17s with runflats v 18s with ordinary tyres

[nylo]

am coming to the conclusion that when the time comes, i will replace my runflats with normal tyres to try and ease the ride a bit. And then I'm sort of thinking, if I'm going to change all my tyres, to maybe go for 18s while I'm at it. I was just wondering how the ride of 17s with runflats compares to 18s on normal tyres? (the car isnt lowered at all, just the usual s sports suspension) Cheers guys

[nylo]

i know some of you guys have taken your 17s off and put your 18s group buy wheels on, so someone out there must have some feedback...please???

[Vron]

I went from 17" with Pirelli runflats to 18" with non runflats (but the profile is slightly higher) and the difference was instantly noticeable. Much quieter softer drive. I would not go back to runflats now and normal tyres are cheaper!

[Leccy_Blue]

Quote: Originally Posted by nylo

am coming to the conclusion that when the time comes, i will replace my runflats with normal tyres to try and ease the ride a bit. And then I'm sort of thinking, if I'm going to change all my tyres, to maybe go for 18s while I'm at it. I was just wondering how the ride of 17s with runflats compares to 18s on normal tyres? (the car isnt lowered at all, just the usual s sports suspension) Cheers guys

My car was already lowered when I changed my 17's with runflats to 18''s without runflats so the ride was already quite harsh. I would say that the ride was about the same if not slightly better with the 18's and normal tyres. Don't let the ride quality put you off getting 18's, I reckon most people would agree with what I said (guys?)

Hope that helps

LB.

[nylo]

am not letting the ride quality put me off totally, i just work up a country lane, and things are quite harsh as they are, so i couldnt bear them getting much worse...

however, those 2 responses are convincing me that 18s plus normal tyres is the way forward. vron, how do you mean the profile was slightly higher? slightly higher on the 18s? what profile did you go for? would it not need to be 215/35/18? i know that's getting into rubber band territory, and that's what's niggling me...

i'm interested to know what profile your tyres are. amazing that 18s can give a quieter smoother ride than smaller!

see, its going to cost, say, 300 quid to replace all my runflats with normal 17" tyres anyway, so if i sell my 17" S spokes with tyres with a little tread, basically its not going to cost me much more to upgrade to 18s...if that makes sense... oh its all so rational, how can i afford NOT to get 18s?!?!

[Fizzle]

Quote: Originally Posted by nylo

see, its going to cost, say, 300 quid to replace all my runflats with normal 17" tyres anyway, so if i sell my 17" S spokes with tyres with a little tread, basically its not going to cost me much more to upgrade to 18s...if that makes sense... oh its all so rational, how can i afford NOT to get 18s?!?!

thats exactly how i've managed to talk myself into gettin 18's just cant decide what wheels to go for?? u got any in mind nylo??

[nylo]

yeh i have mate. they're fox RS3s:
http://www.parcfermeracing.com/s.nl/...ategory.380/.f
They are vvv similar to the dead expensive breyton ones that i think ive seen on a mini-design.com S in adverts in the gomini mag. in fact i can see very little difference in them- what do you think? a fraction of the price too- always a bonus. the guy ive been speaking to isnt sure if he can get them, and if he can't , then i'm a bit stuck. never bought aftermarket wheels before, and am ****-scared of buying ones that look rubbish...

just noticed that youre from newcastle, i was there last weekend- mental weekend, super time!

[Fizzle]

yeah, i've looked at them. they look really nice and i cant really tell the difference from them and the breytons, well apart from the badge. only thing i was worried about is the chrome lip, could get scratched easy and not quite sure how well it would hold up against all the salt on the winter roads??

the thing is, if i get 18's i want them to be light so i can still use them for track days etc. at the moment i think i'm gonna go with kei racing flights in hyper black like the ones pictured.

also like oz superturismo gt and Superleggera but not enough to fork out an extra £200+ over the flights for them.

ps. where did u go when u were in newcastle?

[nylo]

yeah, i like some of the oz stuff, but they are a lot of money. you were talking about the chrome lip on my choice, do yours not have that too? or is that just the photo? id actually looked at those wheels too- they are really smart and i think they would look sweet with our paint work-i'd really like to see them on your car! fortunately i dont do any track day stuff, so weight isnt much of an issue for me, but just out of interest, are 18s much heavier?

is yours lowered by the way? when are you thinking of doing this? i've given myself the date of end of jan/beginning of feb, just need to give myself a little time to drop a few hints and soften the blow at home here, or it'll be the usual 'whats wrong with the ones youve got etc etc' questions

was going to wait until my tyres had no tread, but then the wheel guy pointed out that this wouldnt be a very wise move if i was going to sell them. good point, but it just gives me less time to dither

couldnt tell you where i went pal, i just followed the leader! think we maybe started off in the long bars, would that be right? lots of cheap vod/rb!!!

[Fizzle]

the rims in the pic have more of a polished lip than chrome if u know what i mean. as far as weights are concerned i dont think your gonna get any heavier than the s spoke / runflat combo but its just sumthin to bear in mind when buyin wheels.

yes my car is lowered by the way, got eibach springs, would highly recomend them especially if your gettin 18's to avoid the 4x4 look.

not sure when i'm gonna get my 18's. probs feb / march time so the weathers better and so people are more likely to buy my s spokes after they've recovered from x mas spendin.

as far as bars are concerned, the long bars a good start, it's at the right end of town at least!!

[nylo]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fizzle

not sure when i'm gonna get my 18's. probs feb / march time so the weathers better and so people are more likely to buy my s spokes after they've recovered from x mas spendin.

that man speaks sense! hadn't thought of it that way!

what did you start off with? 17s and standard sports suspension? how do the eibachs compare? yeah, think springs probably will have to go on the list too, though we'll see how the 18s look (dealer not too keen to listen to aftermarket mod thoughts...)

certainly, from what ive read, the handling etc of 18s is certainly no worse than the 17 runflats. you (or anyone else) ever had 18s before? what are the disadvantages? obviously i know there's more chance of kerbing them coz there's less tyre to protect the rims, but what else? are they prone, or much more prone, to bursting or whatever? i reckon there are probably enough guys driving round there on 18s without mishap, and i therefore shouldn't come a cropper, but i think i'd rather know the downsides before i buy, so any feedback would be good...

[Fizzle]

i had the sports suspension plus when i bought the car then got the eibachs after about a month. there great, the car looks so much better with them and the handlings improved too. ride is slightly harsher tho but thatdoesnt bother me in the slightest.

when i test drove the mini at the dealers it had 18" alpina alloys and to be honest i didnt really notice any difference in ride / handling.

might get my wheels in the next couple of weeks as i fancy a change and leave the s spokes in the garage for a couple of months before sellin them.

got a new stereo to go in first tho, when will this car stop costin me so much money??

[nylo]

probably when you get rid of it

its a long and slippery slope, and don't i know it. think the trick is knowing when to stop, so it all doesn't become OTT...

i still reckon i'm going to go for mine end of jan/beg feb (just call it a valentines present for my baby!). I'll maybe even try and photoshop them to see how they will really look if i can ever get a minute to myself, though if anyone else out there with lots of time fancies having a go for me, please feel free!

keep me up to date fizzle, i'll be interested to see what you go for and how they look, and if you get yours before me, your feedback may be useful

[Fizzle]

well this will give u an idea of what it would look like with the fox wheels, and you lowered it

it's dinka's car with the breytons on. must admit i really like it, but want to go for a more of a racier than bling look with my car if u know what i mean??

*balls , pics are too big , pm me your e-mail if you want me to send em to u.

[nylo]

pm sent, look forward to seeing those...

bling? me? nah, not a chance