got three sets of wheels available for my mk1, the original 8 spoke 13", and 14" steels, and 15" alloys of a mk2 16v, my question is which of these would give the best handling and what tyres you would recommend, or can any one recommend the best size wheels and tyres for a mk1 gti. Thanks in advance
I think for looks , the smaller the better , but a a compromise 14's are cool , not too big, but still allow bigger 16v mk2 size brakes .
when you say best for handling, do you mean road or track. if i were running a track mk1 id run the 15" wheels with a 195 45 15 tyre. this gives great grip and litle tyre roll so you get a nice responsive turn in. however, for the road you need much more give from the tyre, espeacially on the mk1's dated chassis design. i'd recomend the 14" wheels with a 185 60 14 tyre. the reason for that tyre is the 185 makes the car slightly more nimble, and the higher profile soaks up the bumps creating better road holding mid corner, less skitty. but not as sharp. a good compromise would be the 15" with a 195 50 15, but to be honest, if its purely handling your after, your carrying unnecesary unsprung weight with the 15" tyres, which drasticly affects handling. as for the original 13" there going to be pretty good with the right tyre. but ive found 14" to be the best overal setup. im running a 14inch with 185 60 14 at the minute, which is superb, but will be swapping to a 15" g60 wheel running 185 55 15 avon zv3. it wont aid handling atall, im just an attention whore. but i dont push to hard anyway. tyre choice is your main input whatever your wheel size. choose very carefully and you will reap the benefits.
Have to agree, for road use 6x14 with 185/60 produces best handling results. But as above i run 7x15 cause they look meatier.
The original Golf (road) performance setups used in the 1980's were: 13x6 and 205/60/13 14x6 with 185/60/14 15x6 to 7 with 195/50/15 ET (offsets) usually kept between ET33 to 38 on these depending on exact rim width
are you sure they put a 205 tyre on the 13's ? thats suprises me. i have the mk1 cab rivage and sportline brochure and that specs a 15 wheel with a 185 55 15 tyre
Thanks for all the advice guys, think I will go for the original 13" gti wheels for road use, what would you recommend as best tyre make and size please, thanks in advance
If they are 13x5.5j then the 'factory' fit tyre is 175/70/13. Quite tall. The 1970's Golf Cup cars would run 175/50/13 on those rims, but be aware of the gearing and ride-height difference. Maybe look for a compromise?
I cant seem to find an answer to this question. I have 6j x 13 bbs alloys to go on a MK 2 golf, and looking for the right Tyre size. The tyre companies dont seem to have much idea, just quickly googling it, when i ask and coming up with 175/70/13. so i had one fitted to see what it looked like and it looks way to skinnie for the rim. so i am now considering 185/65 13 as thats the only other suggestion so far. But i'm now being told by tyre place that that will be too wide? so if the 175 i have just had on looks too skinnie, how can a 185, 10mm wider be too wide? I thought getting some tyres would be the easy bit.
175/70/13 is the factory size for 5 1/2" rims, looking at a tyre size calculator the 185/65/13 is only 4mm smaller diameter so I recon will do you fine if +10mm is all you need on the width
I have bbs RAs and G60 steels, both on 195 and fit perfectly. I think they're 6.5, definitely not 7. And a few mates on "Baby G60s", running 185 absolutely fine. And the baby G60 are definitely no wider than 6 inch. Some Tires have a squarer shoulder than others.
I run a 13x7 with a 185/60r13 but this is an R compound tyre so slightly wider. A regular 185 road tyre will be fine on a 6” wide wheel. The 60 profile gives a smaller diameter than standard but this suits me as it improves my gearing and has less sidewall flex.