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Notablecarrot3
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Joined: January 22, 2008
Posts: 461
Location: Sunny South Of France
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 Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 7:43 am Post subject: 135/80 R15 or 145/65 R15? |
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Hi Guys,
I've just had a new 2.5 inch narrowed beam and dropped spindles fitted to my bug. The front tires aren't allowing me to go low enough, they're just too tall (firestone f560 145/80 R15) even though they are very nice looking tires to benefit from my new beam I'm going to have to change tires.
They need to be small enough not to rub, but not too small to be comfortable. I have 5.5 inch porsche 2.0 replicas.
Thing is I just don't know what to go for...
Toyo 135/80 R15 or 145/65 R15
I like the skinny look and stretch of the 135s but I'm a little worried about the handling in the wet especially as this will be my daily driver! I don't really like the idea of the 145/65 R15s because they are too low profile.
Any ideas?
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luckystiff
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Joined: September 28, 2005
Posts: 2252
Location: hickory,nc
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| Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 1:14 pm Post subject: |
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165/60/15 if you can get them in your area. otherwise it depends a bit on the car. 145/65/15s work pretty well on link pin based cars. not as much on ball joint. the 165/60/15 works great on either. so does the 175/55/15.
so two things to think about are if the car is link pin or ball joint based. and i like to know what rear tire size being run is to help create a good match.
but i believe the 165/60/15 is a euro market tire and if so should be available to you. it's actually a tiny bit smaller in overall diameter than the 135r15 and has a better footprint for more traction...ken....
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iaccy
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luckystiff
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Joined: September 28, 2005
Posts: 2252
Location: hickory,nc
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| Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 9:43 pm Post subject: |
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usually when people speak of "145s" they are talking about 145R15 which relates most closely to 145/80/15. the aspect ratio is actually closest to like a 145/82/15 but you won't find it denoted like that so most round to 80....ken....
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VOLKSWAGNUT
Fastest VW Belt Changer
Joined: October 14, 2007
Posts: 11192
Location: Flippin' a Belt........ .... Off-n-On ... NC USA
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| Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 10:46 am Post subject: |
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You can use the 80 for aspect ratio on 125, 135, 145, 155, 165 tires To get you close for specs and comparison here: http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTireMath.dos
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Last edited by VOLKSWAGNUT on Wed Mar 16, 2011 10:53 am; edited 4 times in total |
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Notablecarrot3
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Joined: January 22, 2008
Posts: 461
Location: Sunny South Of France
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| Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 10:50 am Post subject: |
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To sort of close this discussion, I went for 135/80r15s purely because I didn't expect to drive my car so low and so I thought a smaller sidewall would look terrible.
Anyway, so I'm driving quite low with the 135/80r15 and they rub the top of the wings over big bumps at speed and they rub the left headlight bowl on full lock right very lightly.
They look great though but the handling is dreadful in the wet! The ride is every bit as good as with 145/80r15.
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Erik G
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iaccy
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| Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 3:58 pm Post subject: |
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alright thanks for the tips....I'm looking for somewhat of a low profile tire for the front end of a '63 beetle. I will be daily driving it and I was thinking about 145/80-15 but since the contact path is so narrow I might want something a little wider to handle the wet weather conditions. I have 155/60 on my other car, and they are pretty narrow too. Is there anything you suggest?
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luckystiff
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Joined: September 28, 2005
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Location: hickory,nc
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| Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 4:56 pm Post subject: |
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my first choice now that they are readily available is the 165/60/15. VERY close in overall diameter to the 135r15 but with a better footprint. they became readily available about 2 weeks after i bought my last set of 145/65/15s  and the real bitch is i asked the guy at tire rack if they were getting them. first he told me there was no such tire(even though i told him i'd gladly send him a link to them) then told me if they did it'd be months before they got them. 10 days later they listed them as IN STOCK  gotta love a slack ass salesperson....ken....
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luckystiff
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Location: hickory,nc
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| Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 5:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Notablecarrot3 wrote: |
They look great though but the handling is dreadful in the wet! |
what PSI are you running in them? most people who complain about how bad they are have them way OVER inflated. 20PSI is a good starting point. i've ran fronts as low as 18psi and as high as 24-25psi.
if yours are inflated to 35-40psi like most shops inflate them to THAT is part of your problem. read vw recommened tire pressures. it's in the range of 20-24psi front and 24-28psi rear.
135r15s aren't "grippers" for sure but over inflated makes them MUCH worse than they actually are...ken....
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