I think most people on this forum try to squeeze every bit of performance out of their machine (within reason). Most of us do so knowing it can cost reliability. However, If I thought putting something on my car would hurt handling and performance, I wouldn't do it. Performance 1st ALWAYS over looks. Especially when you're driving a car with 420+ BHP.

I personally had no idea 19's hurt performance. Now that I know it, I will recommend against.

 

What dont some of you guys understand about how little the difference is in performance, especially with 19's that can be LIGHTER than stock. If you keep the overall diameter the same the car cant tell the difference anyways. So out goes all the destroying the viscous coupling system etc.

Let other people do what they want with their car unless you are going to pay the car note. This has turned into a bash 19's thread, and it's retarded and useless.

 

I would disagree with your 1st sentence, but it's not a big deal. There are people in both camps we would agree. If I wanted PURE performance (especially for the money) I wouldn't have bought a Porsche! I think you would not have bought a Porsche either had you not cared about looks/styling.

Bottom, I currently have about 525hp and just went to 19s from 18s, and while the ride is little rougher (Hell, I live in San Francisco - the ride is harsh no matter what you drive!), I think it is a reasonable trade-off as I don't track the car.

The discussion could also be applied to all kinds of things as far as performance vs. looks is concerned. We aren't all die hard racers around here.

 

Yeah, what he said!

 

Great points - however, I would expect the ride to be rougher, no doubt. Most important thing to me is performance, if I put 19's on mine and felt a hit in performance/handling, especially when pushing close to the limit, It would make me unhappy and I don't think I could except that.

 

I also disagree that most people here try to squeeze all of the performance they can out of their car. The large majority rarely if ever visit a track, most that do will be a drag strip and very small number on the road course.


So if you think 19's on the 996 TT is dumb, and you try and extract all the performance the car has to offer on the street, you bring a whole new meaning to the word DUMB!



(For the record, I've had my share of stupidity on the street as well, so not passing judgement there)

 

There are certain roads with twisties in the midwest I am referring to and not stoplight to stoplight. But of course Ive done my share of dumb stuff on the roads, but that's not the point.

If doing something to your car hurts performance and/or adds weight, it's not something I'd wanna do. That's all I'm saying.

 

This is why I am getting PSS10 coilovers soon.

 

That's fine, but holding it against someone else when if done properly they could get BETTER performance isnt exactly the best idea. I could care less what you do with your car, but judging others for what they do to theirs is a different story. You could put different 18's on the car and add weight. Specifically targeting 19's of which we see lots of 19 inch CCW's and Champions which weight the same less, or negligably more than stock isnt accurate to begin with. You wouldnt lose enough performance to even notice.

And even still you probably arent near the limits on mountain roads. I drive those too and they are no where near the intensity of the track, because if you lose it on the mountains, you plummit to death or serious injury. 19's pale in comparison, not to mention IF DONE PROPERLY have no ill effects and can be beneficial.

This just seems like a thread targeted at making a stupid, vague and pointless arguement to begin with.

 

The shocks and springs are tuned in consideration of the 'spring rate' of
the tire side wall. If you up-size your wheels and keep the same diameter,
you make this sidewall spring rate considerably higher. This means the
tire can absorb less shock, and that will be transferred to your chassis
via the springs and shocks, for a rougher ride.
If the wheels and tires weigh the same and are the same diameter as
the stockers, then the wheels *will* be thinner, and potholes can bend
the wheel shells that the stockers would survive. I have bent lighter-
weight wheels. However, I agree that few of us really push the car to
it's limits. An 18" wheel and tire will be more forgiving in an emergency,
but we have PSM anyway.
Look at all the competitive sports car racing and none of them run
big wheels. Big wheels are for show. In my opinion, the 997s have them
for marketing reasons. But beautiful is not a bad thing, and unless someone
is actually striving for lap times, no one is really approaching the potential
of these cars, and sometimes not even then, so from a practical point
of view it's not going to be much of a difference.

 

I think heavy is right on....JMHO.

 

Joe, extending your argument, can you compensate for the different tire spring rates of 19" setups by using an adjustable suspension like the PSS9?

 

This was not meant to be a thread to bash 19s. I guess I should be clearer with my statements.

If two stock cars have the same aftermarket wheel, one in 18s and the other in 19s, and the drivers race each other from either a rolling start or a standstill, the driver with the car riding on 19s should lose every time. If you are ok with that because the 19s look better fine. I for one am not ok with that. If I wanted looks I would have bought a luxury car. Just my opinion.

 

Sleeper, I will bet you the better driver wins your race scenario as the difference will be very negligible betw the 18s and 19s.

 

I think a GT660 with a better driver could beat a GT700. I guess I should be a little clearer with my statement..

In the case of equal drivers, the driver of the car with the 18s should win every time..