so I just thought I would relay all of this as I now have driven this car with 15" 16" and 17" rims...an interesting experiment with some clear conclusions...its all been a bit "goldilocks"
when I bough the car it had the 15" pepper-pots on, I never like the look of them and to be honest i felt the 205/60/15 lacked grip and responsiveness and there was a general lack of feedback from the tyres, I tried some decent priced part worn's (firestones) with 6mm of tread to establish if it was wheel size or rubber that was the issue, although with these tyres the grip was better I still felt the car lacked "sharpness" and the rear was prone to stepping out without warning....this compared to other 1.9s I had test driven before buying this one.
so I fitted style 18 5 spoke alloys with 17" rims..225/45/17 front and 245/40/17 rears...
what a difference! some good, and some really bad things ..grip was phenomenal ! despite my best efforts the back would not step out at all and the car cornered as if glued to the road...however I had several problems straight after fitting these wheels despite them being checked and confirmed straight and balanced by a tyre guy I trust, and double checked elsewhere free of charge (just in case)..steering shake,awful and unpredictable tram-lining and I have to admit the car lost some of its "pep" acceleration was decreased as was mpg by about 10% I also had to renew the front discs,callipers and pads due to a binding calliper...a coincidence maybe and not entirely unexpected on a 15 yr old car, but heavier wheels means more work for these components so I am inclined to think that these issues were linked..I could not cope with the unpredictable nature of the tram-lining..even after fitting powerflex wishbone bushes, and the ride was generally harsh and suffered heavier steering and a slight increase in understeer.
yesterday fitted the 16" with conti contact sport all around sizes, 225/50/16,
tramlining and steering shake all completely gone, grip is unaffected and inspires confidence, the feedback from the tyres is great and the car is back to it's peppy drivable self..it feels less skittish at all speeds and even on the worse roads goes where its told...handling is neutral bordering on very slight understeer but it corrects itself with some right boot when cornering..all in all I am much happier.
in conclusion I would not advise anyone to go bigger than 16" on a 1.9
for optimum performance in all areas any bigger is a compromise between looks and drivability, especially on an older car where ball joints and bushes and braking components may be on their last 15% of useful life..it may highlight all even cause problems.
I will be thinking more carefully in future about the potential effects of changing things on the car.
when I bough the car it had the 15" pepper-pots on, I never like the look of them and to be honest i felt the 205/60/15 lacked grip and responsiveness and there was a general lack of feedback from the tyres, I tried some decent priced part worn's (firestones) with 6mm of tread to establish if it was wheel size or rubber that was the issue, although with these tyres the grip was better I still felt the car lacked "sharpness" and the rear was prone to stepping out without warning....this compared to other 1.9s I had test driven before buying this one.
so I fitted style 18 5 spoke alloys with 17" rims..225/45/17 front and 245/40/17 rears...
what a difference! some good, and some really bad things ..grip was phenomenal ! despite my best efforts the back would not step out at all and the car cornered as if glued to the road...however I had several problems straight after fitting these wheels despite them being checked and confirmed straight and balanced by a tyre guy I trust, and double checked elsewhere free of charge (just in case)..steering shake,awful and unpredictable tram-lining and I have to admit the car lost some of its "pep" acceleration was decreased as was mpg by about 10% I also had to renew the front discs,callipers and pads due to a binding calliper...a coincidence maybe and not entirely unexpected on a 15 yr old car, but heavier wheels means more work for these components so I am inclined to think that these issues were linked..I could not cope with the unpredictable nature of the tram-lining..even after fitting powerflex wishbone bushes, and the ride was generally harsh and suffered heavier steering and a slight increase in understeer.
yesterday fitted the 16" with conti contact sport all around sizes, 225/50/16,
tramlining and steering shake all completely gone, grip is unaffected and inspires confidence, the feedback from the tyres is great and the car is back to it's peppy drivable self..it feels less skittish at all speeds and even on the worse roads goes where its told...handling is neutral bordering on very slight understeer but it corrects itself with some right boot when cornering..all in all I am much happier.
in conclusion I would not advise anyone to go bigger than 16" on a 1.9
for optimum performance in all areas any bigger is a compromise between looks and drivability, especially on an older car where ball joints and bushes and braking components may be on their last 15% of useful life..it may highlight all even cause problems.
I will be thinking more carefully in future about the potential effects of changing things on the car.
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