Darren46 Posted September 2, 2006 Report Share Posted September 2, 2006 I drive a Lupo 3L TDI in Sweden. Here we have to change to "winter tyres" between November and April. My standard summer tyres are 155 / 65 / 14 R but my winter tyres are 165 / 65 / 14 R. they came with the car when it was imported from Germany.What Tyre / Wheel size range does the Lupo 3L have ? In other words, what are the biggest wheel / tyre size I could legally drive with?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach Posted September 2, 2006 Report Share Posted September 2, 2006 (edited) there is no legal limit for tyre or wheel sizes in the uk. but if you got 14" wheel your best of staying with the 14" , go for a wider/low profile 195/45/14 tyre for summer if you fancy trying something with good grip. Edited September 2, 2006 by beach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigz™ Posted September 12, 2006 Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 The 3L comes with 155/65R-14195s will be far too big for the tiny rims. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach Posted September 12, 2006 Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 that is small indeed. yes if you wanted to upgrade for alloys of the 14" kind then you want about a 6"-6.5" rim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigz™ Posted September 12, 2006 Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 Defeats the object of having a 3L though.The wheels are ultra lightweight, and the tyres are designed for the car.The tyres also have some special coating which aids reduce rolling resistance by 30%.Stick with standard size and brand IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach Posted September 12, 2006 Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 (edited) i dont know much about the 3L sounds as if its very specific and special, guess its best to keep standard for collectable reasons. though i'm sure the 15x7" oz wheel of 4.9kgs wont be any heavier than the 14" of the 3L.?could try that light weight wheel and some 195/45/15 tyres. overal diameter would be no bigger than your used to. but it would take your fuel economy down from the width resistance. grip would be good with cornering though.. i enjoyed 195/45/15 tyres on my 55bhp 1.0 micra when i had it. foot to the floor around all corners lol. Edited September 12, 2006 by beach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAutobahn Posted August 25, 2023 Report Share Posted August 25, 2023 (edited) On 9/12/2006 at 5:56 PM, Tigz™ said: Defeats the object of having a 3L though. The wheels are ultra lightweight, and the tyres are designed for the car. The tyres also have some special coating which aids reduce rolling resistance by 30%. Stick with standard size and brand IMO. I think I can lend a very informed opinion here. Back in 2000 I was hired to play Trumpet in the pit orchestra for Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame (actually called Der Glöckner von Notre Dame) in Berlin, Germany. But at the time, my fiancé and I were living in Lübeck Germany, more than 300 km away. And she was finishing her college degree there so we couldn’t leave Lübeck. The first idea was for me to rent a small apartment in Berlin and just come home from there perhaps once a week, but instead we chose for me to commute to the show and we bought a 2000 Lupo 3L to make the journey as economical as possible. The car was extremely economical and really did just use 3 L of fuel per hundred kilometers as long as one kept it at 100 km/h or less. Even at 120 km/h it just used about 4 to 4-1/2 liters of fuel per 100 km. And flat out on the autobahn it could make about 165 to 170 km an hour and still use just 7-1/2 L of fuel per 100 km. But those skinny stock tires drove me crazy. I’ve always driven sports cars and the handling was subpar to say the least. Even dangerous in my opinion. So I soon replaced the original tires and wheels with wider wheels with 185/60R14 tires. And on those 600 km round trips that I made five to six times per week, they made virtually no difference in the fuel economy. Perhaps it used 1 or 2% more fuel. It really was an insignificant difference. But the handling and safety were significantly improved. I did keep the original skinny stock aluminum wheels and had winter tires mounted on them. It makes sense to have narrower winter tires in the winter as they dig down and grip the snow better than wider tires. As a sidenote, I remember reading back then how the new hybrid cars were coming out in America advertising as much as 50 miles per gallon. I thought to myself, how ridiculous! Here I was driving a car that could average 80 miles per gallon. Lastly, while the stock tires on the Lupo 3L were low rolling resistance type tires, the idea that they had some sort of “special coating” on them is a little silly. Any coating placed on an automotive tire or any tire for that matter, would be rubbed off very quickly. Edited August 25, 2023 by ZAutobahn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk2 Posted August 26, 2023 Report Share Posted August 26, 2023 Holy thread revival! Interesting economy numbers. The TDI and SDI are more economical at 120kmh. One of my SDIs can do 3.2L over a 100km equivalent. But motorway driving at 55-60mph is boring... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y2ACP Posted August 27, 2023 Report Share Posted August 27, 2023 I do like to try and get one over on the tax man, 60 on the motorway a great speed almost as economical as you can get,not trying to get past the next car then the next one etc,plus’s little chance of getting a speeding ticket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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