Alberick

Hello,
I'm currently thinking of fitting OZ Superleggeras on my MY99 Turbo. Some friends running with 17" wheels said that you loose some power (especially in acceleration). Is it that noticeable?

What do you recommend? What are the pro's and con's comparing 16, 17 and 18" wheels? Apart from the looks of course....
I was also thinking of fitting Eibach's at the same time, will the ride not bee too wasted with 18" and Eibachs??

Thanks for your advice.

Ramon

philgr

Errr.
How do you lose Power????
These wheels are alot lighter than most other 17' wheels so there is a weight saving and the tyres should be wider,
so you should have a little better traction.

Phil G

DaveW

The rolling radius may be slightly different depending on which size tyres you fit, so you may notice it is a little slower accelerating but has a faster top end. Not that I ever noticed the difference when I swapped.

DaveW

neveryoumind

Increased rolling circumference may lengthen the gearing, but you get to hang on to each gear a little bit further round the dial b4 you change:-)
Ideally, match your new wheels and tyre size as close as possibleto the standard ones

http://www.tyresave.co.uk/fitment.html will work it out for you.
nym

Alberick

NYM,

Thank for the information.
I chose the Superleggeras in 17" and was thinking of putting 205/45 ZR17 tyres.
Which brings me to another questions : Does anybody have experience with Falken Ziex ZE-512 or Yokohama A539's?
Unfortunately the S-03 don't exist in the size mentioned above

Thanks,
Ramon

[Edited by Alberick - 5/23/2002 11:53:51 AM]

nom

Don't bother with the Yokohamas. And the SO3s should be available in the right size! Can't remember what the right size is, of course, but you need to watch it with that one!

Alberick

So the Yokohamas are no good? So what is the best tyre size then for 17" wheels? 205/45/17, 215/45/17, 205/40/17, keeping in mind that between the Yoko's or Falken in the size 205/45/17 and S-03 215/45/17 is a huuuuuge price difference, for the price of the S-03 I could almost get 2 sets of Falken.

Can just somebody let me know the best tyre size for 17 inch wheels?

Thanks

jamesjones

Assuming you were on 16" rims with the car as standard either fit 225/40 17" or 205/45 17" so as not to screw with the speedo readings. http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html.

Have you tried Toyos at http://www.mytres.net.

J

Alberick

Thanks that was an useful site.
However, what about if I want to lower the car afterwards.
Are there any differences if I take 225/40/17 compared with 205/45/17?

It seems that the 225/40/17 is a better choice for lowering, or does it not matter?

mikeesingh

iTrader: (3)

ive allways had 215/40/17 on my MY99
i was told this is best option for 17'' alloys
as there's a wider choice of tyres

mikee

sasim

The MY99 would need 205x45 or 215x40 on 17" wheels. I have 215x40 Goodyear F1-D3's on my Superlegerras, they are great and a bit cheaper than the S03's. Another alternative that gets good reviews on here are the Toyo Proxes.

Stuart

rjben

Got the 18's on mine. Look real nice and the turn in and roll is much better on stock suspension. I'm thinking about a supspension upgrade when I can afford it but I know that this is going to be a HARD ride with the 18's! I bet the wet handling won't be as good as well! I don't really care about this as the Scoob handles better than I like to push it in the wet anyway. I just want scarey steering response...

Regards,

Rob

care3

on my 95 i got toyo 215/40/17 on super leggeras and they are superb.
yokos on my previous car were nice in the dry but down rite dangerous in the wet
spend the extra you wont regret it

Pete Croney

Alberick

if using 18", you should use 215/35 18. If using 17", your choices are... 215/40 17 and nothing else.

The sizes you list will foul, lowered or not.

Why would you spend money on new wheels, if you can only afford cheap tyres? It would be better to save up a bit longer and get decent tyres too.

You have four contact patches, each no bigger than your hand. You put 200 odd horse power through them, some serious lateral forces and, when braking, a huge amount of force predominately through only the front tyres. Often, it will be wet and what you are asking of the contact patch becomes even more crazy.

If you use the car for any sort of performance driving, ask yourself how good you want those hand sized contact patches to be.

Alberick

It looks like the majority of people recommend 215/40/17 tyres for 17" wheels.
Well, my point is not to buy "cheap" tyres, it's just that I don't see a reason paying over 800 Euro for S-03's when I can get Falken's, Toyo's or yokohama's for just over 500 Euro, which are possibly better than the S-03's??
Of course, prices also differ depending on the size.

Anyway, thanks for the help, everybody was really helpful, now that I know what the ideal size is, I just have to compare what brand is the best for this size.
Again, recommendations are welcome on your experience you have with the different brands.
Indeed, Toyo seems to be a very good choice at a reasonable price.

If I can find anybody here in Luxembourg who sells toyo's I'm gonna go for them, unfortunately until now, I couldn't find any dealer that sells Toyo...

Thanks,
Ramon

Alberick

Mr. Croney,

Not that I disbelieve your suggestion qs you surely know more about this than myself, but aren't P1's and RB5 Imprezas running on 205/45 17" tyres?

Not trying to start a flame war here, but I heard that these models run on those tyres, but I'm not sure about this.
Or simple because they're calibrated for this tyre size whereas a normal MY99 Turbo is calibrated for 16" tyres.....?

Ramon

Jake

They do run on 205/45/17 but I think the only tyre available in that size is the Pirelli PZero as fitted by the dealers as standard. I have Pzeros and I personally think they are Cr@p! luckily there is loads more choice in the 215/40/17 size and the radius is virtually the same.

AndrewC

I have 17" SuperLeggeras with 215/40 Toyos

Pete Croney

Spot on Jake

Jake

Do I get a gold star

harvey

iTrader: (48)

Alberick: FWIW I went from 205 x50x16 SO1s part worn to Super Leggeras with SO2s 215 x40x17. There was an overall weight saving of 3kg and the 17" tyres actually reduced gearing by 1.34% Negligible but it helps the speedo tell even bigger porkies.
Must say the SO2s are pretty good.

Alberick

Just to give you an update, it seems to be not so easy to get gold Superleggeras anymore.
There's my local tyre dealer calling me up this morning, telling me that OZ stopped production of ANY gold wheels, no matter what model or size.
This is when I called up OZ in Italy telling me the contrary and after calling up the Benelux distributor in Belgium myself, telling them to send 4 S'leggeras to the tyre dealer in Luxembourg, I realized what a **** my local dealer is, just telling me that golds are not done anymore because he's too lazy to order them.
Instead he tried to sell me silver Leggeras...

As for the tyres, I'm goinf for Falken FK451 in 215/40/17 size.

Thanks to everybody for the useful help and links.

Ramon

AlanS

I've had my 17" supperl's for 9 months now on Goodyear f1 tyres (MY95).

Brilliant in the wet and dry. Only thing I do notice on occasions is they have made the steering so light that the front wheels can track impefections in the road surface. So you need to grip the steering wheel.

Just adds to the fun if you ask me... like taming a wild woman