Date:         Mon, 2 Nov 1998 20:44:12 -0800
Reply-To:     YauMan Chan <yauman@CCHEM.BERKELEY.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         YauMan Chan <yauman@CCHEM.BERKELEY.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Wheels, Tires and the Laws of Physics
Comments: To: lindgre@ONLINE.NO, vanagon@VANAGON.COM
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

ahh.. I stand corrected.. if that is that case than the difference between a 321 mm wheel and a 343 mm wheel seems neglible in the grand scheme of things.  So, the moral here is that if you are going for a 16" rim, you should stay with a 70 or even an 85 series tire to give you the high profile and have the speedometer recalibrated to reflect a 12%-15% change in the radius of the wheel.. now that's  an off-road tire.  There is so much clearance in the Vanagon wheel well, I don't think it will be a problem.

Yau-Man Chan
87 GL


>>> Per Lindgren <lindgre@ONLINE.NO> 11/03 2:03 AM >>>

 All of this is good if you drive a sports car, but it seems that these guys are going off-road (like me), and ground clearance is the key factor here. You don't see any terrain vehicle of any choice with such small tires as the Vanagon. That is why VW made the infamous 16" version, so it will be more off road capable. A low profile tire will not make the same contact on uneven terrain, as a high profile would, the low profile is too stiff. The unsuspended weight is not that important for an off-roader, it is during speed that the handling of a low profile tire is needed. A side effect of the low profile tire off road is that you will also ruin the rims quite quickly.

PerL
88 Syncro