Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

I am looking at replacing the four tyres on my 1982 Porsche 944. The car has no power steering and currently has 215/60 VR 15 tyres all round. Mix of Pirelli P6 and P600. I am told the car has been standing for a long time and the tyres were put on in 1988!
Couple of questions:

Does anyone have a recommendation on brand or tyre type for replacing all four as it currently feels a bit square and vibrates at speed.

I also wasn't sure if the front tyres should be slightly narrower as the technical manual has sizes from 185 up to 225 for the model year. Any suggestions or experianeces would be appreciated.

Richard
944 2.5 lux

Richard

Do NOT drive it unless you absolutely have to. If the tyres really are that old you are sitting on a ticking time bomb!

For tyres you could do worse than an online supplier e.g. http://www.blackcircles.com. These places give you a price for both mail order or for fitting included.

Regards,
Adam

If the tyres are that old they are shot and age cracking ought to be evident in the side walls and possibly micro cracking in the bottom of the tread pattern. Not illegal, I believe, unless structural fibres showing, but bl**dy dangerous to my way of thinking.

Have a close look at the side walls. The date of manufacture is there. On a Pirelli you ought to find an oval recess with numbers in it. Prior to 2000 I think the coding went XX/XXXX which designated the month followed by the year. I think after 2000 it went to XX/XX which again meant month and year.

I've checked the tyres as mentioned. They are all 1988 and although not too crazed or perished, there are some signs of light cracking. I only gave the car a hard run when I test drove it and thought then that new tyres would be the way to go.
Won't be doing any major runs til there all replaced which gives me a few days to work over the rest of the car in preparation for the summer!!

Richard

Hi, just wanted to pick up on the issue of tyre size for the 944 lux - I noticed the same thing in the manual - that you could have 185/15s or 225/15s which I thought sounded like a big difference between sizes for the same wheels? Or have I missed something? I have standard 15in cookie cutters so what would the best tyre size on these be?

many thanks,
George
85 944 lux

George

You would normally only fit 225s if you have 16" rims fitted, as the rears will then be big enough to accomodate those tyres.

As you have the teledials (15") you're looking at either 195/65 R15s or 215/60 R15s.

I had 215/60s on mine (before I 'upgraded' to 16" rims) and i didn't care for them - too baloon-like if you catch me drift.
I think from looking at other cars the 195s look better and in fact are slightly lower (see profiles above).

Hope that helps.

Yes thanks that helps, I think Someone fitted some 205s all the way round, so I'll know not to replace them with that size, BTW I've got Cookie Cutters rather than teledials, but I guess that makes no difference to what you're saying? Are you saying 195s feel and handle better on these rims?

Thanks
George

The tyres you want depend on the width of your wheels. I'm afraid I am not familiar with the cookie cutters Are they 7" wide? If they are the same tyres should apply.

205s would probably be ok to be fair, but seek advice from a pro, or even better: porsche themselves; 205s all 'round is not a standard setup as far as I know.

Not sure on the way the car would feel on 195s but I suspect a little more nimble but less grippy, if that makes sense. Steering should feel lighter for example. I seem to recall that one of the cars I test-drove before buying mine had 195s and it felt fine.

I have 205s on the front and 225s at rear, on 16" D90s. What I will say is that this combo feels to me more understeer-friendly at times.
Of course the right wheel tyre/combo can easily be 'thrown off' by suspension that has crept out of alignment (something I need to look at on mine soon).

I've got Mich Pilots on 225 frt & 245 rears, 17",...I need to fit the 968 CASTOR bush mod to help with the tramling & get a four wheel algn. Would be interested in the difference on a std set up ??

Derrick

I think those are turbo profiles. i would suspect it is overkill for a lux (assuming that yours is not an S2). Have you uprated suspension and brakes too by any chance?

Adam

no ..it needs it though ..

I think those are turbo profiles. i would suspect it is overkill for a lux (assuming that yours is not an S2). Have you uprated suspension and brakes too by any chance?

Adam

Thanks for all the input.
There is a larger choice of tyres when you go for 195/65/15. (215/60/15 seem quite limited in production but there is choice if you look around)
My car is a very early model and without power steering, the 215 fronts make for some muscle building steering at slow speed. Fine once you get going.
I wondered if anyone has experience of 195 fronts with 215 rears?
Obviously differing size treads were common on later models and wondered if possible for an earlier model?

Richard

i think the reason porsche changed to 16's from 15's was to reduce the sidewall height and therefore reduce the "rolling" of the tyre sidewall and increasing the grip, the change from 7 inch all round to 7 and 8 inch would also give a more neutral handling car

Ive got cookie cutters with 215/60/15 all round.Also no power steering,you dont need it once you re rolling but parking is very physical to say the least!My fronts are Goodyear Eagles ,very good but getting due for replacement.I thought I might try some Falkens which everyone seems to be talking about when they become available that is. As regards old tyres I bought an 11 year old Volvo estate 8 years ago and it still had the original spare in the back.Jack never been used etc. so I stuck it on the rear offside wheel as that was low on tread and it matched up pretty well with the n/s rear. Late for work one evening I pushed it up to 85 and the "new" tyre blew out and did a lot of damage to the bodywork as the tread came off and flailed around.Bloody glad it wasnt on the front!