I may have saved myself $$$ by adding an inch. (Tire sizes for the 944 turbo)

I've had new tires in the back of my mind for awhile now (good tread but like 5-6-7yrs old).  As they sit, the options are limited and expensive, the joys of 16" wheels and staggered sizes.

Right now it has 225/50-16 front and 245/45-16 rear.  The 7 options range in price from $965 to $1200 for a set, and some aren't even in stock.

If I change the rear to 245/50-16 my choices get much cheaper.  A Riken Raptor ZR A/S set goes for $423...

Considering the type of driving I plan for this (weekend cruiser, occasionally to work, maybe a fun-run autocross) I feel like this is big savings.  I had some version of Raptor on the Abarth for awhile when I was low on funds but needed tires, they weren't terrible.  I know these are all-seasons but think that's ok.

Is it worth the 1" height and 0.5" sidewall to save quite a bit of cash?

You're comparing an off brand budget tire to the hottest 200tw autocross tire made today. That's not a fair cross shopping. 

I put the Michelin Pilot Exalto on my 944S2 in 205/55/16 and 225/50/16. I think they make the 245 size as well because it's the "vintage inspired" tire for late 80s cars.

In reply to Javelin :

The only other option that wasn't race-only and in-stock was a $1200 set of Pirelli's.  Just looked at TR and those 2 sizes are all they offer.

In reply to Javelin :

Even in the Yoko, it's over $100 less to go with the narrower tires v/s the wide-in-the-rear, though.

Oh, wait, maybe I misunderstood the sizes.... 

In reply to Jerry :

I'd rather have better narrower tires than worse wider ones. You're right though, that 245 size has disappeared. 

In reply to Javelin :

Unfortunately the pricing for a set of 4 narrower tires would be almost the same as the Advan's in my screenshot in the right size.

I’m running the Yokohama A008P on the 911 and am very, very happy–the right performance and looks for these cars.

I see that Tire Rack notes that the fronts are out of stock but will provide a delivery date once the order is placed. Did you call them to get a better idea on shipping? I recently got that same noticed on some brake lines. So I called Tire Rack. In the end, the delay was like a week or so. 

I did the same thing on my Conquest, 245/45R16 to 245/50R16 in the rear. The difference in height isn't really noticeable and the savings were significant. I went with the General GMAX RS. Only put on a few hundred miles so far, but they don't seem to suck.

David S. Wallens said:

I’m running the Yokohama A008P on the 911 and am very, very happy–the right performance and looks for these cars.

I see that Tire Rack notes that the fronts are out of stock but will provide a delivery date once the order is placed. Did you call them to get a better idea on shipping? I recently got that same noticed on some brake lines. So I called Tire Rack. In the end, the delay was like a week or so. 

+1 for 008's.... the looks alone. I'm putting them on my mini (64) and hope to find a set appropriate for 14's for the mg. 

If you're upsizing the rear tires you should upsize the fronts similarly or you're going to get a weird rake and mismatched fender gaps.

When you said "add an inch" I thought you were going to be talking about switching to 17" wheels. Did you consider that at all, or are you going for keeping it stock as much as possible? The initial cost might be a bit more but you'll have way more options than any 16" tires and the shorter sidewalls will look better and probably drive better too.

In reply to dps214 :

I really considered going up to 17" but the Porsche fitment seems less popular than 16" tires.  Unless I missed something.  (If this were my typical MR2/Miata/Subaru I would likely just go to 17" and a wheel/tire combo from TR sent to my work.)

Just get a set of 17" wheels.  Most of the stock/OEM Porsche wheels will bolt right on, I ran a set of Cup2's on my old 951.  They looked and fit perfectly and there are TONS of 17" tire choices out there

Run it. For what you are doing, the raptors wont blow goats. 

I run federal 595ss in similar applications 

Teh E36 M3 said:

David S. Wallens said:

I’m running the Yokohama A008P on the 911 and am very, very happy–the right performance and looks for these cars.

I see that Tire Rack notes that the fronts are out of stock but will provide a delivery date once the order is placed. Did you call them to get a better idea on shipping? I recently got that same noticed on some brake lines. So I called Tire Rack. In the end, the delay was like a week or so. 

+1 for 008's.... the looks alone. I'm putting them on my mini (64) and hope to find a set appropriate for 14's for the mg. 

Oh, yeah, the A008s look the business. I ran them back in the day and I ran them on my Mini. :) 

Saving money and a 944 turbo seems difficult.  That said my last 944 turbo had some Hankooks.  On my last 944, I put 17" boxster wheels which fit perfectly and allowed for more tire choices.  On my 944 S2, I sold it with Techart 17s that I got from the Netherlands.  The kid that bought the car never paid me for the wheels either....  It had the stockers on it and he didn't like them.  I gave him the Techarts on his word he'd pay me back for them.  Well about 4 years later and still nada. 

Coker should have the Michelin SX MXX3 in that size, too, but it’s not your value buy. (They would look the business, though.)

I'm curious how wide your 16" wheels are? Is the stagger enough that you would notice a slight stretch on the rear running 225/50R16 all around? I thought these 944 things were supposed to be perfectly balanced, why the stagger if that is the case?

adam525i said:

I'm curious how wide your 16" wheels are? Is the stagger enough that you would notice a slight stretch on the rear running 225/50R16 all around? I thought these 944 things were supposed to be perfectly balanced, why the stagger if that is the case?

If I remember right, 255/50r16 is a might fit size. Its a little tight depending on your offset/ride height/how Otto hung the fenders. Weirdly, 255s are cheaper than 245s, and I have been eying up that move, but I am worried that my 140hp is really not going to like pushing around that much rubber and it wont make me any faster on track. 

Two tire sizes are listed for my Silverado - of course I have the smaller size.  I bought BFG KO2's for it 50,000 miles ago. 

Current pricing at the big guys website. 

LT255/70R17 - $231.00 each

LT265/70R17 - $266.00 each

That's a $140 adder plus tax so Bohemian Pete stayed with the smaller size.  

In reply to adam525i :

If I remember correctly these Cup wheels are 7" and 9".  If I could find some decent 17" wheels I would be tempted, I'm indifferent to these Cup wheels I've been told are valuable/collectable.

Jerry said:

In reply to adam525i :

If I remember correctly these Cup wheels are 7" and 9".  If I could find some decent 17" wheels I would be tempted, I'm indifferent to these Cup wheels I've been told are valuable/collectable.

A 205/55R16 is the right size for the 7" front and a 225/50R16 would be slightly stretched on the 9" rear but nothing too crazy. A 225/50R16 though on the 7" front seems pinched to me. I'd do the 205 front and 225 rear (in fact I do on my 7" and 8" staggered 16" BBS RS on my e28, I run a square 225/50R16 though for track and autocross on 16" x 8" wheels), you'll have lots of tires choices and it should be pretty affordable. 

If you can move up to a 17" wheel you like more and get a decent amount back for your current 16" wheels that could be a good move. You'll get even better tire selection but prices will be slightly higher for those tires.

This guy is fairly local (~1-1.5hrs) with 15" phone dial wheels that I don't hate.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/873017390646504

But just realized they might be the early offset and need spacers.

I've been on 16s since 2015 and I wish I wasn't. The performance options are quite limited and the prices are worse than 17s. But, we're intoGerman cars with weird wheel fitment so he we sit 

In reply to Jerry :

I put the Riken Raptor on my Veloster in March because my son wanted to do an HPDE with me.  I wanted stiff sidewalls, but not sticky as I wanted him to learn car control skills at a slower speed. After lots laps on the track (4 days) and 6 months on the street, I have to say that they are still doing quite well!  I plan on putting them on the 951 which has about 10 year old tires currently.  My usage for the tires will be exactly like yours, but probably with a few HPDEs instead of autox. 245 40 17 front and 275 40 17 rear.  Rolled fenders, but sweet fit.