17" wheels too big?

[nick.parker]

Hi,
I have always had 15" wheels on my AW11, but lately I damaged a wheel and it is quite difficult to find some nice 15" or 16" wheels without spending a fortune. After dozens of wheel shop visits and phone calls (I am a little picky ) , nearly all of the 15"/16" wheels I have enquired about are no longer being imported into Australia, or are $450 a piece upwards. It seems that everybody wants 17"s.....I think my AW11 might look like a roller skate with wheels that big....however....

Can anybody tell me what the cons are of running 17" wheels with low profile tyres? On my car I'd need 205/40/17 to stay within 4.0% error (bigger than 205/50/15). Will wheels / tyres like this wreck the nimble handling of the MR2 or make it more like its connected to the road? With rough surfaces make the car unstable? Is ride comfort bad? Is road noise any different?

All experiences welcome! Tell me about it!

Cheers, Nick

[o_man_ra23]

Havent had personal experience, but the rules are thus:
Big rims + small sidewalls = less tyre roll = better road handling, more grip, or as you say it will make it more connected to the road
Low profile tyres = bounce on rough road, you feel more bumps, comfort is a thing of the past.

If you want big bling, or high performance, go the 17s.

If you drive in Mackay, go 13s with balloon tyres (seriously the roads here are crap though)

If miss daisy in the passenger seat is complaining how bumpy it is, and you actually listen to her, dont go 17s.

17s really should be left for higher performance or larger wank. The only reason I will be running 16s on my RA23 rather than 15s is the rims wont fit over the front brakes otherwise ... then again if the roads were better around here I would run 17s for the handling aspect.

Just like they say drive to the conditions... buy rims/tyres to the conditions too.

Cheers, Owen

[Vios-GT_07]

i am currently running 14" wheels, and i've downgraded from 17" before. I've measured up the wheels when i sold them and they had the same diameter (tyre to tyre)..

the 17" were 205 / 40 and the 14" are 175 / 65

apart from the 17" wheel being wider (and needed more offset), in terms of performance the 17" wheels had less flex on hard corners.. the 14" would flex a fair bit..

i wouldn't say it'd wreck the handling of the MR2, though on my seca the offset issue meant the wheel was scrubbing on the strut just a little bit, the best way to describe handling would be that it entered corners faster, but tends to exit wider.. then again the seca has a longer body and lugs around more weight..

edit - have u tryed tempe tyres or technoir ??

[Major Clod]

If you drive in Mackay, go 13s with balloon tyres (seriously the roads here are crap though)

Having just been in Mackay for the last few days, I definately know what you mean lol!

[o_man_ra23]

example in point, race cars run large rims... exept in offroad rally.

Cheers, Owen

[o_man_ra23]

Having just been in Mackay for the last few days, I definately know what you mean lol!

And you didnt stop in for a beer?? How rude

Cheers, Owen

[nick.parker]

>> edit - have u tryed tempe tyres or technoir ??
Looked at tempe, what is technoir? Have you got a link?

[Mooro]

Personally from the pictures I have seen 17's look too big on an AW11.

I'm also not too sure about the 17's = performance arguement. It is possible to get a similar profile tyre in 16's and 15's, just means your overall rolling diameter might be lower. I think there is a lot of factors to consider when it comes to tyres and performance and the slightly lower profile you might be able to get with 17's is only a very small one..a lot of race cars seem to run a higher profile tyre than what is considered a low profile tyre on the street. I think most people will also argue that 15's are better for performance from a weight/rotational inertia point of view.

I personally went with 16's as what I considered the best looking option on an AW11 and a reasonable comprimise for performance in terms of weight. Having said that it is more difficult to get good tyres for 16's compared to 17's.

Did you see the 15's I posted a link for on the AW11Owners thread...the are RWD offset and should be light being Rays.

[o_man_ra23]

Yes the profiles on race car tyres seem higher than street... but they are also a heap wider, and the sidewalls are built stiffer. Race rims are also made from magnesium, making them far lighter than their street brethren. F1 style cars are also an oddity, as they have about 10mm suspension travel at the best of times, so they use larger tyres for the suspension duties aswell. The fact no other motorsport employs this theory must mean its an expensive one.

Of course there is a limit to the rim size vs aspect ratio tradeoff, with both weight and tyre dynamics, but lets face it, unless its a race car, how well do you need it to handle?? And if it is a race car, you will find the street tyres you would have on the 17s are poo anyways, and would wear out a lot quicker than the much softer race tyres.

So, if you drive near potholes, stick with 15s... they are heaps big on AW11s anyways.

Cheers, Owen

[RAd28]

CBF reading everything so far, but i was speaking to a tyre 'guru' one day on the topic of replacing R14/65 tyres with 17/40 or similar, and he said that when you do the math, a 14 with balloon tyre, has the same (or very similar) rolling radius as a 17 with low profile rubber...

[LeeRoy]

Ive got 205 40's on 17" wheels on my corolla and theyre pretty hard, Ideally id like to go to something with a bigger profile like a 45 but cant cause the 40's are already a squeeze. Road noise isnt too bad but this has a great deal to do with the tyre itself rather than its size although they both play a part. Also worth mentioning is that ive got pretty hard suspension.

Every now and then as well ill swap the 17's for the stock 14's and although i can feel the larger wheels hug the road more, the 14's are a nice relief and make the car a much nicer ride. In Hindsight, a 16" wheel would be perfect but then you lose some aesthetics. Unfortunately, looks mean a lot.

As mentioned above id chose something that suits your driving conditions, road conditions, while has a good look about it.

Have you thought about some second hand rims from japan - maybe through ottomoto or another importer?

[nick.parker]

CBF reading everything so far, but i was speaking to a tyre 'guru' one day on the topic of replacing R14/65 tyres with 17/40 or similar, and he said that when you do the math, a 14 with balloon tyre, has the same (or very similar) rolling radius as a 17 with low profile rubber...

Well you can take it as given I will be finding wheel/tyres combos with the right rolling radius! The problem is for a big wheel I cant get more profile for a better ride because ::
(1)A bigger rolling radius wont fit on the AW11 (spring perch on front particularly will foul on the wheel) and (2)Speedo will be wrong.

For example:
185/60/14 (is stock) and 205/17/40 is 103.15% of stock diameter so already speedo will read low at 100kph.....If I wanted 205/50/17 to be like my stock wheel for comfort then I'd have a 10% increase in rolling diameter!

[WDE_BDY]

Nice AW11 15's?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/List...x?id=101473175

Freight might be an issue though.

Callum

[Mooro]

But is it a huge issue if your speedo is out??? Granted hitting the spring perches is somewhat of a problem .

I believe these rims are in Perth at the moment for sale for $750 with crappy tyres...Volk C-Ultra's, 4x100PCD, 16x7 +29 offset, forged lightweight rims. Perfect for an AW11. I would definitely be getting these if I didn't already have some rims coming on a ship...in some ways I prefer these to the ones I have coming and regret not getting them . Or if your interested in some 16x7 +35 and 16x8 +38 3 piece volks we could maybe work out a deal when they finally arrive and I'll get these.

pm me if you want the details

[o_man_ra23]

Callum, is that the same Trademe.co.nz that had the dolphin for sale??

Cheers, Owen

PS