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Little-Acorn
38 Posts |
 Posted - May 02 2009 : 08:21:53 AM
I test drove a VW Gazelle yesterday, and was surprised to find that the steering felt a lot heavier than what I was used to in a normal VW bug. Is this normal for the VW-based Gazelle?I've noticed that most VW Gazelles have 195-75R14 tires instead of the 165-80R15 tires the bug had. Could this be why? Is there some reason why Gazelles MUST have 14" wheels and tires, instead of the "normal" VW 15" wheels and tires? From what I could see, there seems to be plenty of room under the fenders. And the 15" tires are actually about 1/4" larger in radius than the 14" tires, since the tire itself is not as tall (from the rim to the road) as the 14". And, I seemed to have a LOT of trouble getting my legs into that long tunnel where they're supposed to go in the Gazelle. I'm 5'10", my legs aren't that long. Also normal for a Gazelle? |
Rick
USA
212 Posts |
Posted - May 04 2009 : 6:44:15 PM
Well, hopefully someone who actually has one will chime in here. I'm not intimately familiar with the Gazelle, but the steering shouldn't be any heavier than a standard VW. In fact, it should be slightly lighter due to the reduced overall weight. There could be many factors with that - a bad steering box, for one, or worn ball joints, whatever. As for the tunnel and legroom...it's a kit. 99% of the VW based cars have really poor legroom/footroom just due to the design. Once you take the upright, chair-like seating away from the VW, anything else is a compromise. I'd imagine the Gazelle is the same way, with a fender well or something similar intruding into the footwells. You learn to deal with stuff like that or walk away.
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Is Gazelle steering heavier than VW it came from?
