15" or 18" rims

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sharkfan
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Joined: Tue Sep 28, 2004 3:14 pm
Location: Guildford, U.K.

15" or 18" rims

Post by sharkfan »

Anyone running 15" rims ?

What tyres ??

225/60 or 205/60 or something I haven't thought about.

Anyone running 18"s ?? Ride quality comments ?? :shock:

All opinions gratefully received :D

Sharkfan :twisted:
joe

rims

Post by joe »

morning sharkfan, i have been running 18's with 225/45/18 tyres for a couple of weeks on lowered springs so ride is a bit hard for my liking but it was like that when i had 17's before 255's rear and 225's front, by the way these are for sale soon if you are after a set.

later joe
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Brucey
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Post by Brucey »

I run 15" wheels and tyres and they are a very good choice for real-world conditions. My choice is 225/60-15. This is as large as you would want to go- its really an E34 size. My odometer now under-reads by about 1% because of the slight increase in overall wheel diameter. However a lot of popular fitments cause an odometer over-read of up to 3%. In any event the speedometer will probably over-read; they mostly read about 5-10% fast.

If absolute lateral grip and/or style are your things and you don't mind the possibility of wrecked wheels, tyre noise and a bumpy ride, 17" or 18" wheels are worth thinking about.

Note that the original Michelin 220/55-390 metric tyres are (in my experience) a little larger than their profile etc would suggest- they typically measure over 640mm whereas they should be 632mm from the size on the sidewall.

Please find below some 15" tyre sizes. The numbers go; size, min rim width, recommended rim width, max rim width, actual tyre diameter, actual wheel revolutions per mile, example tyre, typical min price (GBP) for a cheap tyre via mail order as a set of four. More expensive tyres cost double or more.


XXX/65 R15 series

195/65 R15 5.5, 6.0, 7.0 634.5 831 (635mm Avon) 35 GBP

195/65 R15 5.5, 6.0, 7.0 634.5 834 (V)or 835 (H) (632.5mm Michelin)

205/65 R15 5.5, 6.0, 7.5 647.5 816 (647mm Avon) 824 (92H), 817 (92V, 94H) (647mm Michelin MXV4) Note 92V and 94H tyres are probably built on the same carcass- but the 92H tyre is different. 40GBP

XXX/60 R15 Series

205/60 R15 5.5, 6.0, 7.5 627 842 (627mm Avon) 37GBP

215/60 R15 6.0, 6.0*, 7.5 639 831 (635mm Michelin ) 46GBP

225/60 R15 6.0, 6.5, 8.0 651 811 (651mm Avon)
805 (655mm Michelin MXV4 plus)
817 (650mm Michelin Pilot XGT) 44GBP. My choice on 7? rims.

The above is a tiny fraction of an article I have written re. tyres (hey Brian are you going to post it, or would you have me modify it? Just let me know )

If you are on a budget, 15" wheels are a good choice- a set from an E34 will go straight on (provided an oversize tyre is not fitted), and used ones are not much money.


HTH

cheers
~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TorQue_635

Re: 15" or 18" rims

Post by TorQue_635 »

sharkfan wrote:Anyone running 15" rims ?

What tyres ??

225/60 or 205/60 or something I haven't thought about.

Anyone running 18"s ?? Ride quality comments ?? :shock:

All opinions gratefully received :D

Sharkfan :twisted:
Used to run 15s. On 225/60 R15's

Now run 18s (used to be 17s). Original reason was so the new brakes would fit.

18's (on 245s) are very harse, and is very susceptible to tramlining, and follows the camber of the road if you dont have a correct wheel alignment.

As my mechanic said, "17s give you great feel the road surface. 18s or more allow you to feel the brand of the cigarette butt you just ran over!"
e24mpwr

Post by e24mpwr »

I'd go 17" - best combo of price, ride quality and durability (of the rim).
dnd

Post by dnd »

e24mpwr wrote:I'd go 17" - best combo of price, ride quality and durability (of the rim).
agreed!

ps. hehe.. i know this car in a userpic! :)
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