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procon · Joined: 22 May 2004 Posts: 326 Location: WNC

I'm currently running P195/70R14 Pirelli P-500's on stock wheels & it's about time to get the old girl some new shoes.
Any opinions on size & brands?

Also, My speedo pegs at 85 mph.
Anyone know the speed of a stock 1980 924 in 5th gear at 4400 rpm?

kike924 · Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2004 12:58 am Post subject:

I had the same tyres on my car, I switched to the original size 185HR14 Continental (german brand) and I´m pleased with them.
My car is the same age as yours and it is good for 6000 rpm in 5th gear wich means 126 mph.
I have tested it on a Highway with very little traffic and a GPS
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Euro 924 1980 N/A
Daily driver + week end racer

procon · Joined: 22 May 2004 Posts: 326 Location: WNC

kike924

When you switched back to the original size, did you notice any difference proformance wise? I live in the mountains of Western North Carolina, so 90% of my driving is on tight, twisty mountain roads. I'm rarely out of 3rd gear, but often run as high as 5700 rpms in the short straights.
4400 rpms is as high as I've run in 5th., it was my 1st. time on that stretch of road.

Looking forward to going back, just need some new running shoes!

Lizard · Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2004 2:38 am Post subject:

Procon when I had the 14" rims on my car I was running 225/60R14 all the way around I had Falken Ziex ZE502, I was VERY impressed with the tire the sizewalls had virtually no roll when run at there proper inflation,

check out falkentire.com for there listings
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3 928s,

procon · Joined: 22 May 2004 Posts: 326 Location: WNC

Thanks Lizard!
Will do.

kike924 · Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2004 3:48 am Post subject:

The only difference I've noticed is that the car is slightly more fast from a standing start.
If you do a lot of mountain roads is probably better to have a wider tyre

As my car has manual steering one of the reasons to do the switch was to try to lighten the effort of parking

_________________
Euro 924 1980 N/A
Daily driver + week end racer

Lizard · Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2004 4:02 am Post subject:

ok I am no superman by anystretch of the imagination (though some of my tools may say otherwise) but with 225 up front with the manual steering in the 924 I had no problems I didnt find it heavy at all, I recommend that if it is to check the tension on the tensioner bolt on the rack and also check that the universal joints in the shaft mating the steering column to the rack are in smooth operation and are not partially or fully siezed
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3 928s,

xmcginness · Joined: 01 May 2004 Posts: 94 Location: Denver, CO

Admittedly as most of you know from my previous stupid questions, I'm one of those checkbook restorers. Meaning, although Lizard has offered to provide step-by-step directions, I'm not confident enough to touch the babe. I also know next to nothing about cars, other than I love my 931.

That said, DON'T LAUGH - I actually am not sure I get what "rims" refers to. As I understood it, it's the metal that the tire sits on and then is covered by a hubcap. But there's all these adds for rims - so are people just buying rims and leaving the hubcaps off? How does the size or width of the tire correspond to the rim? For example if I have the original rims and hubcaps on my 931 could I still buy the Falken ZE-502 ZIEX that Lizard was recommending?

STOP LAUGHING!

Smoothie · Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2004 10:38 am Post subject:

Oh I'm done laughing... now I'm crying.

Just kidding. Whatever you got - ask away.

Yes, rims = wheels = the round metal part the tires are mounted on.
Technically, the hub cap is the little cap that covers the end of the hub and keeps dirt out and the grease in for the wheel bearings, but everyone forever has been calling wheel covers "hub caps", so wheel covers = hub caps = the pretty round decorative pieces that cover plain steel wheels (aka steel rims). Alloy wheels (aka alloy rims) are all pretty by themselves, so don't, and normally can't by their design, use wheel covers, but do use a pretty little "center cap".

Referring to the tires Lizard mentioned, their size was "225/60R14" - the 225 = tread width in mm, 60 = sidewall height (aka profile) and is a percentage (the sidewall height of that tire is 60% of the width, so take 60% of 225 and that's the sidewall height in mm). R = radial and 14 = the rim size in inches. If you have 14" diameter rims, those tires could be put on them, but there are also rim widths to consider. If you have 6" wide rims, you should get away with mounting a tire width of 225 on them (as did the previous owner of my car), but there are optimum rim widths for each tire width and going by the book, a 6" rim would be just a bit too narrow for a 225 tire, but probably not far off enough to be a problem.

The overall diameter of the tire is another thing to consider since it affects the accuracy of the speedometer and odometer (in addition to some other things, but I'll keep todays' lesson brief).

Pretty sure an '80 931 would have come with at least a 15" diameter, 6" wide alloy wheel. Look for the tire size on the side of one of your tires to verify the rim diameter. My '82 931 came with 16" diameter, 6" wide alloys with pretty little center caps.
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"..it's made in Germany. You know the Germans always make good stuff."

'82 924T, US version, dark green metallic, 5 speed Audi 016G gearbox

Lizard · Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2004 12:01 pm Post subject:

in comments to smoothies good responce I did look at falkens site and they did confirm that there 225/60R14 were compatible with a 6" rim
I would like to mention that there is a spec for supported rim width that the manufacture makes when designing the tire and the lower the profile (60 series on these) the closer the rim width has to be to the tread with as there is less wall to allow for the slight stretch shall we say, if you dont abid by the maunfactures spec and say mount a tire they say is only compatible on a 7" rim and you mount it on a 6" rim then there is a possibility that the seal will let go and the rubber "could" come off the rim, however the chances of that are negligable unless you are racing the car or putting extreme forces to the rubber/rim seal, which any average driver isnt going to be doing.
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3 928s,