just you i think mate i had 9j whhels on my bora with 215/40/18 tires and there wasnt a bother on them and they were'nt on the car
when i bought it i bought these wheels with the tires stretched of a site member but i never had and problems with them and i was fairly
low on coilovers

 

So a tyre too narrow fitted the rim, needs 40psi+ so stay on the rim and is stretched into a shape it was never designed for or intended to be used in such a way is not performing the way it does under normal conditions. It hardly surprising is it? Looks nice though.

 

the stretch tyre 'thing' usually entails a lower profile tyre; the 'cool kids' usully advocating a below 50; ie 45/40 section tyre to be part of that club - you will otherwise be told of your general 'wrongness'
Ive recently ventured into the 'stretch tyres' territory/minefield on 7x15in rims- 185/45; fair enough not a huge stretch, but i was aware of the 'horror stories'... Initially on fitting them, I ammeneded my driving style to 'on the side of caution' briefly 9later forgot to!!) - i like to drive on a car... I cant report any 'horror stories with these tyres fitted - and they are nankangs; only downside I can report is what feels like the tyre 'swopping over from side to side' on the rim (that is what it feels like) - but its only occsionally - I thought the 'hardness' of the feel of the tyres was all down to the make - I have them at 32psi - grip seems 'a lot less' than the previous pirellis I had on - wheel spin can be frequent and embarrassing at times....

 

Stretched tyres are for when u want to lower the car more but the tyre scrubs. By stretching the tyre it stops the scrub. To pull it off u need a wide tyre and a very low car. If u have
I then started a blog in november called freshfix and jumped in head first not knowing anything about blogs etc. …
a low car you wont be able to drive it fast so having the stretch is fine. Now every bean thinks its cool to have a stretch whens they are running on 40mm springs which looks pants and effects handling. I had massive strecth on the jetta and it was crap to drive and handled crap but its a style u pick. Form over function and all that.

 

i thought stretched tyres were when you put a 'narrow width' tyre, coupled with a low section tyre onto a wide rim for looks, mega awesomeness etc and having the car looking good in one spot/in pics etc - mild tyre stretch was where you went for a 'conservative' combo of both ie where your tyres didnt just look like a bit of licourish on them wide rims...??
Im really confused now, but on some forum threads '195/50/r15 tyres are labelled balloon, and 'yer better off fitting 175 or 185/45/15 to avoid 'static asthetic wrongness' being the advice....

 

QUOTE (BLZEEDUB @ Sep 15 2011, 12:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>the stretch tyre 'thing' usually entails a lower profile tyre; the 'cool kids' usully advocating a below 50; ie 45/40 section tyre to be part of that club

with a 50 profile on a 165 section, the sidewall is similar in height to a 40 profile on a 195 section.

the reason the car feels crap is the lack of tyre sidewall and the lack of footprint of the tyre.

 

QUOTE (Martymoore @ Sep 15 2011, 12:40 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Stretched tyres are for when u want to lower the car more but the tyre scrubs. By stretching the tyre it stops the scrub. To pull it off u need a wide tyre and a very low car. If u have
I then started a blog in november called freshfix and jumped in head first not knowing anything about blogs etc. &#8230;
a low car you wont be able to drive it fast so having the stretch is fine. Now every bean thinks its cool to have a stretch whens they are running on 40mm springs which looks pants and effects handling. I had massive strecth on the jetta and it was crap to drive and handled crap but its a style u pick. Form over function and all that.

Was that a a poorly executed subliminal message Marty?

Keith

 

im running 215/35's on an 8.5" rim and
215/40's on 10's on the back.

nothing bad to report on any tyre ive had that was stretched.
oh, blew 2 that was a 215/35 on a 9.5. they were replaced free of charge (tyre fault)

 

Am I the only one that loves fat tires?

 

Are the wheels balanced properly?

 

QUOTE (DavidK @ Sep 15 2011, 12:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Am I the only one that loves fat tires?

Probably

 

QUOTE (DavidK @ Sep 15 2011, 12:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Am I the only one that loves fat tires?

nope - but it aint scene !

it's like that shirt you have in the back of the wardrobe - hang tight and it'll come back and ig you have an orginal it'll be vintage

 

You don't need to run higher PSI on a stretched tyre to keep it on the rim, that's bullshit. Normal PSI - 30, 32, whatever you usually use, is fine. If you have an over inflated tyre of course it's going to feel hard and tetchy on the road, common sense will tell you that.

 

who told you that you need 40 psi in the tyres to keep them seated?
once the tyre is seated on the rim any fart of air will keep them seated.

 

stretched tyres are a bit silly you can totally f*&k the wheels on these roads

 

QUOTE (Max19 @ Sep 15 2011, 12:07 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>So, I reckon this might have been been covered before but not sure so i'll fire away.

I've seen hundreds of pictures of stretched tyres and I have to admit it does look great and i always thought it was cool! So i got new wheels yesterday which already had stretched tyres by chance and all I have to say so far is I dont recommend it at all!

It feels like i'm driving a car with concrete tyres, they are so hard and the car now handles like crap! On what seems like a good road surface and generally always was the car is now constantly bouncing, i can feel every little bump and I have ran coilovers for a long time so its nothing to do with them.

I have yet to check the tyre pressures but from what I have read you generally have to have at least 40psi just to make the tyre stay on the rim!
I have to point out as well that the wheels aren't very wide only 7j but they have 165/50 Bridgestone Potenza's fitted which is a pretty common stretch (http://tyrestretch.com/7_165_50_R15/)

Is this just me or has anyone else experienced this kind of ride with stretched tyres?

I have 165/50/15 potenzas on 7J rims as well

. I have done 2500miles with them on the car so far and with 36PSI in each tire and with jom coilovers , the ride is really hard ! And as you said it feels like tires were out of concrete however the handling i fine, tire grip is not worse than some budget 185/60s that were on the car before. But after reading this thread I am gonna go down to 32PSI with pressure , I know this will make a hell of a difference !

 

Would stretching tyres out like this on daily drivers screw up the way the tyre holds the road?

Its great to see it at shows, but if your coming around a bend up the road from me (or anyone)
you'd want to have a good excuse to justify them if they let go and you have a tragedy on your hands.

How do these sit with insurance companies?

 

QUOTE (Oisin @ Sep 15 2011, 06:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Would stretching tyres out like this on daily drivers screw up the way the tyre holds the road?

Its great to see it at shows, but if your coming around a bend up the road from me (or anyone)
you'd want to have a good excuse to justify them if they let go and you have a tragedy on your hands.

How do these sit with insurance companies?

I just bought a car with stretched tyres, and I love them to bits! yes I can feel every lump and bump and the road (coilovers are to blame for that too though!), but so what.
Its my daily too, I drive on the worst roads and never had a problem. I just take it nice and handy and I have no problem with handling etc.

As for insurance, well my insurance company didnt ask me about my tyres and I didnt tell them they were stretched

To conclude I love stretched tyres

 

QUOTE (batmobile @ Sep 15 2011, 10:57 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>As for insurance, well my insurance company didnt ask me about my tyres and I didnt tell them they were stretched

Insurance companys work off an 'upmost good-faith' policy where they expect you tell them things they should know that might effect the driving of the car

 

QUOTE (kadett 244 @ Sep 15 2011, 11:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Insurance companys work off an 'upmost good-faith' policy where they expect you tell them things they should know that might effect the driving of the car

I didnt mean I was trying to not tell them, I have never mentioned what tyres are on any of my cars to any insurance company ive been with, ive never thought too nor have I been asked.
When I renewed my insurance all they cared about was if the car was lowered, funny enough it is and I told them and then they said it was grand

 

do stretched tyres wear faster? i had stretched tyres on the rear of an a4 and they wore faster than the fronts?! this was never the case when i had the correct tyre size!

 

QUOTE (Plane @ Sep 15 2011, 12:21 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>So a tyre too narrow fitted the rim, needs 40psi+ so stay on the rim and is stretched into a shape it was never designed for or intended to be used in such a way is not performing the way it does under normal conditions. It hardly surprising is it? Looks nice though.

Maybe check your tyre pressure and adjust if needed
maybe your new wheels will be ok then

Edit thats a lot of maybe's, maybe not

 

I havent found the control or feel of the car compromised in comparison to any other mk2's because of the stretch on the tyres! Maybe a balancing is in order

 

Thanks for the reply's!
IMO, Stretching 165/50's on a 7j rim is just a waste of time, the contact patch of the tyre is way too small and thats another reason why it feels like shit! I put a set of 195/50's that i had in the garage on and it feels way better and a lot quieter! I admit it does take from the look of the wheels but I drive back roads everyday so I want tyres that are gonna improve the handling and that will make my car some what more comfortable!

If you are running 8/9j+ wheels then I completely understand the reasoning for tyre stretching with a 205/215/225 tyre as its much cheaper and if your running a large set of wheels 17" upwards it will allow you to have much more lows!

However in the case of extreme stretching like what was on mine it just doesnt make any sense! Especially since we live in Ireland and in general the roads are rubbish so this extreme stretching is just a waste of money as your tyres will wear faster, your car wont handle as well, it wont be as comfortable and your wheels will get destroyed! Thanks for the advice people, I reckon next time i need tyres if I have the same wheels i will go 195/45 or 185/45 ish

Heres the before and after shots

 

should look way better with the bigger tyres, your car is far too high for the pulled look.