Hello all! Hope you're having a good day.

My name is Ted Hough, and I'm building a racing car for the first time, got the bug at a PDX event in my Fiesta, currently a Ford Apprentice mechanic.

My question for the forum is this.

I know that the 1987 944 has a different stock wheel-size than the 1986-and-earlier 944.

The size currently on my car is a 16x7 inch Phone-Dial rim (Which is illegal for 944). Could it be possible to downsize to the 15x7 rim size and still have suspension/Brake clearance? Or am I going to run into fitment issues? The 1987 rim is 16x7, 52.3mm offset. And the 1986's are 15x7 with a 23.3mm offset.

If I can downsize for a 15x7 wheel, where can I find affordable wheels that aren't complete trash? I've been looking around and it seems like the cheapest/best I can find is a "Diamond" brand racing wheel, but I'm not sure if they'd be Back-spaced properly.

As long as you have the stock 87 944 brakes you will have no problem going back to a 15" wheel.
To race in Spec you will have to have the late offset 15" phone dial wheel.
There are very few after market 15" wheels that will fit a 944.

Thanks so much for the response.

So that's a 15x7 with 52.3mm offset and ~155mm backspacing, correct?

I have somebody willing to fabricate me some wheels in the correct size/bolt pattern (Usually makes steel racing wheels for Stock-car drivers in my area) , I just need confirmation on what the correct measurements for a "Late-offset" Phonedial are and I'm good. Thanks so much for the help!

Custom wheels are not allowed in this SPEC series, or at least have not been up until last year. Not sure about some of the latest proposals and what actually went into the rules.

Check before ordering a custom set...

Yes, absolutely! As per rule 15.10 of the GCR for Spec 944 . . .

"15.10 Rims
Only 15 x 7 inch ATS (Cookie Cutter) or “Phone Dial” stock wheels with offsets of 23.3 or 52.3
mm are allowed. Steel lug nuts must be used. Wheel spacers are allowed as long as the
maximum track width is not exceeded."

The reason I'm asking for sizing is to determine if . . .

A: the correct OEM wheels are on my car (Bought used, sometimes people put the wrong wheels on things, you never know.)
B: Have spares in the original size made for other series. I'm currently instructing with the Audi Club and SCCA, and intend to autocross the car and run it in SCCA ITS as well, having spares would be nice.

Thanks for the heads up, though!