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Date:         Sun, 6 Oct 2002 11:23:51 -0700
Reply-To:     James <tornadored@HOTPOP.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         James <tornadored@HOTPOP.COM>
Subject:      Re: Bigger Wheels, Unsprung mass and Calculations
Comments: To: Clive Smith <clive.harman-smith@NTLWORLD.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <001a01c26d29$31b7a1c0$0d00a8c0@TIGER>
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

I'm not really a smart guy, I just play one on the internet. Thanks, Clive, for better explaining/substantiating what I was speculating.

> d) Don't forget that 15" tyres are heavier generally as well as the wheels, > making the situation even worse.

Yeah, I wasn't sure about that. I compared a few random tire specs online and the difference was minimal. But, I was comparing a 205/65-15 and a 205/70-14, which probably have about the same amount of rubber. I suspect that larger tires, like 215's, would start to make a difference.

> The unsprung mass has to be controlled by springs and dampers.Driving slowly > over bumps and bad terrain won't hardly be affected, but when driving at any > speed other than a crawl WILL. The wheel's displacement will be greater, the > forces put into the chassis via the shock absorbers will be greater and the > shock absorbers will heat up more, be less effective and more easily lose > control of the wheel - the outcome is worse bump and rebound control and > hence less good roadholding, bump tolerance and ride harshness (a well know > side effect of going to larger wheels, whether wider or taller and why I > generally have avoided them like the plague, ditto lowered suspension with > less travel). Its even been known for the shock mountings to eventually > fatigue crack under these circumstances (but not to my knowledge VW's).

Again, a much better description of the point I was trying to make. Which, again, makes me wonder if a 215/65-15 or 205/65-15 w/ the added weight (mass) of big wheels would be outperformed (depending on the definition) by a smaller/"narrower", but much lighter 205/70-14, or better yet, 195/75-14 set up....? I guess this is where the seat-of-the-pants comes in again?

> My Syncro seems fine with 15" Audi alloys, but then, the Syncro's unsprung > weight at the front is quite high anyway (driveshafts, outboard CVJ's, > strong well designed suspension and bearing componentry, reasonably decent > brake disc and caliper sizes etc) so the OEM shockers will already be quite > well rated and the % change not so much... > > ... not so for the 2WD Transporter though!

Well, so far, feedback I've received suggests people still prefer their new set-ups, heavy rims and all...So I guess we'll see...

James 90 Carat


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