light weight rims and narrow tires

[8307c4]

Hell yeah by the time I'm done spending the $1,000 it's going to cost probably just in rims I'm far better off checking into carbon fiber hoods or fenders.

Thou they're not cheap either, I myself like fiberglass hoods, about $300 and more than a few pounds lighter than OEM. You'll also want to check into getting the pins that hold it down so you can remove the OEM spring crap in the back and the front latch.

The ultimate benefit is getting that Road Warrior look vs. the stupid ricers lmao.

[diesel_john]

The tires i have on now are 175sr13 and not only heavy but square on the edges, i gained 5% mph over the 155's but no mpg gains, the cause i believe
added rotational inertia, added rolling resistance, added aero resistance,
dropped RPM's
Net gain zero. the good news is they are michelins, the bad news is they are going to last 100,00 miles
Coker sells a 135sr15 but that would mean making custom rims and fender mods.
The space saver idea was to use the space saver rims with the 135sr15's and weld in my centers, was hoping vw made a saver rim with the 4X100mm pattern.
Drag racing fronts go down to 2.5" wide and rated 200mph, but again custom rims. some are DOT rated but not many. do the front wheel drive drag racers use narrower tires on the back, if so DOT rated?

roflwaffle suggested swapping the stock 3.89 final gears for 3.65's which occured in a "6G" vw trans. 8/82-7/83. i haven't found out which vehicle that was in yet. i was hoping to swap the whole trans. And/or boring honda vx rims to fit my hubs which could net lighter rims, (mine are 15#) el cheapo 145sr13's might end up being the lowest total inertia if that trans would happen to fit the diesel, to keep the rev's down.
Which is what Big Dave has been saying all along, small tires and tall gears.
Note: the grasshopper on the hood held on up to 45MPH. no good, so I took it all back off. I had splitters on the top, bottom and middle and some one talked me into cutting them off and it just killed the mileage.

[88FieroGT]

Im jealous I wish I had a 4x100 on my car , I will be getting some custom machines hubs or the entire wheel hub assembly however to convert. Less unsprung weight handling , some slight mpg , and performance.

That said.... Volk ce28n 14x5.5 are 6.39lb a piece forged aluminum and one of strongest wheels out there..... Downside pretty expensive for just fuel economy probably wont ever pay for itself.

For somebody interested in unsprung weight , cost of tires , performance everything together like I am with my car along with being unique. Its worth it in my mind for me.

[arcosine]

You could find some 135/80R15 tires on google

[diesel_john]

Since this thread started 3 yrs ago i have bored out two Ford space savers to VW center I.D. and measured no mileage improvement. They were T115/70D14's which may have a higher rolling resistance. Now switching back to 155r13's.

[mwebb]

you have learned by painful experience that the skinny wheel tire combination does not yield good fuel economy
why not switch to
14" teardrop wheels originally used with mk 2 gti and gli and 185 60 14 or 195 60 14 michellin harmony tires , it is easy enough to fill in or tape over the tear drop to give a very flat pizza pan type surface and that combination will improve FE over what you are using now
or
early acura integra 14" aluminum wheels bored to accommodate vw hubs
i have used both
in the past with great success

Originally Posted by diesel_john

Since this thread started 3 yrs ago i have bored out two Ford space savers to VW center I.D. and measured no mileage improvement. They were T115/70D14's which may have a higher rolling resistance. Now switching back to 155r13's.

[Dr. Jerryrigger]

Why not try four donuts? They are made to run at higher pressure, and are really cheap at the junk yard.
Though I guess that wouldn't help FE if you have to pull over the change a blow out every 12miles

[diesel_john]

Experimentation is fun for me. Wide tires wouldn't fit in my fender flares.

[mwebb]

yes they will
Wide tires will not fit
but 185 60 14 or 195 60 14 on tear drop wheel s will fit on an early VW mk1 or mk2
any of them
i know because i installed them on many of them over the years
i had 205 60 13 on my VW rabbit pickup on VW wheels

Originally Posted by diesel_john

Experimentation is fun for me. Wide tires wouldn't fit in my fender flares.

[blownb310]

Originally Posted by diesel_john

Since this thread started 3 yrs ago i have bored out two Ford space savers to VW center I.D. and measured no mileage improvement. They were T115/70D14's which may have a higher rolling resistance. Now switching back to 155r13's.

I tried space savers too. The problem is that they are not radial tires, so they have a higher rolling resistence. Anyone ever try motorcycle tires [on something light like a Metro]?