Re: buckled wheels

["Pantelis Giamarellos" <pantg@otenet.gr>]

Dave Hi from Greece,

My experince with the RS2 and its wheels with the Bridgestone S02 (Potenza
(or Pole Positions) or plain ones) was not good either.

The Brisgestone appears to be lacking the Dunlop's ability to absorb road
bumps so effectively.
In addition in my hands (with the AUDI modified drilled and bigger rotors)
they (the Bridgestones) appear to be warping if you brake REALLY hard. I do
not mean loose their surface because of the wheels blocking since the RS2
ABS is a well balanced system, but they warp the "nylon" skeleton of the
car.

They also do not last as much as the Dunlop, but while they last they handle
better in the dry and the wet.

As a conclusion when I will be changing my tyre (quite soon unfortunately) I
will be searching for a new brand and type of tyre and maybe in a smaller
size than the standard fitment 245/40 17.

Your comments and proposals are always welcome.

I think the Allroad will be covering our needs very nicely for a fast wagon
with good wheel clearance and sturdy wheel for not so perfect  road
surfaces.

Regards
Pantelis


P.S. in Greece we have two or three experts who take your buckled wheel rims
(alloy ones) and they return them to you perfectly balanced. The procedure
involves heating them slowly to a certain temperature, pushing or pulling
them depending on the case with a special sort of miling machine, letting
them cool down and them balancing them.
I have already treated my two front wheels and they are perfect. Cost was
around 40US$ per wheel while cost for a new replacement wheel was around
800US$.
My tyre fitter is a close relative of mine and he would not recommend this
procedure if he was not sure about the safety of it.
He is the tyre fitter of the racing team of SEAT and one of the best known
fitters for the autosport in Greece and lots of warped and/or buckled wheel
rims come to his hands.




-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Eaton <Dave.Eaton@clear.net.nz>
To: quattro@coimbra.ans.net <quattro@coimbra.ans.net>
Date: &Sgr;&aacgr;&bgr;&bgr;&agr;&tgr;&ogr;, 27 &Mgr;&agr;&rgr;&tgr;&iacgr;&ogr;&ugr; 1999 2:09 &pgr;&mgr;
Subject: buckled wheels


>the last days of the extended vacation entailed loading the wagon with 2
>bikes on top, and completely filling it with stuff.  end result of 800kms
on
>what is sometimes laughably called roads in new zealand, is 1 badly buckled
>front rim, and 2 others which are a little out.  at $950 per rim, it looks
>expensive.  hopefully, they will roll out all-right.
>
>frantic swapping around using the spare rim, gives me a wagon which now
>tracks true, without steering wheel shimmy, for the last week of the break
>down to nelson.  also running the wagon at speed without it being fully
>loaded makes you appreciate the changes that the annual service brings.
>5,000 rpm in 4th @140km/hr and the car still wants more.  heading south and
>in heavy rain, a bmw catches up and starts looking for a way past.  we come
>up to some twisties and i let the quattro thing happen.  the bmw
disappeared
>so fast that i though of going back to check if he was still on the road...
>
>anyway, as this is my 1st experience of wheel buckling, i was wondering
>about the propensity of some tyres to increase the chances of buckling the
>wheels.  it is just a coincidence that the recent addition of the
>bridgestone s02 pole positions was a pre-cursor to the buckling.
>
>has anyone had any experience of this?
>
>dave
>'95 rs2
>'90 ur-q
>
>
>