14" wheels

[rewsy]

Hi - just bought a Felicia rally car, was wondering can the Felicia run on 14" wheels without any issue as the guy I bought it off ran 13" but for tarmac looking at 14" if possible.

Thanks

[billygeorge]

Hi,

had some Kei 15" fitted just two weeks ago, the only tyres they would consider were 195/45/15 which I had to pay extra for, not enough rubber for what you want,

but 14" is no problem

[TeflonTom]

Hi - just bought a Felicia rally car, was wondering can the Felicia run on 14" wheels without any issue as the guy I bought it off ran 13" but for tarmac looking at 14" if possible.

Thanks

has it got the hp sport rally suspension fitted?? or is group n spec??

14" wheels are fine so long as the offset is correct, it should be e43 offset for the group n suspension, but if you have the rally suspension you may need wheel spacers depending on the width of the wheels you want to use

[ugluk]

Have to watch your wheel design running 14" wheels if you are using it for rallying, whilst a lot of numb nuts might not feel the difference in wheel weight from big wheels, you do get some very big differences in feel and handling as you jump up wheel sizes. Make sure you try it out before you get to the rally and get used to the differences.

If you do run 14's try to get a design of wheel where the thick end of the spoke is close to the hub, the more weight you have towards a rim the worse the effects of extra wheel weight. Its a lot like adding weight to your flywheel, except when you add it to your wheels it has a very odd effect on braking as well it adds a gyroscope effect the more weight there is further out towards the rim the worse your braking will be. be wartned that higher unspriung weight will also affect traction when things get rough.

Ive ran a few skoda favorits and felicias for rallying, I stick to 13" wheels. I now run ex-works magnesium rims to save even more weight on the wheels. The works teams did use 14" magnesium wheels for tarmac on the favorit, but with a nice design that kept the weight towards the hub. I havent managed to track any down yet.

Also be very carefull with arch clearances on forrest tyres if you try running 14's for forrest use. Clearances can get tight even on 13" rims with forrest tyres on. (used to cut up the sides of the tread) even on tarmac tyres rear arch clearance can be a problem if you're pushing the pace on larger rims, the cars lean harder and further than they do for road use .

[rewsy]

Thanks for all the info, looking at 14" for the tarmac and 13" only on the gravel (which at the moment looking at steels, do you know where I can get some decent gravel wheels as you suggest?

Also, someone said the Yoko A038R for tarmac and good, have you used these or do you recommend something else?

[ugluk]

Gravel wheels go for the late (injection) favorit OE alloys, I got rid of loads with my felicia when I sold it, should get them for

[rewsy]

It was built for the Skoda challend and it does begin with N*** UBD but for the life of me can not remember the rest (and at work so can't pop out to look).

The guy I bought it from ran it in Rally GB last year and also Sunseeker this year (won class on both) but didn't do much tarmac stuff.

Thanks for the info on the wheels, do you know where I can pick some of the gravel up?

[rewsy]

One other thing, do you know where I can pick up the tyres for good deal (the yokos)?

[ugluk]

Ah thats Darren Jones old car N 158 UBD mine was 154, I seem to remember it looked tidy in photos. The Rally GB win was one of those class winner by default situations the only finisher in its class, but still a challenge to finish events like that, Ive found on forrest events at least 1/3rd of cars never make it to the finish line. Skodas are VERY good at getting you home .

As for good deals on tyres its just a case of phoning around until you make some friends in the motor trade. I get good deals on tyres through friends who dont normally deal in them, and thats something you can never have too many of when rallying is good friends .

For the 13" wheels, best bet is scrap yards really, Ive got a set of 4 here you could have free, but youd have to sort out collection, Im far too lazy and forgetfull to remember to get them packaged up etc.

[pinkskud]

my old mk1 felly was an N***UBD. stands for "U Bloody Dog"

[ugluk]

Hmm do you know any history on that car? the N UBD cars were all issued on a special discount for the skoda trophy, wonder where the UBD suffix comes from, whether or not it was a Skoda HQ tag or something. I know the cars were supplied by local skoda dealers all over the country but they all got the UBD tags.

[pinkskud]

come to think about it, that was my fav and it werent N. it was L665 UBD. only one number away from the devil.

the mk1 felly was N120 SBD. silent but deadly.

[ugluk]

Ah right

My current rally favorit is one number away from John Haughlands works favorit

His was H305YHY mine is H306YHY Presumably first registered at the same dealer which imported john haughlands car.

[rewsy]

Would be up for taking the wheels off of you, and making a contribution to your beer fund for the trouble!!

Whereabouts are you.

Darren was great with the car and all the bits, first event in few weeks in it so just changing few bits and bobs and then onto tarmac.................Darren said bit gutless on tarmac but looking forward to it

[ugluk]

Im in Newton Abbot, Devon dont worry about the beer fund, the wheels arent doing anything and I dont have any use for 4x100 wheels any more, im sticking to the Pre-vw favorits from now which use 4x98