2006 C4S Wheels for winter

[dstrimbu]

Hi Gang:

I'm real close to buying a 2006 C4S. Stock tires are 235/35-19 front, 305/30-19 rear. Rims are 19x8 front, 19x11 rear.

Is there an 18" rim fitment that will work for winter tires on this car? Brake clearance is issue #1, proper offset is issue #2. The 18" solution is much more cost effective - but I'm not going to kludge it under any circumstances!

I defer to the experts... recommendations?

Thanks in advance for any help!

-don

[19hole]

Check www.tirerack.com. They have an 18" solution that will work.

[dstrimbu]

Check www.tirerack.com. They have an 18" solution that will work.

19 - would you consider using spacers with the 18s? The TireRack package is 265mm rear width - 17mm spacers would make it look right...

Thoughts?

[19hole]

In the winter looks are not my prime concern. Nasty weather performance is the only thing I care about. The looks are a choice that you need to make based on how "funny" you think the narrower snows will look.

Good Luck!!!!

[CoochasTT]

I bought the Tire Rack package 18" Mille Miglia III rims with 235 front and 265 rears. As mentioned above, the rear should probably get a spacer.

Here is a photo chronicle of my snow wheels on my 997 C4S:

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/show...ad.php?t=245937

I am either going to put on H&R 14mm or Porsche 17 mm spacers to make it look more proper.

The tires are fine but we have not had any serious snow yet!!!

[dstrimbu]

Dave, I'm assuming you'll need new lugs with those spacers?

Saw your posts and your site - fantastic! Thank you!

-don

[CoochasTT]

Dave, I'm assuming you'll need new lugs with those spacers?

Saw your posts and your site - fantastic! Thank you!

-don

I'm going with the Porsch 17mm set which comes with its own lug nuts (spacer bolts to hub, wheel over spacer's bolts secured with nuts). I might put them on tomorrow if I have time - I'll post pics.

The H&R spacers require aftermarket bolts (Boothe, Wheel Enhancement) OR freeing the bowl shaped captive washer from the stock bolts to use with H&R bolts.

Thanks for looking at my site too!

[CoochasTT]

I have now added spacers to the rears. I was originally going to place H&R 14 mm spacers in the rear however this would have necessitated cutting off the captive washer from my OEM bolts for use with the H&R longer bolts or buying aftermarket longer bolts (e.g. Boothe or Wheel Enhancement). I decided that although a bit pricier I would go with the Porsche 17 mm rear spacer set (Tequipment 996) which most dealers sell for about $300-350 but Suncoast sells for $250.

The spacers went on easily and I think that the 17 mm increased track makes the snow tires look a little more ‘stock’. There was no noticeable difference in my brief test drive today (no vibration tested to 90 mph).

Here is my photo chronicle:

The Porsche 17 mm spacers come with 10 black nuts. The spacer then mounts to the wheel hub using the original wheel bolts. The wheel then secures to the spacer using the black nuts. BTW, these nuts are so far inside the wheel that you don’t notice them.

The weather is dark and rainy today so please excuse the gloomy garage pics. The shot on the left here shows the snow tires after I first put them on (no spacers). The shot on the right is after adding the 17 mm spacers.

The shot on the left here is pre-spacer while the shot on the right is post-spacer. The easiest way to compare the offset is by looking at the tire tread in relation to the wet/sand marks on the garage floor both pre- and post-.

Thanks again to Damon at Tire Rack. Now if it will just snow in Boston I’ll be able to report on how it handles in the deep stuff!