New Bolts Please? (and tyre discussion)
New Bolts Please? (and tyre discussion)
Here's a quick question for the Wheel Gurus, hope you can help.
My 'new' wheels came with an impressive booklet on fitting issues and wheel information. The Germans need this to get the wheels accepted for their Track Marshalls (Cops) but in it I read that the wheels require different size bolts than the Mk4 currently has.
Current size is: M12 x 1,5 times 23,5 mm (length)
Needed: M12 x 1,5 times 28 mm
So the current bolts appear to be too short. I haven't checked this by physically measuring or testing the current bolts with the new wheels, but I suspect I need new bolts. Am I right?
Also, is it true that the rear bolts are shorter (or longer) than the front bolts? A couple of Germans claim they are, because of the rear drums. Etka says they're the same all round...
Thanks in advance!
My 'new' wheels came with an impressive booklet on fitting issues and wheel information. The Germans need this to get the wheels accepted for their Track Marshalls (Cops) but in it I read that the wheels require different size bolts than the Mk4 currently has.
Current size is: M12 x 1,5 times 23,5 mm (length)
Needed: M12 x 1,5 times 28 mm
So the current bolts appear to be too short. I haven't checked this by physically measuring or testing the current bolts with the new wheels, but I suspect I need new bolts. Am I right?
Also, is it true that the rear bolts are shorter (or longer) than the front bolts? A couple of Germans claim they are, because of the rear drums. Etka says they're the same all round...
Thanks in advance!
Last edited by Speedlaw on Wed Mar 19, 2003 9:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
I ordered some Uniroyal Rainsport 1's in 194-45-15. They were one of the cheaper options I had, and still perform well if I can believe countless tests and user reviews. Any opinions on these? (already ordered them...)
I'm contemplating getting some black caps for the bolts, available from the dealer actually. They also have caps for locking bolts, I'll have to see if they fit the new locking bolt if it comes to that anyway.
50 Euros is about what I'd expected... Not cheap indeed.
I'm contemplating getting some black caps for the bolts, available from the dealer actually. They also have caps for locking bolts, I'll have to see if they fit the new locking bolt if it comes to that anyway.
50 Euros is about what I'd expected... Not cheap indeed.
Don't mind the comments Ash- You know your stuff. That is actually what I've heard as well, bit noisy, very good in the wet, good on dry. Didn't care too much for longevity but I don't mind either. Others I've considered were the F1's (albeit way more expensive) and the SP9000's. Couldn't justify the extra 30 Euros each really... Hope I won't regret it.
Btw, I now have Michelin Energy's. IMO Excellent alrounders for regular cars. Bit scary on fast corners though.
Btw, I now have Michelin Energy's. IMO Excellent alrounders for regular cars. Bit scary on fast corners though.
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- Bling Bling Diamond Member
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yeah the energy arnt amazing when it gets spirited but they have just brought out the E3A and E3B tyres and there ment to be quite goot plus i was looking at a michlin today (think it was a primacy) and they use a sorter compound on the outher edge to give grip and harder in the centre and on the inside edge for life so i look foreward to hearing about them but im almost certain that my next tyres will be some bridgestone SP-03`s as i hace got a very good price on them <70 euros each but shhhh its not a public offer its a favor price
::EDIT:: the michlin pilot exaltos arnt as good as they look cos ive heard that they cant hold a sustained heat build up and become very slippy
::EDIT:: the michlin pilot exaltos arnt as good as they look cos ive heard that they cant hold a sustained heat build up and become very slippy
- Josh_PoloGTi
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- Bling Bling Diamond Member
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well the last summer tyres i bought were BFGoodridge profilers which were about 70 euros a piece i bought them solely n recomendation and have been very happy with thm as they are quite a firm rubber when cold but reasonably soft when hot but not exessivly so so wear isnt too much of an issue (for reference when i had the falkens on all 4 were bald in ~5000 km but the bfg`s have around 9.000 kms on them and arnt even half worn which is quite an achivement with the abuse i give them)
here are the bfg`s. as you can see the tread formation is fairly open without loosing any support within the tread as the tread blocks are large. you can also see how agressive they are towards any water on the road (even more so than the falkens which are advertised as anti aqua-planing, yeah right) the problem with the BFG`s is tha they tend to be slightly wider than statedf so my 195mm wide tyres are in reality about 200-205 which makes them look very chunky and can cause rubbing problems, please also note that the tread of the tyre is slightly rounded as it meats the sidewall (from the factory my driving simply helped ) this is so that there is less chance of the tyre "feeding" under the rim on corners which can cause blowouts and/or tyres poping off. the shown size is 195/50/15 btw
for a little comparison here is a pic of my winter tyres
as you can see this is a snow tyre, you can tell by the very open tread and small blocks they are the michlin alpin in 165 65 13 and not really suited to spirited driing as the rubber is quite soft at low temps (<0oC) meaning that at higher temps the rubber can become unstable and make the handleing unpredictable please also not the brownish markings on the sidewall, these ade marks from whre ,under cornering, the sidewall has feen forced under the tyre (on the otherside the wheel trim has touched so it looks a little scabby) this is caused by the higher profile of the tyre and the fact that the sidewall is a lot thinner than on the bfg`s
here are the bfg`s. as you can see the tread formation is fairly open without loosing any support within the tread as the tread blocks are large. you can also see how agressive they are towards any water on the road (even more so than the falkens which are advertised as anti aqua-planing, yeah right) the problem with the BFG`s is tha they tend to be slightly wider than statedf so my 195mm wide tyres are in reality about 200-205 which makes them look very chunky and can cause rubbing problems, please also note that the tread of the tyre is slightly rounded as it meats the sidewall (from the factory my driving simply helped ) this is so that there is less chance of the tyre "feeding" under the rim on corners which can cause blowouts and/or tyres poping off. the shown size is 195/50/15 btw
for a little comparison here is a pic of my winter tyres
as you can see this is a snow tyre, you can tell by the very open tread and small blocks they are the michlin alpin in 165 65 13 and not really suited to spirited driing as the rubber is quite soft at low temps (<0oC) meaning that at higher temps the rubber can become unstable and make the handleing unpredictable please also not the brownish markings on the sidewall, these ade marks from whre ,under cornering, the sidewall has feen forced under the tyre (on the otherside the wheel trim has touched so it looks a little scabby) this is caused by the higher profile of the tyre and the fact that the sidewall is a lot thinner than on the bfg`s
I had the option of buying the BF's too, but they were more expensive than the Uni's. I guess I'm a bit of a cheapskate. I kinda like the fact that Uniroyal is part of the Continental group too, don't really know if that matters much.
I went through ConitSportContact's before geting the Michelin's actually, and they lasted about 15000 km's, before being completely bald. Not good. They had traction problems in the wet too, hard to accelerate out of corners and such. They were ok in the dry, but I wouldn't recommend them really. The Michelin's I have now are much better...
Also drove with Semperit's, but only at the rear so I don't have a well founded opinion on those. Not noticably bad though.
I went through ConitSportContact's before geting the Michelin's actually, and they lasted about 15000 km's, before being completely bald. Not good. They had traction problems in the wet too, hard to accelerate out of corners and such. They were ok in the dry, but I wouldn't recommend them really. The Michelin's I have now are much better...
Also drove with Semperit's, but only at the rear so I don't have a well founded opinion on those. Not noticably bad though.