What size alloys and tyre?

[david51]

Ive got a 1.2 16v sxi and its currently got 16" alloys on 195/45 tyres but it feels more slugish now so thinking of getting smaller wheels again so what size is best and what size tyre and offset? Thinking of going for some vauxhall sport ones. Also with me now putting smaller wheels on is it best to lower it so theres not so much of a gap between the arch? Thanks

[jonny2608]

Do 16" make that much of a difference to the performance? I'm stick in between get eiher 15", 16" or 17"s!

[pariAh]

well 17's wont beable to be fitted unless spacers i believe or if you sort the wheel arch! 16's can slow the acceleration(apparenlty lol) and 15's keep it the same as its the orginal wheel size.....

[jonny2608]

What's 'spaces'? I like 17"s the best but I do a lot of long distance driving like everyday and don't want to be paying more in fuel than what I already am. I've heard that your fuel consumption gets worse with larger wheels but how much?

Also I've heard 17"s can't be easily fitted and the performance of ya car goes down.

If all of this is true then it looks like I'm gonna have to go for 15" or 16".

[pariAh]

if you get differnce size wheels to the ones you already have your speeedo will be slighty wrong.. depending on wiether you go larger or smaller it will be fast or slower

[smellurkebs]

well i have 17" on mine and no mods needed...no rubbing with full car and not a huge reduction in performance...just a matter of perferance i think

[jonny2608]

Now you see that temps me to get 17"s...

[jonny2608]

... But on the other hand I go through six speed cameras a day so I can't afford for me speedo to be out.

[david51]

I found that when i had the standard 14" alloys it was costing me more in fuel because at 60 it was doing just above 3000rpm and with 16" its doing just under 3000rpm in 5th. But i think it costs more in fuel getting there with bigger wheels.

Yer i found that with smaller wheels it was quicker through the gears and with 16" it takes longer to get the revs up. What im going to do now is get some 15" Softstars with 195/50 tyres.

When you mean the speedos out will it be showing less than what you are actually doing?

[jonny2608]

Surely if you're doing less revs then you save fuel?

Would you recommend 15"s then?

And I believe the bigger the wheels, you being going slow then what the speedo says, so I think your less likely to get caught by speed cameras but people behind you will be thinking "Why the f**k he's goin' so slow" lol.

I would quote me on that... I donno what I'm talking about lol.

[david51]

Yer i meant that it would cost more in fuel getting there as in getting from 0-60 with bigger wheels on but when your doing a constant speed it would be cheaper as theres a greater rolling radius so the engine doesnt have to work as hard.

I would reccomend 15" because its in between performance an looks really, if you want it to look good go for 16s-17s but for performance 13s-14s so 15s ir right in the middle. lol

As for the speedo il c if i can borrow a tom tom or something and compare speeds but dont no how accurate they are lol

[jonny2608]

Yeah I see what you mean, I'll probs end up with 15"s 'cos they're cheaper, but maybe 16"/17"s would be better for style/fuel reasons as spend most my driving time on a motorway.

I've got a Tom Tom so before I get and fit my alloys I'll test this. Don't wanna get caught by any speed cameras!

[pariAh]

16's are in the middle, i think they are the best bet, looks the best for the price and arent too damaging on the performance

[Chrex]

what have you got now?? I would stick with either 15's or 16's. Make sure they're ET49 tho, if not you want no less than ET45. A set of vauxhall 15's are your best bet. they set the car off nicely, you'll have no problems wit lowering and there are readily available tyres. One problem with 16's is that you will struggle to get tyres at good price because its quite a random size. 15 is a good size...and doesnt complicate anythin. And if it aint already...i'd suggest lowering it on some 40mm springs!

[jonny2608]

I don't know what I've got at the moment, I think there either 13" or 14", they came with the car when I bought it. I think I might go for 15"s then. Do you know if this will affect my speedo?

Do you have 15"s on yours? Have you got any photos? I'm assuming you have it lowered 40mm and was just wondering what it looks like.