Tyre Stretching!!! PH strikes again.
Discussion
big dub said:
I know there's been quite a bit of debate on a couple of forums on here lately about the 'Euro Look', whereby stretching tyres onto wider wheels....
If you feel there is nothing wrong, or unsafe, about stretching tyres onto a too wide rim, why would you be worried about a police forum members looking at them?? 
Only if you genuinely saw a safety issue would you be bothered, and then wouldn't you want to know if they were dangerous or illegal?
kambites said:
Flintstone said:
kambites said:
It's not illegal to run such wheels as long as the insurance companies are OK with it.
Then insurance companies dictate law now? I think not.Balmoral Green said:
Really good website here...
http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html
and on page 2, about a third of the way down, is a rim/tyre width calculator...
http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible_pg2.html
Going by that 185 60 13's on a 7" rim is 1/2 wrong & that was the upgrade on most Hillclimb & race MK1/Mk2 fiestas back in the day (Yoko 008r's)http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html
and on page 2, about a third of the way down, is a rim/tyre width calculator...
http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible_pg2.html
Prob ok with just the 1/2 " possibly 1" over but any more & your asking for problems I would think.
Co.
King Herald said:
big dub said:
I know there's been quite a bit of debate on a couple of forums on here lately about the 'Euro Look', whereby stretching tyres onto wider wheels.
If you feel there is nothing wrong, or unsafe, about stretching tyres onto a too wide rim, why would you be worried about a police forum members looking at them?Balmoral Green said:
King Herald said:
big dub said:
I know there's been quite a bit of debate on a couple of forums on here lately about the 'Euro Look', whereby stretching tyres onto wider wheels.
If you feel there is nothing wrong, or unsafe, about stretching tyres onto a too wide rim, why would you be worried about a police forum members looking at them?In my experience, the more 'serious' magazines involved with the tuning scene will seek to clarify on these issues so everyone knows where they stand rather than gloss over them - and here is one moaning about 'grassing up'and 'hypocrisy' just because someone else has been looking for clarification on these issues? Hmmm.
Flintstone said:
kambites said:
Flintstone said:
kambites said:
It's not illegal to run such wheels as long as the insurance companies are OK with it.
Then insurance companies dictate law now? I think not.If every insurance company in the country decided overnight that they weren't going to insure red cars, it would pretty soon be illegal, in practice, to drive red cars on the road.
If, as someone said above, they aren't legal because of the tyres' extension beyond the arch, it's a moot point anyway.
Edited by kambites on Monday 14th July 09:13
big dub said:
I know there's been quite a bit of debate on a couple of forums on here lately about the 'Euro Look', whereby stretching tyres onto wider wheels. Being a huge VW fan, I've seen this on the scene for a while and have to say I like the look, although it depends on what car you do it and some people can take it to extremes.
Anyway, suffice to say I haven't posted on here for a while, but having just read a short article in Performance VW magazine, I was sufficiently pissed off to put fingers to keyboard.
Quoting the article:
'Unless you've been living under a rock the past few weeks, you will have no doubt seen the debates on some forums about tyre stretching. Step forward our Dave who, after seriously stretching a set of Marangoni tyres over his 9.5 and 11x18 TH Lines, offered them up to the car and took a few shots. After posting them up on www.wheel-w
es.com, the pictures soon found their way onto Edition38, VW Vortex and Retro-Rides before finally hitting an already existing thread on Pistonheads regarding the 'Euro Look', and all within a matter of hours. And that's where things started to go wrong.
So offended were the users of Pistonheads by the images of his and other cars with stretched rubber, that a thread was started in Pistonheads very own 'Police, Plod and Law' forum.
Then some kind person took it upon themselves to bring the stretched tyre debate to the attention of the members of a genuine police forum. Quite who did this we do not know, but we can't help but think this is like being at school and being grassed up to the teacher.
Considering Pistonheads' moto is 'Speed Matters' and is populated by people who like nothing more than going for spirited B-road blasts and enjoying fast road driving in sports cars, it's good to know that massive hypocrisy is very much alive and well amongst its members. Pistonheads - Hypocrisy matters.'
I can only say that the narrow minded wr that posted onto a genuine police forum is hardly a true subsciber to the ethos of Pistonheads! Tyre stretching has been part of the VW scene for some time and while I can say that some people do take it to extremes and the 'usability' of the tyre looks in doubt, it's a harmless side of the VW (and other makes) modding scene and quite up to individual taste. So why some people have been quite so openly disgusted and negatively opinionated by it is a huge mystery to me. We are all entitled to our opinion, but when people post pics of their pride and joy on here, I don't think some people have to be quite so rude.
Anyway, that's my 2 penneth worth, which no doubt most people will disagree with, but quite frankly I don't care. I like a mild stretch on a VW, like the one below. Thanks for reading. Bring on the backlash! lol
Well at least the tyres look as good as the rest of the car.... Anyway, suffice to say I haven't posted on here for a while, but having just read a short article in Performance VW magazine, I was sufficiently pissed off to put fingers to keyboard.
Quoting the article:
'Unless you've been living under a rock the past few weeks, you will have no doubt seen the debates on some forums about tyre stretching. Step forward our Dave who, after seriously stretching a set of Marangoni tyres over his 9.5 and 11x18 TH Lines, offered them up to the car and took a few shots. After posting them up on www.wheel-w
es.com, the pictures soon found their way onto Edition38, VW Vortex and Retro-Rides before finally hitting an already existing thread on Pistonheads regarding the 'Euro Look', and all within a matter of hours. And that's where things started to go wrong. So offended were the users of Pistonheads by the images of his and other cars with stretched rubber, that a thread was started in Pistonheads very own 'Police, Plod and Law' forum.
Then some kind person took it upon themselves to bring the stretched tyre debate to the attention of the members of a genuine police forum. Quite who did this we do not know, but we can't help but think this is like being at school and being grassed up to the teacher.
Considering Pistonheads' moto is 'Speed Matters' and is populated by people who like nothing more than going for spirited B-road blasts and enjoying fast road driving in sports cars, it's good to know that massive hypocrisy is very much alive and well amongst its members. Pistonheads - Hypocrisy matters.'
I can only say that the narrow minded w
r that posted onto a genuine police forum is hardly a true subsciber to the ethos of Pistonheads! Tyre stretching has been part of the VW scene for some time and while I can say that some people do take it to extremes and the 'usability' of the tyre looks in doubt, it's a harmless side of the VW (and other makes) modding scene and quite up to individual taste. So why some people have been quite so openly disgusted and negatively opinionated by it is a huge mystery to me. We are all entitled to our opinion, but when people post pics of their pride and joy on here, I don't think some people have to be quite so rude.Anyway, that's my 2 penneth worth, which no doubt most people will disagree with, but quite frankly I don't care. I like a mild stretch on a VW, like the one below. Thanks for reading. Bring on the backlash! lol
lord summerisle said:
kambites said:
In fact they very reason they do it seems to be so they can put wide wheels on their cars without falling foul of the "tyre tread extends beyond the arch" law.
there seems to be an extra word being put in there by the proponants of this trend.the word 'tread' appears by the supporters... but it is not mentioned in the law quoted.
'the median vertical plane of the tyre' must be covered within 150mm above the horizontal line of the centre of the wheel.
if the median point is half way along the sloping sidewall... then this is outside the wheel arch, and therefore illegal.
by my reading of it.
So they certainly fail on the "spirit of the law", no matter how one argues the "letter of the law".
Major Bloodnok said:
Also missing from the discussion is the reason for that regulation. It's there to protect pedestrians against being seriously injured by the rotating wheel in the case of a glancing impact. If the wheel projects beyond the wheel arch, then it can catch a leg and cause severe damage by dragging it under. By keeping the wheel within the arch, a pedestrian's leg is kept clear of the wheel, greatly reducing the chance of severe injury.
So they certainly fail on the "spirit of the law", no matter how one argues the "letter of the law".
Is that why cars need wheel arches? I always assumed it was to reduce spray. So they certainly fail on the "spirit of the law", no matter how one argues the "letter of the law".
kambites said:
Major Bloodnok said:
Also missing from the discussion is the reason for that regulation. It's there to protect pedestrians against being seriously injured by the rotating wheel in the case of a glancing impact. If the wheel projects beyond the wheel arch, then it can catch a leg and cause severe damage by dragging it under. By keeping the wheel within the arch, a pedestrian's leg is kept clear of the wheel, greatly reducing the chance of severe injury.
So they certainly fail on the "spirit of the law", no matter how one argues the "letter of the law".
Is that why cars need wheel arches? I always assumed it was to reduce spray. So they certainly fail on the "spirit of the law", no matter how one argues the "letter of the law".
kambites said:
Is that why cars need wheel arches? I always assumed it was to reduce spray.
I thought it was to avoid wheel-to-wheel impacts between cars, which can result in them being launched into the air (look what happens when single seaters make wheel contact).Of course, playing devil's advocate here, I fail to see how the motorbike mudguards fitted to Caterfields would prevent the same, as surely they'd just shear off and leave the wheel exposed. Which may be another case of complying with the letter of the law but not the spirit
Edited by carl_w on Monday 14th July 10:14
dilbert said:
My point is multiple, but mainly, that the people who criticise this way of fitting tyres to wheels, so vehmently, are largely only hurting themselves.
If they are interested in automotive diversity, then ultimately they are limiting it by following the general trend to limit it.
If they are interested in their kids (and or other road users), then their actions are more likely to cause them to be a victim of knife crime, because of the additional effort devoted to policing and educating about "stretch tyres".
Moreover, the idea, that fitting wheels in this way is somehow dangerous and edgy, will only make those who feel they want that image, to do it more.
You seem to be comparing a lot of stuff, none of which has any relavance at all.If they are interested in automotive diversity, then ultimately they are limiting it by following the general trend to limit it.
If they are interested in their kids (and or other road users), then their actions are more likely to cause them to be a victim of knife crime, because of the additional effort devoted to policing and educating about "stretch tyres".
Moreover, the idea, that fitting wheels in this way is somehow dangerous and edgy, will only make those who feel they want that image, to do it more.
Edited by dilbert on Sunday 13th July 17:04
Tyre makers put stats on tyres for a reason! Anyone dumb enough to think they know more is deluding themselves.
BTW - it doesn't even look good, sure it's a fad but crap is crap.
Take an ugly car and paint it a nice colour - end result its still an ugly car.
300bhp/ton said:
kambites said:
Is that why cars need wheel arches? I always assumed it was to reduce spray.
I'm not sure the reason behind why. Although in the US you can run tyres sticking out from the vehicle no problem.'Construction and use' regs are a different matter, but even then it says words to the effect they must be able to catch spray and road much from hitting other road users. So, if it isn't raining you don't legally need mudguards, apparently....
kambites said:
Major Bloodnok said:
Also missing from the discussion is the reason for that regulation. It's there to protect pedestrians against being seriously injured by the rotating wheel in the case of a glancing impact. If the wheel projects beyond the wheel arch, then it can catch a leg and cause severe damage by dragging it under. By keeping the wheel within the arch, a pedestrian's leg is kept clear of the wheel, greatly reducing the chance of severe injury.
So they certainly fail on the "spirit of the law", no matter how one argues the "letter of the law".
Is that why cars need wheel arches? I always assumed it was to reduce spray. So they certainly fail on the "spirit of the law", no matter how one argues the "letter of the law".
I suppose I should have said "a reason for that regulation", rather than "the reason". Point remains that, if there's a large amount of wheel projecting beyond the bodywork, it could catch on to someone's leg and cause very severe injury compared to the wheel arch pushing the leg out of the way.
Right put your hands up who has actually "used" stretched tyres?
I have & do quite frequently on track (in extreme conditions too) you'd be hard pressed to notice much difference sat in the drivers seat unless you really knew what you were on about, you'd hardly notice any difference on the road I can assure you especially up to medium sort of stretches. Only noticeable differences are less flex in the sidewall & sometimes a stiffer ride from the result, thats about it.
So all you doogooders out there, stop ranting on about it for petes sake!!!!
I have & do quite frequently on track (in extreme conditions too) you'd be hard pressed to notice much difference sat in the drivers seat unless you really knew what you were on about, you'd hardly notice any difference on the road I can assure you especially up to medium sort of stretches. Only noticeable differences are less flex in the sidewall & sometimes a stiffer ride from the result, thats about it.
So all you doogooders out there, stop ranting on about it for petes sake!!!!
cptsideways said:
....I have & do quite frequently on track (in extreme conditions too) you'd be hard pressed to notice much difference sat in the drivers seat unless you really knew what you were on about, you'd hardly notice any difference on the road I can assure you especially up to medium sort of stretches.....
So, why do you do it? Or are you just following a trendy fad too?
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