Re: Help wanted with wheel woes (long)

["Voltaire Almendrala" <valmen@hotmail.com>]

Bruce, condolences on your wheel misfortune. I haven't bent any wheels 
(stock), but drive very carefully around the city (San Francisco) which has 
the worst potholes outside of NYC & Chicago. I ran the following 
configurations:

stock wheels/tires/suspension (400 miles)
-ride was mushy (like a Buick)
-terrible on freeway (floats like a head of Guniness)
-braking was also terrible
-ditched @ 400 miles for some cheapo 16" rims/Continental CV-90s (7.5 x 16, 
205-45VR16)

cheapo aftermarket wheels/Continental tires/stock suspension (15K miles)
-rode a little harsher in the city
-gripped like a leech, wet or dry conditions
-float was still there but more manageable
-replaced at ~15.5K due to hitting a pothole on freeway @ 70mph
-replace by MSW Type 55 wheels, Pirelli P7000 tires, ND Stage 1 suspension 
(7.5x16, 215-40WR16, Boge Progras struts-shocks & Neuspeed Sport springs)

MSW Type 55/Pirelli tires/ND Stage 1 suspension (current setup)
-omigod!
-rides smoother (even in the city - unbelievable!)
-grips better
-float? what float???
-VW should have sent it from the factory like this!
-the only improvement I would make would be to get 225/40-series tires when 
the P7000s wear out (they are at ~60% tread left after 15K miles - odometer 
is @ 30.5K) since there would be a little bit more tire wall to fend off 
curbs, etc.

Hope this helps ya out. Good luck!

-VA
97 Jetta GLX

>From: Bruce Stapley <bstapley@megsinet.com>
>Reply-To: jettaglx@igtc.com
>To: jettaglx@igtc.com
>Subject: Help wanted with wheel woes (long)
>Date: Mon, 04 Oct 1999 10:37:19 -0500
>
>I've been meaning to ask the list for input on my wheel problems for
>some time, and a recent posting from Anthony Noel finally prompted me
>
>So my questions to the list are:
>1) Is every 98's stock suspension as bad as mine, or am I blessed?
>2) If mine is especially bad, do I have any hope in hell of recourse
>from VW? I've always assumed that if mine was an exception case, there'd
>be no measurement I could use to prove the extent of badness, and that
>the dealer/VW wouldn't do anything about it. Since it's still under
>dealer warranty...
>3) If I replace the stock suspension, will the aftermarket ride better
>protect my rims, or is it likely to be harsher? (Open-ended question, I
>know.) I'm thinking about H&R (or is that HoR?) coil-overs, as those
>seem to be highly favored among listers. (Of course, I don't have an
>extra grand or two lying around; what I do have is for my Harley down
>payment.)
>4) Are 40s just too damn short no matter what suspension you're riding,
>and should I chuck the rubber and pick up 50s or 60s and damn the
>odometer? Lots of you guys are riding on 40s; how many are on the stock
>suspension?
>5) Finally, if I do toss the 40s in favor of 50s and want to compensate
>for the diameter difference, does Garrett have accommodation for tire
>diameter in his chip? How about Nospeed?
>
>TIA,
>Bruce Stapley
>98 GLX "Oddball stock wheel" Edition
>

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