BRAID BZ and Michelin TB15: The Perfect Marriage of Form and Function

Posted on Nov 12, 2016

 

One of the most popular requests we get is to supply wheels for Porsche 911 RSR backdate projects or sometimes even actual RSRs. These cars ran very special 15" Fuchs wheels in 9" and 11" widths but original wheels are now collector's items, if you can even find them and then you'd probably never want to drive on them.

 

WHEELS

So BRAID have a solution with their BZ range as they produce wheels in exactly the right specifications for these cars, are the highest quality competition wheels and a very authentic representation of the original both in terms of style and finish. The original cars used offsets of et-3 in the front and et-27 in the rear and these are faithfully adhered to by BRAID. Some of these builds use a 930 or M491 donor car and this provides addition challenges as these cars used different suspension components which pushed the wheel mounting faces further out and the brake caliper profile in the rear will interfere with the back of the wheel spokes. BRAID solves these issues by providing wheels in suitably higher offsets with extra caliper clearance built in to the rear wheels. The compromise comes in the form of slightly reduced dish and a somewhat bigger bill but as this is about the only way to do this properly well worth it in our customer's opinions.

 

TIRES

So that's one half of the equation solved; what about tires? Wheels are just tire holders after all. Wide, 15", streetable tires are almost impossible to find these days so most of our customers usually end up with the Michelin TB15 which is part of Michelin's Competition Classic Range. The sizes that seem to work best are 18/60-15 (215/55R15) for the front and 23/62-15 (270/45R15) for the rear. The front is a little stretched on the 9" wheel but does give that period rounded shoulder look. The combination just fills the wheel arches to perfection and the tread design is totally authentic. 

Alternative tire choices include Michelin's TB5 in similar sizes and some of the Hoosier DOT legal race tires but the tread designs are not so authentic looking.

 

ACCESSORIES

To finish off the authentic RSR theme replace the wheel studs with longer ones and use open ended lug nuts. If you dare forego the center caps for that hardcore racer aesthetic that these cars inspire.

 

Enjoy the slideshow:
BZ and TB15