standard wheels Vs aftermarket wheels

[Dub_nut_g60 0]

my G60 is currently running on 17" TSW wheels, im thinking of trying to find a set of standard wheels.

 

The 17s look really nice, but the car doesnt handle spectacularly well, it tramlines like crazy and cornering could be better!

 

what i want to know is, do the C's handle significantly better on the standard size wheels as opposed to bigger wheels?

[ben16v 0]

there will prob be a debate about this,

 

but i found my 15`s a lot better then 17" momo sports i had on before,

 

depends on a lot of other things too though i imagine

 

ben

[Dr Forinor 0]

I found that the around the corners, the 15s seem to be surefooted whereas my 17s seem to be more skitterish, so yeh, I would I noticed that the 15s handle better.

[vwdubs 0]

Its the olde age question once again....

 

I currently run 17" on my G60 and to be totally honest I love the look but the drive is as mentioned sometimes suspect, particuarly tram lining in Oxford.

 

At the same time if you ever hit a patch of large water on a MotorWay hold onto your seats (and the steering wheel) and prepare to change your pants afterwards.

 

When this was brought up about a year ago I was advised that the Raddo can run perfectly well on 17's if set-up correctly and I am still not quite at this point as I know my bushes need looking at, and then tracking needs doing although corner weighting has now been done (tbh not much difference). I expect more of a difference once all has been completed

[JT 0]

my G60 is running on it's orginal 15's with fk coilovers, all the bushes have been done new wishbones etc and it handles really well, have'nt got it out of shape yet, my old vr was on 17's and it did look good but for pure handling i would stick with 15's everytime... just my 2p worth :)

[Lippy 0]

TBH - my cars on 17s with Koni yellow sport suspension.

 

It handles really well wouldnt change it whatsoever...

 

2p cherching

 

Andrew

 

:D

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Always a difficult one to answer....

 

I can never make my mind up and seem to swap between the 15s and 17s every 3 months! Thing is, I find on both sets that the car will be brilliant for a while and then it will have a couple of off days and then I automatically blame the 17s, put the 15s on, love em for a month and then get the same off days again, then put the 17s back on!

 

The reduced unsprung weight of the 15s and the correct offset make themselves apparent immediately and the car feels a lot more chuckable. The 17s give the car a real meaty and stable feel at high speed, but tight corners can feel a bit heavy going.

 

I don't know which is best to be honest. I suppose it boils down to what you prefer the look of because if looks didn't come into it, then the 15s would be on the car, no question!

[Dub_nut_g60 0]

cheers for that Kev!

 

i assume its not just the diameter but also the width of the wheels that makes a difference?

 

im deffinatly gonna think about considering the change to 15s, cost is the main barrier!, any suggestions on something that will look good for below £400?

[Kevin Bacon 5]

A number of things affect the ride mate.... wheel weight (standard 15s are about 14-15lbs each, 17s are upwards of 20lbs usually), wheel width and offset. The diameter also plays a part too, imagine putting a heavier flywheel on the engine that is also 2" bigger diameter. Naturally the engine will accelerate slower as it tries to overcome the extra inertia and so it's the same at the driveshafts....you've effectively got 2 bigger flywheels to spin up, so acceleration suffers slightly too.

 

It's all a personal thing mate, if you don't like the way it rides, try the 15s and go from there. If you want to stick with 17s (and yours sits well on them by the look of it ;-) ) go for the lightest ones possible!

 

The best my car has ever driven was when it was on 15" BBS Solitudes (Storm rims) which weight bugger all and were shod with BF Goodrich Profiler G. It felt superb, but I wasn't overly keen on the Storm rims looks wise.

[vr6storm 0]

but I wasn't overly keen on the Storm rims looks wise.

 

 

pfffffff.......no accounting for taste :roll: :D :D :D

[andy 0]

Do solitudes weigh much less than speedlines?

[Trig 0]

I plan on getting new wheels eventualy, still on standard (refurbed) speedies. When I do upgrade i'm going to get 16s, i've never tried 17's but from what I have read on the forum 16's seem like a good compromise... and they're cheaper! :wink:

 

Oh and i'm thinking about BBS RX's :D

[dazzyvr6 0]

think you may find 16" tyres cost more than 17's

[Trig 0]

Not on here:- http://www.mytyres.co.uk/start.html :)

[dazzyvr6 0]

mm i can get them cheaper than that from demon tweeks!!

[bristolbaron 10]

i just put my 15" bbs back onto the g60 before it went into the bodyshop.

results were pretty much as Kev's said.

I have found the car to feel MUCH quicker on the 15's though!

[Neil VR6 0]

My car came with 17's with 205/40 tyres and apart from me not liking the look of them, the ride was choppy and it tramlined like crazy. I found a good set of std 15 inch BBS's and haven't looked back. With 195/50 tyres like VW intended, the ride and handling's much better.

 

dazzyvr6: I found that on my last car which had 195/40 R16 and they were uber expensive. I think a 195/45 R16 is much cheaper than it's lower profile counterpart. More choice too. The 40 only comes in Pirelli, Conti and Dunlop SP9000 (great tyre). The 45 has more "budget" tyres.

[A5 VRX 0]

Never had 17's on myself but keep swapping between my standard 15's and my RH 16's, personally i love the 15's feeling great through the twisties but prefer the look of bigger rims so thought i'd go for the middle option and be safe with 16's! Just my opinion though!

[Neil VR6 0]

I thin kif I got some other rims they'd be 16's. They seem like a good compromise between looks and performance (as long as they're not 9 inches wide).

[VWci 0]

If you are willing to use bigger wheels 16 inchs will be good with 205/45/16s (185/55/15) or 205/40/16 (195/50/15) but they are their alternatives so you can use them instead of each other with little difference....

 

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalcold.html

 

you can calculate wheel diameter with this site it is useful....

[Trig 0]

Great link, very useful.