Re: [T3] Shock/tyre advise

[sml214@casbah.it.northwestern.edu]

Hey Giles- 

> I am going to lower my type 3 and fit empi-8 rims. Does anyone have a 
> similar experience. 
> 
> Advise on tyre size front/rear (low-pro) and shocks front/rear (its only a 
> weekend car, so could I get away with a softer shock on the rear(comfort) 
> and medium/hard on the front for handling???? 

The 5.5"x15" Empi's have a 4.5" backspacing, which means an offset of 1.75" - 
that's within 1/16" of the stock T3 offset of 46mm.  That's good.  I recommend 
going no larger than 195 on the tires.  Beyond that, you may begin to have a 
substantial amount of sidewall flex on corners (I've run with 195 on 4.5" rims 
before - the corner felt great, but when you'd came back straight you'd feel 
the car "lock" back into place - talk about flex!  That was a bad idea...).  On 
a stock height T3, those tires should clear pretty well, but I dunno about 
clearance if lowered... 

A 195/65/15 tire would give you a size slightly smaller than 165/80/15, and 
195/70/15 would be slightly larger.  Remember - if you change tire size 
substantially (like to a 195/60/15 or 195/55/15), your effective gear ratio and 
speedometer reading will change.  But, that low profile look is nice... pick 
your poison. 

Re: shock preference, opinions will vary, and I don't have enough experience 
with them on the T3 to help... sorry. 

Take care, 
Shad 

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