15 inch wheels on Panda (pics!)

A member of the Dutch Fiat Panda Club has fitted his Panda with 15 inch wheels. They're 15x7 inch wheels with an ET value of 35, and the tyre size is 195/45/15. I don't know yet what type of wheels he used, all I know is that he painted 'm himself, and that they look absolutely amazing.. He says it gives no problems whatsoever when driving, although he is a little worried about driving in wet conditions, because wheels this light make it easier to skid the car in the wet.. the only modification that was needed to make these wheels fit was to cut a small piece off the front bumper, because the wheel would rub against it when steering..

I really like the way it looks.. if I still had a Panda, I'd definately consider it doing myself!

Here are some pics:

Are you sure those are 15's, as they look like 14's to me.

Nope, 15 inch Borbett wheels..

It's not the lightness of the wheels that's the problem, it's the fact that the tyres are too wide for the weight of the car and he's experiencing 'aquaplaning'.

The wider the tyres you fit to a car, the less pressure you exert onto a given tyre/ road contact area. A light car with wide tyres will not produce enough downforce on a wet road for the tyre treads to cut through the water. What then happens is the tyre effectively skims the top of the wet road and aquaplanes and you lose steering control and skid.

Worth bearing in mind that cars like the Citroen 2CV have very good grip and roadholding despite being fitted with what look like skinny pram wheels. Also the Uno Turbo was only fitted with 175 section tyres as standard, and it's a heavier and much more powerful car than a Panda.

But the youth of today, it's all about how big your wheels/ tyres are, not whether they actually do any good or not

Smart looking motor, the wheels look great - I think the back is spoiled by the towhitch and exhaust though.

I love the touring car rear wiper! hehe!

Jim

Well the car isn't mine (unfortunately) if it were, I would get rid of that ugly tow hitch, and fit a nicer looking exhaust, lol.. the owner says the car now handles amazing (as long as the road is dry, lol)..

It's sortof a work-in-progress, I just read on our forum that he's cutting holes in the bonnet for a scoop..

I'm not too sure yet if that's such a good idea, but we'll see when that is done..

I fitted my 15" OZ supper T`s to my panda when i needed the extra wheels they looked amazing but needed 5mm spacers on the back. The wheels came off a Punto and are now fitted on my Cinq

i had 14's on me panda and they needed spacers on back but were ok considerin they were 185 tyres

i have 14's on my panda and those dont look any bigger than mine, but my tyres are thicker, that picture has nearly convinced me to tint my windows, i want to replace them with bullet proof polycarbonate sheet first tho


Kris

Is da Doncaster massive gonna plug yo ass?

is that cause of TopGear?
(which I've not seen yet, )


Jim

If you put the tyre and wheel sizes into the calculator on the "wheel and tyre bible"
http://tinyurl.com/ywoph
and compare with 155x65 on 13s they come out virtually the same rolling radius.

Beware that the average insurance company will wash its hands of you if you modify to that extent.

More mods underway! He also got his hands on a modified bumper for a VW Polo, which he's gonna alter a bit to fit the Panda.. and then there's the rear spoiler that will go on.. and when the bonnet is finished, the car will be resprayed..

Wow.. he's putting some serious cash inhis project... as Ali G would put it: R-E-S-T-E-C-P...!

Hmph. He's molesting a perfectly good Panda in my opinion. And I find the lack of soundproofing gives me a big enough headache without an aftermarket exhaust contributing to my torture.