. Also, there are far more good quality tyres available as a complete set of four in those staggered sizes than in the late Turbo sizes.

 

[aporschefan]

Again, pardon my ignorance but would fitting 235 front and keeping 255 on the rear reduce the impact of under steer?

This is assuming its possible to do so?

 

[Frenchy]

I have Conto Contact 3 on the Turbo 225/255 no probs so far but not a lot of miles on them, i will be fitting 245/225 on the Fuch that i have for my 220 7J/8J. i run about 32 allround, to the OP tyre sizes need changed when you fit new.

 

[aporschefan]

Frenchy, bearing in mind what Copperman05 said re under steer and an equal increase front and rear, do you feel the under steer?

 

[bakerloid]

Interesting this thread popped up, I'm currently changing wheels/tyres at the moment...

I've recently bought a set of BBS Sport Classic 17" rims, to replace the turbo technology 18"s, which are far too big for the car! I can't wait to get the smaller, much lighter wheels fitted. The tyres currently on the 18"s are Falken F452s all round (225 front, 265 rear) - whilst I know there are perceived as more budget than the continentals, pirellis, bridgestones out there, I would probably describe them as good tyres for the money. Not a lot of wear considering, not particularly noisy and plenty of grip (I've managed to stop pretty effectively on occasions anyway!). Probably not the best in the wet, but I couldn't categorically say that was the tyre, possibly more related to the incorrect wheel specs for the car.

The only downside about the new wheels is that they're on 7j upfront, compared to 7.5j on the old wheels. Generally it seems norm to have 205 width tyres on 7 inch rims, which is a little bit of a shame, as 225 upfront was quite nice in terms of stopping power when you need it! Does anyone have any experiences (good or bad) with regards to running tyre widths larger that 205 on 7 inch wheels, say 215 or 225? I'd like the idea on keeping the extra width upfront on the new wheels, but at the same time don't want to do anything silly like putting oversized rubber on wheels that aren't designed for it...

Sorry for slightly hijacking this thread...

 

[bakerloid]

Following on from my last post, and getting back on topic a bit, I normally have 35psi in the fronts and about 40psi in the rear on my current setup (18", 225/265).

 

[aporschefan]

ORIGINAL: Frenchy

I have Conto Contact 3 on the Turbo 225/255 no probs so far but not a lot of miles on them, i will be fitting 245/225 on the Fuch that i have for my 220 7J/8J. i run about 32 allround, to the OP tyre sizes need changed when you fit new.

I'm most likely going to be changing all 4 tyres in Feb hence the questions...

 

[Frenchy]

Nope,
Do not feel any understeer as such, seems to be a bigger than usual stagger in your tyre sizes, another one here for Falkens, i have them on my Passatt daily.

 

[Mike_Pollock]

ORIGINAL: bakerloid

Following on from my last post, and getting back on topic a bit, I normally have 35psi in the fronts and about 40psi in the rear on my current setup (18", 225/265).

My '89 manual (Has 2.7, S2, and Turbo in it) 2.7 says - 2.0B Front 2.5B Rear but for the S2 and Turbo it 2.5B F and R.

It also shows S2 tyres Front 205/55 16 on 7" rims and rear 225/50 16 on 8" rims
and Turbo 225/50 16 on 7" rims and 245/45 16 on 9" rims

 

[Copperman05]

225 tyres on 7' rims are fine it would seem, no issues with mine, slightly bulbus though...

The falkens are a great tyre for the money, I've recently switched to Bridgestone Potenza S02's N3 which are one of the few high performance tyres left in our sizes and still made in N3 guise, def a step up from the falkens wet and dry but for vfm the 452's cant be beat...

Edd

 

[zcacogp]

ORIGINAL: Lowtimer

ORIGINAL: Copperman05
Having said that I've now changed my S2 tyres to 225 front 245 rear (an equal increase front and rear) and the car appears much more planted.

Funnily enough I've just taken the wide wheels off my late Turbo and now have it on S2 wheels with 205/55 16 and 225/50 16 tyres, same sizes as the early Turbo fit, in search of greater fluidity and sensitivity.

Funnily enough, those are my thoughts as well; the S2 is possibly a little over-tyred as standard and I'd hesitate before putting even more rubber on it. Bear in mind that tyres work best when they are fully warmed up to their optimum operating temperature, and this is done by working them hard. The S2 isn't the most powerful car out there, and the larger the tyres the more power (and effort) you need to get them up to this temperature.

I've seriously considered trying some tyres that are a little smaller than standard on my S2 to try and make it a smidge more nimble (although I don't even know whether this is possible.)


Oli.