2013-11-24 15.35.50.jpg

Bravo Belinda the New Bravo T-Jet

Introduction

Hi,

New member to the forum, and after loads of different vehicles I am now so very happy in my new car. It's the first car I've named in the 8 cars I've owned, which is embarrassing but I love her so much.

Belinda most of the time, but then Bella when I'm giving her a spanking and having some fun :p

Anyway, after looking around for a while I settled for a 120 T-JET Active. Which is neither the fastest plus it's bottom of the range. But overall I'm super happy. I ideally wanted either a diesel or at least a Dynamic spec. But looking on the bright side this 120 T-Jet is in a lower insurance group, it's really good on fuel and £4,500 for a car with 16,000 miles was a price I couldn't let someone else have! As far as I'm concerned, it's a near as dammit brand new :p

I'm hoping to do some subtle mods over the coming years but it's going to be a slow process as my time is very limited. Anything recommendations for good mods to these cars?

Anyway, here are some pictures :)

Thanks for reading.
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Nice, think they'll look alright on the bravo. 18's fill the arches nicely :)

I'm hoping so! There was a set of 17" Bravo sports available too so I was umming and arrring for ages. I hope I've made the right choice..

When you fit the 18s check carefully that they don't catch or scrub on full lock space is marginal for 18s, they'll be fine in normal driving though

Cheers for the heads up, if they do scrub, will I have to space them out?
 
Yeh I agree with Neil. I'll be honest turning circle on my dynamic isn't exactly brilliant. Would hate to be restricted even further because of one set of alloys on a different spec brand.


Nothing to compare with but having 18s hadn't really noticed it was all that bad, perhaps they should have been sensible and simply not offered 18 as an option? It's typical of Italians really making life over complicated
 
Excuse me if this seems stupid... but..

Anything over 16 inch features;

225 45 R17
or
225 40 R18

According to the tyre size calculators, the 17s are only 0.47% (3mm) smaller than the 18s? So I would assume from that there would be no difference between the 17s and 18s in regards to rubbing in arches? I'm unsure as to whether 3mm would be that critical?

Unless of course, the steering rack was different for 17s too?

Thoughts?
 
Excuse me if this seems stupid... but..

Anything over 16 inch features;

225 45 R17
or
225 40 R18

According to the tyre size calculators, the 17s are only 0.47% (3mm) smaller than the 18s? So I would assume from that there would be no difference between the 17s and 18s in regards to rubbing in arches? I'm unsure as to whether 3mm would be that critical?

Unless of course, the steering rack was different for 17s too?

Thoughts?

17" rims are 7J, 18" are 7.5J, so 1/2" wider.

and 16" / 17" are ET31, 18" are ET35
 
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Nothing to compare with but having 18s hadn't really noticed it was all that bad, perhaps they should have been sensible and simply not offered 18 as an option? It's typical of Italians really making life over complicated

I don't know what they did to limit steering travel with the 18 inch equipped cars, giving it a different rack seems a bit silly. The turning circle on my (18 equipped) Bravo is fine so why not just have that steering setup as standard.
It was probably a last minute decision to have them as an option because they look good.
 
I don't know what they did to limit steering travel with the 18 inch equipped cars, giving it a different rack seems a bit silly. The turning circle on my (18 equipped) Bravo is fine so why not just have that steering setup as standard.
It was probably a last minute decision to have them as an option because they look good.

Possibly just restricted travel on the normal rack but it could be different in other ways I suppose, they charge a fortune extra for 18s so anything is possible
 
17" rims are 7J, 18" are 7.5J, so 1/2" wider.

and 16" / 17" are ET31, 18" are ET35

But if both tyres are 225, surely the actual alloy size doesn't matter?

The wheels I have are 18" ET30

I don't wish to argue :p I'm just struggling to understand how one 225 R18 tyre could be 1/2" bigger than another 225 R17 tyre.

I'm just guessing until I test it out. I might get two part worns put on (£30 each at my local place) and then test it around the farm for rubbing before I go any further and buy some new tyres.
 
You're right, they should be pretty much the same external diameter. Maybe part of the rim catches the hub or track rod on full lock?
 
But if both tyres are 225, surely the actual alloy size doesn't matter?

The wheels I have are 18" ET30

I don't wish to argue :p I'm just struggling to understand how one 225 R18 tyre could be 1/2" bigger than another 225 R17 tyre.

I'm just guessing until I test it out. I might get two part worns put on (£30 each at my local place) and then test it around the farm for rubbing before I go any further and buy some new tyres.

I'm only quoting whats in your car manual.

Compared to 15/16/17 inch wheels, 18"

have 1/2" wider rims
have ET35 rather than ET31
have REINFORCED sidewall tyres
Can't use snowchains
have restricted steering lock.

FIAT have clearly made an engineering decision for reasons they do not care to share with us. However, they must be able to justify them, and I doubt any of us are qualified to contradict them. ( Except maybe TELFORD ENGINEER )
 
Sounds like I'm in for some fun then (n)

I just went off this site for the offset of the car : http://www.wheel-size.com/size/fiat/bravo/2009/#trim-14tj

And the seller said they were for Fiat Bravo so I went with it.

At any rate, I'm going to try it out and see what happens now that I have them..

In theory, if they are going to catch on full lock on the track rod ends I can do that on our car lift this weekend without needing tyres?


EDIT: I'd just like to say thanks for the heads up and guidance people have given me (no sarcasm, internet can make certain things seem sarcastic)
 
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