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Wheel spacers


Grapo
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Ok thought i would start a new thread on this topic.

I have just fitted some polo GTI rims and the wheels look a bit lost in the arches. The front doesnt look bad but the back is quite a way in.

Any recommendations on makes and size of spacer to get? Also will just getting spacers on the back mess up the handling?

Thanks

One other thing, a bit of a long shot. Can i fit 205 rubber to the GTI rims, even though they are not as wide as the Lupo GTI rims?

Edited by Grapo
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Ok thought i would start a new thread on this topic.

I have just fitted some polo GTI rims and the wheels look a bit lost in the arches. The front doesnt look bad but the back is quite a way in.

Any recommendations on makes and size of spacer to get? Also will just getting spacers on the back mess up the handling?

Thanks

One other thing, a bit of a long shot. Can i fit 205 rubber to the GTI rims, even though they are not as wide as the Lupo GTI rims?

Eibach do a 20mm hub-centric spacer for about £60 a pair (increases the rear track by 40mm across the axle). You'll need longer wheel bolts too.

Yes, you can run a 205 tyre on the Polo rims. I'd stick with a low profile tho, the Lup GTI 205/45 combo should do the trick.

Spacing the rear wheels on the Lupo actually increases the handling. The wider rear track brings the wheels inline with the front, and reduces the twitchy-ness the Lupo has in the wet.

Spacing the front wheels on the Lupo will actually lead to them protruding from the arch, and you'll catch the inner arch lining on full lock.

Edited by Dubya
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I do not recomend spacers at all mate they are lethal and sould only ever be used in small amounts to space the wheels out to the correct offset NOT to make the small wheels fill the arches

wayne

Edited by The subtle modder
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Does anyone do rear axle spacers for the lupo/arosa? Used to be able to get 20mm ones for the ka, spaces the rear brake/hub out instead of the wheel itself from the hub.

Lee.

i remember the spacers you mention, we had them on the Ford Ka rally car we built a few years back, we had a few of them machined with different degrees of wegde on them to add a small amount of positive or negative camber to the rear wheels. they are very easy to make and cheap too. As for buying them ready made off the shelf, then i'm lost. sorry for that useless info but i thought i'd throw in another twist! coffee.gif style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":coffee:" border="0" alt="coffee.gif" />

Edited by 1 Litre Screamer
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I have 5mm per side eiback rear spacers, been on for 50,000 miles now with the coilovers and 17's with no issues.

Only using them to increase rear track width for improved stability and less oversteery nature. Would not be confident running large width spacers on a road car for long periods of time, sure they are ok for track cars where everything is stripped and checked for wear regularly though.

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Hehehe, yeah thats the puppies! Cool idea with the camber adjustment on them too!

Lee.

well thats what we we're paid to do, although we very rarely did come up with cool ideas!! we also made a set with toe in and toe out for the RAC rally although we did get a telling off by Ford as these werent really legal for the KA championship!! d'oh

you have got me thinking about making some for my lupo now, get the rear track wider and throw on a little negative camber to help the rear tyres get warm. mmmm thinking cap now been stretched on!!

Edited by 1 Litre Screamer
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Grapo, anything decent will be fine, just make sure they're hubcentric so then you're not putting the strain on the bolts etc.

Loads of ppl on SeatCupra.Net fit 15/20mm hubcentric rear spacers to their Ibiza's to give it a wider track as like the Lupo the rear is narrower. The IHI boys with 350+ bhp use them, with no issues at all. I'd expect to pay around £60-80 for a pair inc longer bolts etc. smile.gif style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

They're on my shopping list for parts for my Cupra too. biggrin.gif style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" />

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Would 5mm either side be noticeable?

plus where do you get longer bolts and locking wheel nuts from?

Not to the untrained eye it wouldn't. Someone would only notice a difference if there were 2 parked near each other... You tend to find that people run small spacers for clearance, rather than increasing the track.

Places like Demon Tweeks will sell you longer wheel bolts.

I've run wide spacers, and hub adaptor plates, on dub's for years now. I've even run wide-as-you-like rims on daily drivers before, and never had any problems. The extra stress inflicted on the wheel bearings is negligeable, so unless you do an excess of annual mileage, you wont see a problem. The only thing that'll need adjusting quicker is your powersteering belt.

smile.gif style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

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Loads of ppl on SeatCupra.Net fit 15/20mm hubcentric rear spacers to their Ibiza's to give it a wider track as like the Lupo the rear is narrower.

The Mk3 Ibiza had some scary lift-off oversteer as standard - my Cupra could be quite a handful when it wanted to be! Fitting the spacers was high on my priority list, but then it got stroppy and started breaking down every 2 weeks.

As mentioned, fitting spacers will affect the handling. Widening the front track will tend to increase oversteer/decrease understeer while widening the rear track will tend to decrease oversteer/increase understeer.

Doubt you'd notice much change with 5mm though.

Edited by snoopstah
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I agree that my 5mm spacers do not make a noticable visual difference unless you look from the rear of the car. I fitted them to increase the rear track width to reduce oversteer and also to bring the wheels further out away from the bumper liner. Cannot go any wider as wheels are only a few mm from arch lip now so 5mm is it.

I got them from Demon Tweeks (Eibach spacers as they come TUV certified which is good for my insurance) and got the 5mm longer bolts from the same place. Only problem is my rear locking bolts are same length as front ones (ie: 5mm shorter) but they still engage on plenty of thread.

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Im tempted to get the 20mm kit for the rear now, it comes with all the necessary longer bolts etc, what that kit does, due to the thickness of it, is the spacer bolts to the hub, and then you bolt the wheel into offset holes in the spacer, seems a good idea to me!

If i were running spacers which just had the normal 4 holes and needed longer bolts, id convert to studs, you can get bolt-stud conversion bolts from rallydesign (www.raldes.co.uk) did it on my fiesta, makes changing a wheel so much easier! There not very expensive either.

Now, is 20mm the right amount, you can get wider ones, but would that bring the wheels in-line with the front?

Lee.

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I certainly wouldn't say you wanted to increase understeer on the Lupo any more - it's more understeery than most of the decent competitors already.

now that i have taken alot of weight out of my car the rear end is like a snakes tail, always wanting to race the front end into corners. i'll be widening the rear of mine to get a little understeer back,or at least less oversteer before the rear end does win the race to the corner!!

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I use a set of Jamex 15mm hub centric spacers with my winter wheels (15" 7J BSAs). I bought them off a chap on ebay complete with extended bolts for about £25 ish about 18 months ago. I have never had any problems them whilst fitted to the car. I don't know if they'll even fit now that I have put the Lupo GTi rear beam on my Arosa????? confused.gif style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":confused:" border="0" alt="confused.gif" />

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ive been wanting to get some spacers on the back for a while now but havent known how much to space them out so that it looks better but doesnt ruin the handling or even what make to go for?

Has anyone got pics of a GTI on standard wheels with and without a set of spacers to show the difference?

Surely 15mm will be enough to make a noticeable difference without causing problems???

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ive been wanting to get some spacers on the back for a while now but havent known how much to space them out so that it looks better but doesnt ruin the handling or even what make to go for?

Has anyone got pics of a GTI on standard wheels with and without a set of spacers to show the difference?

Surely 15mm will be enough to make a noticeable difference without causing problems???

My spacers should be going on at the weekend (20ml) so will post up some before and after pics if you can wait that long?

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Being a bit of a girl on this one...not sure what make they are, but paid £24.99 on eBay - contacted the bloke for Hanley, and apparently there are more available...will try to get them on the car tomorrow and will take photos for you.

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