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Sorry if I'm repeating myself (seems as if we were just discussing this) but I've got 6" steel rims (Willamette Wheel in Oregon made 'em up by welding a new rim onto a 96 center) and this season tried using 195-60s on them for autocross (mostly because I already had the tires) but got mixed results.
They wouldn't fit at the rear because the fender lip would rub on the tire sidewall. I could run them in the front, but would still get slight fender lip contact on fast full-lock turns. Having wider tires on the front is a great way to tame the Sonett's inherent understeer but not sure whether it really made my A/X times significantly faster (then again maybe my 195s were just crummy tires...)
BTW, based on my limited experience I'm not sure all those tire size calculations are really meaningful to within 0.2 inch -- seems as if different mfrs' tires can vary slightly in dimensions even if they've got the same cross-section and aspect ratio, depending on how they design the tread, sidewall, etc. That's what's making me leery about shopping for tires to run on the 6" rims -- I'd think that if 195 rubs a bit, 185 should just clear it, but if the 185 had more rubber thickness, the fender lip would still hit it and I wouldn't have any way of knowing until I had bought the tires! Still trying to figure a way around this...
I haven't seen many rear shock listings either except the KYBs. The downloadable Spax catalog lists their adjustable Sprint 'dampers' in part # G322 for front and G 323 for rear -- but the application list says these numbers cover all "96, 850 Sport, Sonnett [sic] I, II, III" which makes me a little suspicious as I thought the Sonett needed a different rear shock from the 96 (and also because only six Sonett Is were made so they can't be THAT big a market!) Anyone know any other options? I've got the KYBs on the back and they're all right, but it bugs me that it seems you have to drive a couple of miles before they "pump up" and start delivering full damping; don't know if this is a a bug or a feature!
posted by 24.3.2...
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