Wheel question

BTW, I'll be using 185/55 in the front and 195/60 in the rear. Anything I have to think about?

Karls

Hey Karls. There is a very informative wheel tech page at germanlook.com in the tech section. Find the tech feature of the day and click the arrow that says "more tech" and scroll down and find 'fitting modern wheels to your bug'. While this primarirly talks about what you need to do to put modern car wheels on your bug, it explains offset, backspacing, center bore, bolt pattern and all those other things that confused the hell out of me for years. Actually, I think the riviera and 8-spoke wheels do not have enough offset to run tires your size if the car is at all lowered. After MUCH research I've found that an offset of +35mm (about stock) is what works best. The Rivieras are 18 and the 8 spokes are 22 I think. Maybe it's the other way around? Well good luck! ~Anthony

Thanks anthont, the link has a lot of valuable info, not only about wheels. This Super is lowered now, but when I redo the front, I'll get it up to stock or slightly lowered attitude. I've seen supers here with empis, how did they do that? Well, maybe I did't see the size of the fenders. Is there someone out there with more info?

Karls

BTW, aircooled.net website says the empis have a +20 ET.

I found some used black-spoked Empi types on ebay, cleaned them, taped the outsides, sprayed them with wheel paint from AutoZone color-graphite... then I put some 195's (junkyard) on the back and kept the 165's (Pep Boys)on the front. I guess because they're 5.5 I gained an inch on the front and back, and the car handles like a Porsche 911s, at least compared to pre-Empi...it really FEELS GOOD and that's nice, because this POS daily driver has been very aggravating, breaking down weekly... The Rivieras and BRMs are beautiful- just don't put a wide tire on the original VW rim...I work in South Atlanta, and all the gangsta-homey types just stare in the parking lot - they have TALL spinning chrome Snoop Dog wheels...

Do Empi's fit without any clearance problems or spacers???

Karls, I could be wrong but the 8 spoke Empi's should fit fine *as long as you don't lower the bug* and the tires *may* stick out from under the fenders. It's when it's lowered that you get into trouble, particulary in the front. With stock fenders and 8 spokes, I think you should be able to go 195 in the back, and possibly up to 185 in the front. No more than a 60 series. If it's lowered, you may have to stick to 165 in the front, depending on how far you lower it. I was going to use 8 spokes as well, but I decided I wanted something with more offset. I'll be purchasing some 15X5.5 porsche 2 liters that have +35mm offset. They're replicas of course, but that doesn't bother me. I know the replicas are mostly cast, and the real ones are forged, but that also doesn't bother me. A bug is so light, I forsee no problems running on cast wheels. ~Anthony