L.J.F

iTrader: (31)

I am looking for advice on 18" wheels as i have heard that they can cause problems with speedo bein inaccurate and also ruining the overall drive of the car I am currently on standard 17"'s and was gonna be getting a set of 18" during the week but if they might change the way it drives and feels im not too sure now


Cheers

JAutos

iTrader: (5)

I run 18" and drive is excellent, bear in mind Mine are also standard 18" prodrive wheels. 19"s and 20"s its a different story though but 18"s are ok

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

18s on a bugeye will be fine. !8s on a classic and I have my reservations even if others say different, but on a bugeye no worries.

fastboyslim

iTrader: (2)

And here, 18 OZ on and no speedo issues at all. Ride is not too hard either. If you choose your new 18inch tyre circumference the same as your old 17inch there is no change. I went 225 x 45 x 17 to 225 x 40 x 18.

jura11

iTrader: (7)

Hi there i run few days on borrowed 17"(courtesy of Maggs,because mine ha been powder coated ),car has been lower than on 18"...
18" are fine for bugeye or any new age Subaru with 225/40 18,lower profile i never try before...



Jura

GREGGYG

iTrader: (2)

No cons at all as long as you have the right size tyres, which should be 225x40/18

18"s will not ruin the drive of the car, but 19's will.

Greg

martome123

yea......and my bug drives fab with the pro drive 18"s .......but bloody blimey they are so easy to kirb........................eeeooooowwwwwwwccchhhh h.....seems like alot of differance in side wall thickness although its probabaly not even 10mm when compairing 45 x 17s and 40 x 18s

gojonnyjo

iTrader: (1)

18's no prob, infact if i recall prodrive recomended that new age run better with 18s

Gary WRX

I switched from 17s to 18s on my blobeye WRX a few weeks back and noticed a couple of things.

1. The handling has improved and there is less Movement when cornering due to dropping down on tyre profile so there is less give in the tyre walls.

2 I have noticed a slight drop in acceleration however am having the car remapped next month so this doesn't bother me.

Overall I'm chuffed with the results and if you drop down a tyre profile ie from 45 to 40 you wont have any issues with speedo etc

awdx4

Aside from the 18" wheels having tyres with a lower profile which consequently give you a lower profile cushion between the rim and the road which means a slightly firmer ride, there will as has been said less side-wall to flex when cornering. The rolling circumference will remain roughly the same as running 17" rims with 45 profile tyres and depending on which new rims you buy, they might actually be lighter than the original rims.

I think the effects on acceleration are an area that could be debated all day, but looking at the physics of this wheel upgrade and by choosing the right tyre size to keep the rolling circumference the same, I can't honestly see it making a jot of difference. If there were to be a change in that circumference at the point at which the tyres contact the road, your speedometer readings would be affected and yes it would be like a subtle alteration which raises the car's gearing with a small reduction in acceleration.

Keep the rolling circumference as with previous wheels, then your main concern will be the inflated cost of the 18" tyres.

Tim

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Maybe buy them uninflated then

M444GY

iTrader: (72)

18" wheels on newages are fine, classics can have problems with 18" but with the right tyres etc you will have no problems

L.J.F

iTrader: (31)

Thanks for the advice peeps

andythejock01wrx

Ok, so everybody reckons 18s are fine, but are they actually better (on a Newage)?

How many peeps think the handling's better? Is the difference in ride slight?

BLU

iTrader: (27)

I have 18s on my classic, running 215/35s. They handle fine, if a little firm. My only concern is avoiding potholes due to having such a low profile You'll be fine on a Bug running 40 profile though

gallois

i found 18's better on my '07, the ride felt choppy on 17's in comparison.

nick172sport

iTrader: (6)

ive had problems with my 18s in snow going through tyres ice cutting into them and fooking the tyres up they had 35s on

chris-boris

iTrader: (7)

This website is very handy for anyone considering changing the size of wheels on their car. It will tell you all you need to know about what effect any change will have on speedo accuracy:

wheel and tyre bible

topman2180

so on prodrive site for performance packs it quotes

No idea if thats true or not but im sure an expert will be along soon.

TurboAndy

iTrader: (1)

There are no problems with running 18" on newage cars. only difference between 17" and 18" is the cost of the tyres. ie 18" costs more.

Saalro

iTrader: (8)

If you don't plan to run a 356mm brake disc then i would stick with 17". More options besides the 356mm disc to play with.

Thanks
Sam

andythejock01wrx

Yeah but there's a cosmetic element too.

Saalro

iTrader: (8)

I forgot about that lol, i do like how my 18" look:



Couldn't imagine them in 17" on the car though, but if i wasn't running 356mm discs i would have 17".

Thanks
Sam

Richy P1984

That thing must stop on a dime!

Saalro

iTrader: (8)

Not with them budget tyres unfortunately lol, but yeah once they have warmed up they're very powerful ha.

Thanks
Sam

L.J.F

iTrader: (31)

Ok so to revive this thread, the tires on the 18's at the moment are 215-35-18 and i think they they look too small so how much bigger can i go on standard sti suspension?

225-40

225-45


Tbh i would like to see more rubber around the rim

L.J.F

iTrader: (31)

anyone?

BLU

iTrader: (27)

215/35/18 is classic tyre size.

You, on a newage, should be on 225/40/18's

ScoobySteve69

iTrader: (13)

Just wondering, did you fit the discs that direction for a reason?

JAutos

iTrader: (5)

the disc direction has raised a comment I see,