Warning about using 235/40-17 SP-8000s on an Ur-Q...

[JustaxPHX@aol.com]

This afternoon, I should finally have my new garage organized well enough so
that my Ur-q can go inside instead of sitting on the driveway, as it has been
doing since I moved approximately two months ago.

So, this morning, I decided to give it a good wash-and-wax before putting it
back in hibernation ... to my surprise, I found a very fine white haze down
both sides of the car, below the beltline and above the rocker panel, that
almost looked like salt spray.  Upon closer inspection, though, it turned out
to be micro-pitting of the paint from sand and grit thrown up by the tires.  I
also noticed the rear lips of the front fenders had similar damage (all the
way down to the primer on one side!) as did the front edges of the rear
valance, where the "stripes" that coincided with the tread blocks confirmed
that this was indeed caused by sandblasting from the tires.

Since the car covered 74k on 215/50-15s before I bought it and I saw no
evidence of damage then, I can only assume that it has all occurred since I
switched to 235/40-17s Sp-8000s approx. 8k ago ... although I think the car
looks and handles better on 17s than 15s and I have no plans to swap back, be
warned that there is apparently a price to be paid for making this swap.  And
to think I was seriously considering a second swap to some 9x17s with 245/40s
... oh, well.

Jeff Goggin (aka "audi-dudi" but temporarily using an email account from work)