What Tyre size?

[MacExtreme]

Hello everyone,
my first post here. My wife has just bought a Golf 3 1.9 diesel; it came with aftermarket alloy wheels, 16". The tyres on it look awfully thin and small, they are 195/45 R16, and barely cover the rims. They look like they are due for replacement soon, but I wondered if I could go to 195/55 to fill out the wheel arches a bit more? Or is 45 the biggest section on a 16' rim?

Many thanks

[RichieVWV6]

Hi Mac

Looking at the figures changing to a 195/55/16 will result in a change in the overall diameter of 6.8% the recommended maximum is +/- 2.5 %. Even changing to a 50 profile will result in a change 0f 3.8% which is again over the recommended intervals.

Therefore I'm afraid you shouldnt do it.

The only other option is to try and pick up a set of Original Equipment alloys or steel wheels for the car if you really don't like the alloys and tyres that are on it.

If you do change the wheels make sure you remove the old spacers / distance pieces that may be fitted on the hubs.

Hope that helps a bit

Regards

Richard

ETYRES.co.uk

[MacExtreme]

thanks for the reply; I thought I might be able to increase the tyre size because the current tyres look smaller than the normal (ie original) tyres that I see on all other Golfs (and I don't mean people with 17" rims!!!); I just wanted to get back to the original tyre circumference. The current ones are deffo smaller than OEM.

[onzarob]

does your car quote tyre pressures inside the fule flap, or door jam, should give yout the size of wheel and profile. don't worry if it doesn't quote the same size wheel.

use this to calculate the change.

http://www.alloywheels.com/TyreCalc.asp

[MacExtreme]

Good idea! I'll check it out tomorrow when it's light.
Thanks.

[tornadored7]

Hi Richie,

Aside from the obvious perils of speedo inaccuracies/under-reading, what are the issues of increasing the wheel/tyre diameters beyond +/- 2.5% ?

Can any damage be done to the car, in particular to the diff or the gearbox ?

TR7

[tornadored7]

Hi Mac

Looking at the figures changing to a 195/55/16 will result in a change in the overall diameter of 6.8% the recommended maximum is +/- 2.5 %. Even changing to a 50 profile will result in a change 0f 3.8% which is again over the recommended intervals.

Therefore I'm afraid you shouldnt do it.

Mac,

You could go for a set of 205/45/16s. These will provide you with an extra 9mm of comfort/tyre diameter over your current 195/45/16 setup, and provide a 2.3% diameter difference to a standard 185/60/14 Golf MK3 setup, which is within the permissible 2.5% Richie eluded to.

The 205mm wheel will be 10mm wider, possibly providing better grip, but also more likely to tramline, i.e. the steering will have a tendency to follow any deviations/channels in the road.

These are also a reasonably common size, being available on Goodyear F1s :approve:. However, this isn't a tyre comparison thread ...

TR7

[RichieVWV6]

TR7

As rightly stated speedo will be affected.

There is the possibility of driveshafts and gearing being affected, hence why the recommended difference is so small.

But it is only a possibility, I personally do not know of anyone who has had any issues with being over the recommended guidelines though I would personally not risk it. (I have enough bad luck as it is without risking more lol)

The only other thing to consider is of course whether the tyres (wider) have enough clearence to avoid suspension and springs etc to avoid rubbing or touching when the suspension bottoms out.

I have seen loads of cars where this has destroyed tyres prematurely.

Regards

Richard

[neileg]

I think the Mk3 looks 'underwheeled' on any of the standard wheels. So aftermarket fitments that keep the same rolling radius are going to look similar, the bigger the wheel diameter, the lower the tyre profile but the same overall size.

[onzarob]

I have seen loads of cars where this has destroyed tyres prematurely.

Regards

Richard

it not just the tyre that get destroyed the car can suffer to and in extreme cases the driver!!!

It ok going for bigger wheels, tyre etc, but you need to adjust the suspension geometry to compensate or you will jsut wear the tyre out quicly or even ruin the handling. Bigger is not allways best;)

[tornadored7]

it not just the tyre that get destroyed the car can suffer to and in extreme cases the driver!!!

It ok going for bigger wheels, tyre etc, but you need to adjust the suspension geometry to compensate or you will jsut wear the tyre out quicly or even ruin the handling. Bigger is not allways best;)

Hi Rob,

Agreed, using too wide a wheel can result in wheel rubbing and suspension fouling, which could be very dangerous.

Furthermore, using a 'taller' wheel, i.e. increasing the rolling radius/diameter beyond the standard Golf MK3 185/60/14 radius will require a camber/tracking alignment.

Based on Richie and Niel's advice stay as closely as possible to the permissible rolling radius, and try and 'plus size' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire_sizing) correctly.

Speaking from personal experience I think it is quite safe to use 205/45/16 tyres on a Golf MK3, providing your wheel offset (ET [deutsch EinpressTiefe]) is between 42 and 35, i.e. 35 <= ET <= 42.

I speak from having used 205/45/16 tyres on both ET 42 and ET 35 for many years without any issues, on a Golf MK3 with standard arches.

Check your alloy wheels, and look for the value of the ET (offset). If this is within the (35 to 42) range, you shouldn't have any problems running 205/45/16 tyres, unless your car has very aggressive lowering springs/coilovers.

If you are running wider tyres e.g. 215 mm you may have issues, and anything above 215mm expect to have issues :o, e.g. suspension fouling/arch rubbing.

When changing the rolling radius, camber/tracking realignment is advised, as Rob suggested.

[pritesh]

Hi Guys,

I have a MK3 and for about a year I ran it on 17's (205/45/17). Have to admit it gives the car a better look and fills the arches. But however the ride is not very good, you can feel every bump or dip in the road, I also had problems with the rear arches rubbing. The road handeling is much better and you can go faster round corners. I beleive as a resuly of my 17's I had to replace both my rear bearings and my drivers side front bearing.

I have since gone to 15's with 195/50/15 tyres and the ride is much better, cheaper tyres and better for the car alround. I dont think i would ever go back to 17's on a MK3 although they look good on the car but are not good for the car unless your willing to make other chanes to the car which can work out to be expensive.

In terms of the speedo. I found that the 17's gave a accurate reading as i have compared it to my the speedo reading on my road angel. But with my 15's the speedo shows a reading that is 5&#37; faster then what i'm actually driving as compared to my Road Angel. But hacing said that I beleive the car speedos are made to