Dan DiBiase wrote:
>
> Mark, you can run the 185's without any problems. The 195's may cause some
> rubbing.... I have had both the Bridgestone Potenzas and Dunlops on my '95
> VW (the Potenza's were the model that the RE950 replaced) and MUCH
> prefered the Bridgestones.
I am a Bridgestone Potenza fanatic. I have been running them for almost
four years now - on and off the track - and can't fault them.
The soft compound ones (made in and imported from Japan) are fantastic
on the track - they stick like gum when warm - but I wouldn't recommend
them for daily driving unless you are prepared to replace them every
14-18 months, depending on how hard/far you drive. And they are
mightily expensive for just that length of life ($250 - almost $300 per
tyre for the big ones - but if you can afford it, go for it).
As for size - I use 185/60 on 14x5" rim and they work well despite it
looking like a tight fit.
To consider the extreme - right at this moment (for financial and other
reasons - certainly not for their looks) I am running an old set of
205/60 Potenzas on 15/5.5" Z-car rims and off the track I have never
heard them rub the wheel wells. On the track you really had to be
pushing it hard through a corner (or corner and dip) to have them rub -
but they do rub briefly at the extreme even with shims on the hub. They
rub the INSIDE of the rear wheel wells leaving a half moon shiny spot
but not damaging the tyres, so I just ignore the ugly noise :-)
A little point to consider is that the extreme 205's also "wrap around"
the front discs, reducing airflow to the brakes and were, I believe, the
reason I warped my original front discs under repeated heavy braking.
I now run a better quality grooved, cross drilled disc that has not had
similar hassles (despite all the rumours of cross-drilled discs being
weaker and shattering).
--
Eric
'68 MGB MkII
'85 Rover SD1 Vanden Plas
Adelaide, South Australia
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