Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

I'm planning in changing my wheels on my S2 and need advice about the correct offset. I tried a set of wheels recently, and as the offset was incorrect (other dimensions were fine) the wheels wouldn't fit, surprise surprise.
So can anyone tell me the correct figure, or maybe the range of figures that is correct for an S2 please?
The currently fitted wheels are the Silver Rose forged alloy wheels with the much wider tyre that go with this design, fitted by the previous owner. Apart from looking slightly dated in my opinion, I also feel they increase the tramlining, and maybe give the car too much grip at the expense of feel. Does anyone have any views on this?
Also, what might these Silver Rose wheels and tyres, all in reasonablly good condition, be worth, say, on eBay, ball park figure?
I think that getting a modern wheel style is one of the easiest ways of improving the look of your car, and getting the corect wheell size / tyre size / tyre brand is one of the cheapest ways of improving the way your Porsche drives. What are your views, as I would love to hear them?
Cheers, Iain

Correct offset dependant on where they come from & which end is 47-52. I suspect if they were miles out they were from a pre-ABS car which is pre 86.
Personally I like the D90s, not keen on the more modern spoked wheels at all, Boxster etc. Although I do like the BBS & the more race type wheels, although A. They're all mega bucks & B. they are all bigger than 17" which I don't want to exceed.
For a short while I ran 225 fronts which is turbo size & the steering was horrible, heavy & sticky, it tramlined as well. Going back to the 205/55 x 16 fronts improved it no end.
What the wheels worth, not sure TBH the Silver Rose wheels may appeal to someone but they're not significantly different to D90s unless you know what you're looking at.

S2's are 16"x7" offset 52 fronts 16"x8" offset 55 rear.

Tramlineing is usualy down to alignment. 4 wheel laser alignment should sort it out. Well it worked on mine.

I liked my D90's a lot more when I had them painted black.

The old girl is sat on a set of 18" turbo twists whilst the D90's are being re-done and I think they look really old fashioned on her.

I don't care what anyone says about, larger than standard wheels and how to cure tramlining. A car will always handle and have a better ride on factory spec wheels.

the factory knows best, the don't spend millions developing a car just for some oik to put big wheels on it

Hi Lidnsay, I assume that the 'oik' you were refering to was my car's previous owner and not me. I've never suggested in putting bigger than standard wheels on my car. Thanks for you view.

Good point well made Sean. D90's painted black do improve the look. Thanks for the offset info.

A 4 wheel laser alignment is part of the plan. It will be interesting to see just how different the car will drive afterwards. A lot hopefully. Thanks for your view JJ.

My present front tyres are 225s also, so am lookking at reducing this to 205s whilst keeping 16" ( not the behaviour of an 'oik' Lindsay) so I'll probably experience similar results as you TR7V8. Thanks for your speel too.

Hi Sean,
Could you just confirm that the offsets are front plus 52 and rear plus 50, both being positive, neither negative offsets.
Thanks, Iain

I assume they are positive no -mark in front of the numbers.

Yup positive, it's explained here:-

http://www.raceandroad.com/offset.asp

sorry if this sounded like a dig (it wasn't meant too) but if a car manufacturer spends all that money developing a car then they should know best, saying that the 924 started on 14"s then the early 944 had 15"s the S2 had 16"s and the 968 had 17"s so take your pick

......and don't forget the 968 Turbo S came on 18" speedlines from the factory.

All the same chassis, and to a lesser extent almost the same suspension components.

Hi guys,

Thanks for the info. Yes, I agree, the offsets are both positiive. Reading a line from the link from tr7v8 (sorry, don't know your name) when referring to negative offsets 'this is not common.' I did a bit of research into the subject too. Isn't google great?

Sean, one more question. I like your idea of painting a set of D90's. Have you had yours done professionally by a refurbishment company, and if so do you have a name of the company and a rough cost of refurbishment and painting please? Thanks in advance

Here's a view / question for discussion. Within reason, (I don't mean being silly here or oikish) the diameter of a wheel is irrelevant, as long as you get the external diameter of the tyre correct, and tyre width, all the geometry etc will still be correct. (Opps, nearly forgot, must use the correct wheel offset too.) The difference of the wheel diameter would be taken up with altering the tyre profile, which of course has both advantages and disadvantages.

Any views . . . . .

I used a company called BJV engineering http://www.wheelrefurbishing.com/pricelist.htm. They will paint them pretty much any colour you wish and I also had the rim diamond polished. They do a decent job for the money and are sensible when it comes to after sales problems.



You can fit wider wheels tyres with narrower offsets but will need shims to keep the aspect ratio correct.

I wouldn't advise using the tyre width alone to deal with the shortfall as the tyre walls won't give the support needed at speed or load.

I much prefer the feel of the cabby on stock wheels than the modern look the 18" GT3 rims gave.
I think form over function is the correct phrase to use.

Local refurbs are from £35 per wheel, do a lot of trade stuff, to Lepsons who are the dogs danglies at £75 per wheel.
Important thing about changing wheels as you talk about is sidewall stiffness of the tyre. The lower the profile the stiffer the tyre & this is what gives tight handling. Lower profiles generally give a worse ride.