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Tyres for function rather than form
hulbyw - July 10th, 2012 at 09:52 PM

What size tyres front/rear are folks using on swing axle Beetles for maximum handling, grip and braking as well as staying legal (in Vic no more or less than 15mm different diam to stock). I have 5.5" x 15" rims, 35mm ET and car is stock height however will be lowering the front slightly in the future (but not narrowing the beam)
Cheers....Wayne

barls - July 10th, 2012 at 10:39 PM

i used 205/65/15s on my super which was the closest you can get to the original stock tire rolling diameter. its 3 or so mm difference.

Ampdub - July 11th, 2012 at 02:19 PM

Same here with 205/65/15, squeesed on 4inch rims. Nice and bagged

RISKY4LIFE - July 11th, 2012 at 05:24 PM

i have seen 205 on 4 inch rims and it looks bad way to much side wall flex
i have some 195's on my but mine are 6 inch widen stock rims

Aussie Dubbin - July 11th, 2012 at 10:57 PM

Think about what ride you want. 165 is stock on 4 1/2" rim. It's a tall skinny tyre. Want to firm it up... Shorten the profile. Start at 60 series, pretty good alrounder. Got to a 50 series better control passed through the tyres to the rest of the car. Is the rest of the rolling assembly in good order? Wider is not always better. 10 year old 205 x 50 x 15 sound like they would be great but compare them to soft compound 195, or narrower in a new tyre and you'll be just as happy or even better. Buy the size you want in a great quality ruber

Joel - July 12th, 2012 at 10:34 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Aussie Dubbin
205 x 50 x 15 sound like they would be great


Those are way too small for a street car, they wouldn't fill out bug guards properly and would look like wheel barrow tyres but the biggest problem is they would really screw with the gearing.

They are 60mm smaller in rolling diameter than stock tyres (legal change is only +/- 15mm), engine would be screaming, where it did 100km/h normally with those it would only be doing 90km/h at the same revs.

Just as a comparison I've got some 17" 205/50s to go on mine and even they are smaller than stock in rolling diameter.

When I had 6" steelies on mine I went with 205/60 15 Federal Formozas and was really happy with the ride, road noise and handling.

matberry - July 12th, 2012 at 11:58 AM

Yep, 50 series way to small when considering gearing, fuel efficiency, engine life and general reliability........

Uber Kafer - July 12th, 2012 at 02:25 PM

the modified car rules 'sticky' in the Tech Talk forum gives a bit of detail about maximum tyre size vs stock size, and some of the comments sounded pretty pleased with the changes to the rules. Sounds like they could go wider than they previously thought.
On the topic of stock wheels, CIP1 have just got back in stock the stock-looking 5 1/2 inch steel rims. they state they are chinese made so no doubt they will be available from Australian suppliers at some stage.

Aussie Dubbin - July 12th, 2012 at 05:57 PM

Joel I agree, 50 is too small for normal use

zayus - July 15th, 2012 at 12:21 PM

A 175/65/15 would be a good tyre - the perfect width for a 5.5 inch rim, IE: sidewall flex.
However, the diameter of the tyre will only 608.8 mm

A 185 size tyre is the biggest you would want to go on 5.5 inch rim.
The 185/65/15 are available from most tyre shops - the diameter: 621.5 mm