165 Tire on a 4lug empi sprint?

[Rob E]

I have a 72 long swing axle beetle that I have 4 lug sprints to fit on it.

whats the widest tire I can fit on? 165?

[Zach Gomulka]

4 1/2" or 5 1/2"  wheels?

[Neil Davies]

And which offset? Do you remember my old orange 70 which had sprintstars on it Rob? That had the wider track 5 1/2's on the back with 165's and they were tight! The narrower track 5 1/2s were for type 3s and Ghias, and are much rarer! They look like 4 1/2s from the outside.

[Neil Davies]

Here you go!

[Rob E]

4 1/2" or 5 1/2"  wheels?

hi Zach,

4 1/2" at the minute, but I am trying to swap them for 5 1/2"

your thread on the gtv has been an inspiration.  In fact our 72 used to have gtv stripes on it about 10 years ago (repro's)

was trying to figure out your set up on your gtv 145's on the front and 165s on the back? with just dropped spindles on the front?

[Rob E]

And which offset? Do you remember my old orange 70 which had sprintstars on it Rob? That had the wider track 5 1/2's on the back with 165's and they were tight! The narrower track 5 1/2s were for type 3s and Ghias, and are much rarer! They look like 4 1/2s from the outside.

hey Neil
yer I remember it I think!

this is our car (well building it for the girlfriend actually)



looks like this now!


but the plan is to have it repainted Alaska blue with an empi steering wheel and some nice accessories, same stance as Zachs GTV   

[Rob E]

heres a thread I had on it. must start one on here too!

http://www.volkszone.co.uk/VZi/showthread.php?t=958434

[Flow]

I think you can fit 185's maximum with 4 1/5" 

[tomi g]

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Hi,
I have 4,5" /ET34/ and 5,5" /ET25/ sprintstars with dropped spindles on my cab. The tires are 135RX15 in front and 165RX15 at the back. Earlier I used to have 145 up front and that was fine too, without rubbing issues.

[tomi g]

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]
205/70 tires also works on 5,5 /ET25/ sprints

[Zach Gomulka]

My Sprints were the EMPI versions, they have a LOT more positive offset. It was also IRS, which is a tiny bit wider than long swing axle. When I bought it I put on Michelin XZX's, 145's and 165's. The 165's just bulged out of the fenders slightly. When I put the rear disc brakes on it got worse, the tread was in the fender but the sidewalls came out about 3/4" and it looked awful. So I narrowed the trailing arms 26mm and it looked perfect. I tried 195/65's and 205/70's for a short time, but they were too wide. A 185 might have worked.
The front was all stock, I swapped the 5.5's for 4.5's with 145's and added drop spindles with disc brakes. The tires rubbed the fenders under hard cornering and/or with a passenger, so I installed a 3/4" sway bar and Koni shocks. That helped a lot but it would still occasionally rub, and the sway bar made the car ride far too stiff. Later I removed the front 3/4" bar and installed EMPI 5/8" bars front and rear. It rode and handled beautifully, I could toss the car into nearly any corner as fast as I would dare and it hung on, no tire rub either.


Sorry, got a little off track there

[Rob E]

thanks for the replys!

love the set up that Zach had on the gtv, kinda more old school.

165's it is! will start a thread on the 72 soon.