Welcome to Part 4 of our grand FactoryTwoFour Porsche Backdate Build! In January 2015 we started a series on the broken bolts and knuckles of this project as we turn our Miami Vice 80's Porsche into a unicorn 1972 RS 2.7. As the project comes to a close we are re-running all the past updates so you can stay up to speed. This installment is sponsored by Yokohama Tire.
The FactoryTwoFour Porsche backdate build is still in an ugly state of affairs as all the drivetrain and suspension work gets buttoned up. Now that our 911 can stop on an X and navigate speed bumps without snapping my spine, it’s time to throw on some new rims and tires to give the car that aggressive stance that it needs.
The first step in that process is wheels. Our 1988 911 Carrera came from the factory with 16 inch Fuchs wheels when it was first sold in New Jersey. It has worn those hoops ever since. To give our Porsche a more aggressive stance while also giving us a wider tire in the rear, we threw on a pair of 17 inch replica Fuchs from Euromeister, and moved our original rears up front (the stock rears were wider than the fronts). All said, we’ve gained inches of tire contact all around and we should have better luck sticking to the road now. But tire choice will also be key for that as well.
Even for car people, tires are an especially dorky and esoteric subject. Compounds, widths, tread patterns, and speed ratings are all the kind of subjects that will bore a normally-adjusted human faster than televised golf. There are only so many online forum posts that can be read before the mind turns to wet sand, so FactoryTwoFour reached out to the very friendly people at Yokohama Tire and asked them to hold our soft and feeble hands.
While we have chosen to keep our humanity by ignoring the finer details of sidewall construction, the crew at Yokohama laugh in the face of that decision and we’re glad they did. We walked them through our sizes (16 and 17 inch rims), the intended use of our 911 (spirited canyon carving on the weekend), the driving conditions (Los Angeles with rain appearing about 4 times year) and the color (black!) I guess? Miraculously, instead of laughing at us, they patiently teased actually useful information out of us and recommended a decent side profile (/50 front, /40 rear) and tire width (225 front, 255 rear). Because this car will only see occasional use and because we have the spirit of Top Gun leading our decisions, we asked for a just-shy-of-race-spec tire. In black of course. Yokohama recommended their Advan Neova series, and we were not about to argue.
Now we’ve got the aggressive stance from the outsized rear wheels, and we’ve got super sticky rubber all around. We’ve got to fine tune the ride height for that proper punk rock look, but now it’s time to shift gears and start the physical backdate. We’re on the hunt for ’73 Porsche bumpers and body panels as our project enters the aesthetic phase. Stay tuned…
If you would like to follow the nitty gritty details of this build, they are posted on a Porsche technical forum here.