15's vs 16's

[Cal]

Ive read the sticky's and searched but cant seem to find anything so sorry, new thread :oops:

I have my car lowered on 55mm drop Gmax springs and a little bit lower on the back, the wheels fitted are 15 inch with 45pro tyres and have next to no troubles bar full lock slight scrape...

I just want to hear if I'll have any serious rubbing problems with 16's and what work is involved correcting it... another thing, will the larger rims affect acceleration/higher end acceleration?

Cheers! :drink: :y:

[djrem]

acceleration will go down.

16s with lower profile tyres will suit the car fine with no more mods other than arch liner removal.

[bullit]

you will get rubbing but i dont how much. as for performance just make sure you have a 40 profile tyre to keep same rolling diameter so acceleration and speedo stays the same. youll have thinner side wall which wont be as good on the bumpier roads on a 40 though

[Yates]

i know dan had 16s on 40 profile and no rubbing, no arch work and his was down 60, unsure if dsh85 has had arch work, dont think he has and hes down the same

[Cal]

So, 16's with 40pro will be similar/same in diameter to my 15's with 45pro? Dont understand how profiles are measured sorry!

[bullit]

yeah. what wheels you got now

[Cal]

They're 195/45/15 BSA Arrakis... posted a 'wheel suggestion' for my car thread not so long ago. Most reckon white's would suit my china blue... Im dicking about with photoshop as we speak!!!!

1. OZ Super T's in white,
2. OZ Ultra's in Crystal...

Gunna go for 16's with 40pro then - cheers for the info/advice :drink:

[djrem]

im on 17s
standard arches
no lowering.

no rubbing

[bullit]

if you going oz you gotta keep 15 as they will look better. also best handling size tyre

[Cal]

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/cal2319/my106gti.jpg
15's then you reckon bullit?? Just really fancy a change, I dont like them... thought 16's on 40's would be fine?

[bullit]

they would be fine but that type of wheel being a lightweight racing one i think suits so much more being 15.
its looks good now 15 suit it perfect.
have you seen rushes wheels

[Cal]

Yeah Ive pm'd Rushy just to ask for some advice on the 16's etc but I dont think he's about so I posted the thread... Yeah I love the ultra's on Rushy's... I think my wheels are cast and not very lightweight, they were fairly cheap...

[bullit]

your choice at end of day. i have 16 40 but which i gone 15s

[Cal]

your choice at end of day. i have 16 40 but which i gone 15sJust cos of the handling/extra weight? I dont do track days so doubt I'll notice that much... Flip a coin time... guess the 15's would save me £££ in rubber too..

[bullit]

Just cos of the handling/extra weight?

yeah and would go better with the racing look i have. 15s and eagle f1 tyres is the combo to go for.
you would prob save some money but its still your choice. if you get it photoshoped with the 2 sizes it would help

better performance or looks really

[Cal]

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/cal2319/supertsvsultras.jpg

These are 15's... like my oldies...
EDIT: Ive decided against 16's, its just wheel choice now!

[willsy]

Ive noticed no real differance atall from switching from 15's to 16's

My 16' ultraleggeras weigh half what my 15's weighed so ive noticed no difference in any kind of performance.

I have 40 profile so down 40mm with these i have no rubbing and all arch parts fully intact without modification.

Due to the lower profile when you work it out theres an inch difference in alloy diameter (2.5cm) but with the lower profile thats eliminated all but 0.5cm of height difference.

The only downside is that 195/40/16 will cost more to replace when the rubbers worn.

I wouldnt go back to 15s on my Saxo. Of course thats based on the lightweight Oz alloys ive got. All of the above would be different story if you have heavier 16's and 45 profile tyres

[Cal]

Good points, cheers Willsy... got some thinking to do!

[platty]

go 16's mate, they look the nuts when the cars lowered. look at my progress thread, ive recently had 16's and 40 profiles fitted- want cheap though!

[Cal]

They do look nice Platty, if I get overall diameter the same as I have now with 195/40/16 and lighter wheels like the ultra's I shouldn't notice any drag in performance... I might still even save weight getting 16's as those BSA things (despite being 15's) weigh a tonne!!!

[rushy_23]

Just PM'ed you matey:

hey buddy, glad you like the car.

Well just to explain things, I actually have 15s and
they are the Superleggera wheels not the Ultralegerra.
Also Im lowered 40mm at the front and 50mm at the
rear.

I know a few people with GTi's with 16" superleggeras
lowered 50mm all round and they have no problems
at all.

All depends on what you want from to do, 16s in
Ultraleggera or superleggera will still weight pretty
much nothing as they are soo light!
So dont worry about "loss in performance" lol.

Either option will be fine imo. If your down 60mm or
more though I probably wouldnt bother with 16s.
15s will still look great with a drop that low, well my
15s look okay I guess ( :p ) down 40/50.

Hope that helps mate, there are loads of pics in my
thread but I will email u a few more later tonight buddy.
Hope that helps.

[Cal]

Cheers mate, thought someone said you had 16's... and guess I need glasses, thought those were ultra's!! Have some rep - dont forget the pics :drink:

[bullit]

just get a couple of quotes see what the difference is

[Cal]

Ultraleggera; 15x7 is 4.9kgs, 16x7 is 5.9kgs

[bullit]

price quotes

[Cal]

Yeah I know, but more interested in the weight really... if there wasn't much difference in weight then id go for the 16's...