Can benefits be had from spacers?

[Redfox 10]

H all,

Never had spacers on my cars, and now that I have a Corrado, and just fitted a set of BBS RC 323 in size 7.5" by 17", ET35, on a set of KW coilovers inox-line v1, and the wheels don't scrape anything, I would like to know, if I can put spacers on, and still get no scraping, neither on the inside, nor the outside?

Maybe 10mm or more? Note: I don't want scraping or rolled arches.

 

Secondly, I would like to ænow, if the widened stance does anything in real life, apart from the looks?

Do I actually get better grip in corners because of a greater dinstance from centerline of the car? Or do I make it worse by changing the geometry between wheels, track arms and mounting points?

 

Thirdly: Does a widened car spin more easily around it's own axis? (width being greater than designed relative to length)???

 

I am looking for the best possible driving abilities, not looks, even though it would certainly come in handy and make the Corrado look much better. But as said, driving capabilities is the only important thing.

 

Note: I already have installed an extra set of Eibach antiroll bars, on poly bushes, and Eibach strut tower bars both front and rear (Wilbers).

Will swap all bushes underneath for poly-ones too asap.

 

Note also, that in my country, it is forbidden to use spacers, unless they are made and approved by the same mufacturer as the wheels, and are made for that model (who cares?)

 

Q: what is the ideal wheel angle on a Corrado? and what is the best toe in/out on a Corrado (G60)?

 

Anything else to make it drive as good as possible?

 

Cheers,

Redfox

 

:afro: car wash.... car wash...:afro:

Edited August 27, 2011 by Redfox

[Yandards 0]

All spacers do is increase the track width although they also increase loading on the suspension as you increase the amount of leverage being applied to the hub etc.

 

Would I fit them? Although I have no experience of using them it is not something I would want to fit to a car.

 

Don't fit polybushes, they are too tight for road use and will cause the metal of the wishbones to wear out, also the rear beam bush is designed to flex as it acts as passive rear wheel steering.

[Redfox 10]

Hi Yan,

Yes, I heard that the rear beam should just have fresh original bushings, but for almost 12 years I drove my Mk. II golf, with Powerflex all over except rear beam, and it worked perfect. Sure the standard have yo be tossed away ;)

 

ps: I really dislike any way of comfort.

 

Anyway, putting on a set of wide wheels I guess will have the same wearing effect on the whole suspension, and we can't all drive on narrow steelrims, even theough the state would like to see us all on 15/90-13-H.

 

Cheers,

Redfox.

[VW_OwneR_85 2]

if you do get wheel spacers get hub centric ones which sits on the spigot and supports the weight, they normaly come with the longer bolts required, the other spacers are to be avoided imo..

[nlau1 0]

I had 10mm spacers on the rear of my E46 for a year for some extra poke from the rear wheels.

 

No noticable difference to handling and no short term damage to any suspension components.

 

I think if you get hubcentric spacers at a reasonable width (i.e. anything under 20mm) then you'll be fine.

[Redfox 10]

Thanks all ;)

 

Cheers,

Redfox.

[Fulltimejunglist 0]

Worse turning cirlce.

 

Heavier steering.

 

My mate had one of his wheels fall of using them, hubcentric also.

 

They do look nice though :)

[KipVR 1]

On the rear beam, rather than space out the wheel, do it to the stub axle, this keeps the load of the wheel bearing to a minimum, and the wheel fits as normal.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Wheelspacers affect steering feel more than anything. It's all about Scrub radius and it's relationship to SAI (Steering Axis Inclination). I'm not even going to try to explain it as it's quite complex, but this wiki page does a good job - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrub_radius

 

In a nutshell, if you start changing wheel offsets or using spacers, the car's behaviour will change. Usually what people find after spacing wheels out (positive scrub radius) or fitting shallower offset wheels is tramlining gets worse, kick back over bumps and torque steer also worsen.

 

When OE's go widetrack, they do it with longer suspension arms instead in order to keep the scrub radius where they want it for user friendliness on the road.

[floppyman 0]

Out ot topic but... Fishwick... Wanted to ask before... What do you do for a leaving man? You know everything :)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

If I did know everything I'd be sat on a beach drinking beers instead of being sat at my desk :lol:

 

What do I do for a living?

 

I'm a computer nerd I'm afraid.

 

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