E30 Zone

Hi guys, I've spoke to one or two members on here about using the above tyre size and apparently I'll only get away with it on the rear?

Situation is: When i bought my cab it came with some horrid cheap 15" 5 spoke jobs that i want to get rid of. A friend of mine is into his mk2 golfs, I've seen quite a lot of pics of them with Azev A's and i think they look awesome so I got myself a set.

But they are 16"x7.5", which means to fit 205/50/16 tyres on i'd have to have a bit of stretch, i've seen 205's fitted to 7.5j before and do not like the look, its not a proper stretch (which i dont like anyway) and they dont look 'normal'. Also this size obviously offers zero rim protection, which is something that is quite important to me since I wont be the only one using the car so i'd like my Azevs to stay kerb free.

So to keep the Diameter the same the next size up is 225/45/16, this will also offer some rim protection. I understand on the rear it wont rub but the front it will. I take it it would rub on the inner arch? in which case some spacers would fix it?

Also if i was to lower the car (intending on 40mm atm but wont know for sure until i fit the azevs (but I cant fit them until i get tyres and i cant get tyres until i know which size i want) would this mean i was more likely to get rubbing? how about 60mm?

they are et20.

I dont want to get my arches rolled or do negative camber (they're only 7.5j!) so if i cant fit 225's im gonna get rid of the azevs and probably get some oem bbs.

What do you think?

cheers

What are the off set of the wheels?

I had a set of 16x7.5 Hartge alloys with an off set of ET25 and used 205/50R16 front and 225/45R16 rear on an E30 with a 35mm drop.

No arch contact at all.

offset is 20.
did you ever look how much clearance you had at the front? cos i'd like to put the same size tyres all round if possible.

EDIT! Just seen they are ET20 so they will sit a futher 5mm closer to the arch so may catch.

Could machine 5mm from the rear of the hub of the wheel to make them ET25.

225's are a no no on the front as they will touch the strut.

I have 225/40 Proxys on my Hartges which are also 7.5j







This is a 215/40 Marrangoni tyre fitted







IMO 225/45 will be fine, I sometimes think maybe I should have gone for that size myself

Whats the Hartge offset Barry?

Do you reckon it'd be possible to machine 10mm from them?
On your pic is that showing 205s on the front??

DanThe, did your 225/40s have any contact?

No contact on the front, im getting slight rubbing on the rear arch under full load now ive fitted 10mm spacers, with 5mm it will clear, if the car was facelift there would be no contact as the arches are folded on later cars

Hatge offset is ET25 Dan.

40 profile on a 16" rim is to low and gives a smaller rolling circumference and will throw the gearing out and the speedo.

James90 wrote:Do you reckon it'd be possible to machine 10mm from them?
On your pic is that showing 205s on the front??

without seeing the wheels first hand and knowing what there made from i dont think anyone would like to say.

you best going to a wheel refurb place.

So your offset is 25? which will be the same as me having a 5mm space or having 5mm machined from the wheel?
where is it rubbing on the rear? on the outer arch?

Speedo reads 5mph over GPS speed, my 6th gear doesnt mind the 40 profiles

James90 wrote:So your offset is 25? which will be the same as me having a 5mm space or having 5mm machined from the wheel?
where is it rubbing on the rear? on the outer arch?

My offset on the rear is now et15 as im using 10mm spacers

ok so there's no worries about the rear then.
have you lowered your car?

Approx 50mm all round

Dan your car is a pre facelift and has a higher arch profile though.

james90, what E30 do you have?

DanThe wrote:Approx 50mm all round

Sweet, that's about how much I want, which coilies/springs do you have?

bss325i wrote:Dan your car is a pre facelift and has a higher arch profile though.

james90, what E30 do you have?

Mine is an '88 cab, so also pre facelift.

StuBeeDoo wrote:7.5x16 Hartges with 205/50x16 Nexen N3000 tyres. Don't look very stretched to me.

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No, they dont actually, can you show me some more pics?



cheers so far guys! didnt really want to have to sell them anyway haha!

bss325i wrote:Dan your car is a pre facelift and has a higher arch profile though.

james90, what E30 do you have?

Correct, but dont forget facelift cars have partly folded rear arches at the top where tyre contact would be happening

This is true Dan.

James, even though your cabrio is a prefacelift car, all cabrios have the lower facelift arch profile.

So for the purposes of this discussion it's a facelift? which means I can't compare my car to Dans?

and 7.5" width is in the normal range for a 205 tyre anyway.

think about it, the treads 8" wide.

James90 wrote:can you show me some more pics?

If you can give me 24hrs I'll post a pic or 2 of a wheel & tyre close-up, off the car.

StuBeeDoo wrote:

James90 wrote:can you show me some more pics?

If you can give me 24hrs I'll post a pic or 2 of a wheel & tyre close-up, off the car.

Yeh sure no rush - Thanks for that!

how does a 205/50 look stretched on a 7.5 J ?

the 205 i've seen on a 7.5 before was a 40.

it shouldnt, as i just said, the tread is still wider than the wheel rim.

then there is no comparison

205/50 is the "correct" size

i have 225/50/15 - et35 compomotive ml's with falken ze912's and a 10mm spacer (making it up to et25) for those 16's you are going to have to machine a bit off the inside to take them to a 25 or so, do your measurements right and they will be great on the back!

mine is lowered 60 mm, see below - no arch scrubbing, and a neat fit!

71780_161031150581179_100000228864526_421323_4059230_n by clarkyboySE, on Flickr

Dan your car looks looks far too nice in them pics. My car has exactly the same suspension set up as Dans but my wheels are running et20 7.5j 16"

225/45-16 BFG KDW2 on my Hartge H23. Rims are Hartge 7.5x16 ET25. Never had any rubbing ever (with Hartge springs).

225 40 16 is what you want

Bob_S wrote:225 40 16 is what you want

thats what i fitted many moons ago