In Reply to: RICH: New Dry Traction Data posted by Steven R. Rochlin on October 1, 2004 at 14:08:04:
Cool!!! That is very impressive. I understand about the sidewalls, this is a characteristic a number of Michelin Pilot tires and a potential week point. My GTi originally came with the Mich. Pilot XGV4 (a high perf all season tire)... read many reports of sidewall bubbling and wheel damage becase the side wall is so soft on this tire. Now of course, compensating with higher tire pressures will help protect the rims, but the sidewall failures were a cuase of concern for me so I immediately swaped them out for the set of Conti Extreme Contacts which are now on the car. I'm sure you are aware of the issues in using a tire with a softer sidewall and I have not read about any sidewall bubbling/failures on the previious Pilot Sport )OEM tire on the 20 Anniverary Edition of the GTI with 18" wheels).Anyway, sorry of the digression. My Tire size on the GTi with my OEM 17" wheels is 225/45-17... Not sure I would want to go to 225/40-18 and an 18" rim when I get new wheels. While the look would be cool, moving that rotational mass further out (not good), the generally heavier weight of the larger dia. wheels (also not good), and the stories I hear about bent rims from riding on such little sidewall has had me vascillating about whether or not to got for 17s or 18s when I get my new wheels.
In any case, I am really physced! I got my Koni adjustable shocks, Neuspeed SofSport springs, and SPC Camber Kits installed yesterday. So I now have about 1 to 1.5 degress of negative camber in the front, better springs and damping all around. This combined with the rear sway I installed a few months ago has significantly improved the handling of the car! I have not really pushed it yet myself yet, but my installer (a good tuner who races his own GTi) gave me an impressive test drive in my own car!
Happy Listening,
Rich Brkich
Retailer & Audio Asylum Industry Liaison
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Follow Ups
- Re: RICH: New Dry Traction Data - Rich Brkich 17:30:04 10/02/04 (1)