Wheel sizes....

[redleicester]

Chaps, have been thinking of changing my tyres as you know, but have just spotted a set of 17" wheels for sale - allegedly the original Cerbera 4.5 ones. My car is currently on the original 4.2 16" alloys, and they previous owners have kerbed them quite a bit!

Question is, what is this upgrade going to do to the ride / handling / grip etc?

I think the 18" spiders look fantastic, but bearing in mind I drive every day, and take in 18 miles of country roads before I get to anything resembling smooth tarmac, I'm not sure I could cope with the trade off in ride quality from the lower profile tyres.

Would the 17"s be an acceptable compromise? Would they actually alter the handling / grip, or just look bigger and give me a lumpier ride?

Thanks as ever,
H.

[daver]

IMHO there'e little discernible difference in ride quality between 17's and 18's. And little discernible difference in grip where muddy lanes this time of year are concerned. Whichever you go for, there won't be any.

The 17's will fit your car as-is though. No arch rubbing, no steering lock reduction, no hub grinding, no 225x35 front tyres stretched to buggery across the 8.5" rims. You'd never guess that the spiders were originally designed to go on a different car.

[redleicester]

Okay, lets put ride quality on the back (after)burner for now.

Apart from the obvious asthetic advantages, are 17" wheels going to improve grip / handling?

[marcus1970]

I've got 18" spiders on mine with v.low profile tyres. They look superb and make the car look fantastic - there is nothing to beat it on looks once those spiders are on!!! Ride quality is a bit firm, but the handling is phenomenal - just like a scalextric car on a track, but as we all know just like scalextric, there are limits and once you go too far you may end up in a hedge. Good spidering... Regards MB

[SPSLWARD]

Having recently made the leap from 16s to the 17s I can safely say that the difference it has made to handling is just short of bugger all. Looks much nicer though.

[trooperiziz]

SPSLWARD said:

Having recently made the leap from 16s to the 17s I can safely say that the difference it has made to handling is just short of bugger all. Looks much nicer though.

I went from 16s on Toyos to 17s on Bridgestones. The only difference was a nicer look and a worse ride.

[joospeed]

daver said:

IMHO there'e little discernible difference in ride quality between 17's and 18's. And little discernible difference in grip where muddy lanes this time of year are concerned. Whichever you go for, there won't be any. The 17's will fit your car as-is though. No arch rubbing, no steering lock reduction, no hub grinding, no 225x35 front tyres stretched to buggery across the 8.5" rims. You'd never guess that the spiders were originally designed to go on a different car.

pretty much says it all really.

[redleicester]

Looks like it's a fairly pointless exercise then, except for looks alone. Not my bag, so I'll leave it as is. Looks like it'll be the Nitrons and fresh Toyo T1-Rs for more grip and better handling then