17" ? advantages or disadvantages

[kristian]

i have finally decided what alloys im going to get, but just befor i blow £600 on a set of 17" lenso RS5's i was just wondering what the advantages and disadvantages are of running 17"? will they fit straight onto my 1996 1.4 sx without rubbing? will i still have a full turning circle? and does it affect the acceleration and general ride much?
cheers
kristian

 

[Gspot]

!7"?advantages or disavantages

I personally wouldnt go for 17's again, the ride is harsh, acceleration is reduced and on 1.2/1.4 you dont need it reduced lol.

Advantages are excellent handling, bling bling look! I have 16's excellent go between good comfort and still look great just imo!

 

[thomas]

Re: !7"?advantages or disavantages

Fit lightweight ones and acceleration may even improve and ride should be fine as the lightness allows the suspension to do its job as normal. I have driven a couple of Subaru Impreza STI's with 18" OZ wheels on and it wasnt at all harsh. Albeit they do have fancy Bilstein suspension, but for such a high performance car it wasnt at all harsh.

 

[kristian]

Re: !7"?advantages or disavantages

yeah by getting 16's id be saving some money aswell!! but do 17's really affect your acceleration that much?as they do look nicer! the lenso's probly way half as much as my current steels!!lol. are 16's the normal size then for people modding there bravo's? (im all new to the bravo scene)

 

[Buzz]

Re: !7"?advantages or disavantages

As GSpot said, its a trade-off between comfort and looks. 17's instead of say 16's will negatively impact acceleration, handling, and bumpiness. imo 16's are the perfect set. That said, if your suspension setup is decent, with new shocks and decent springs, 17's wont be a problem. you'll still get full lock (as long as you buy 17x7 rims and dont go wider than a 205 tyre

Buzz (formerly LightWarrior)
The champion of the Bravo 1.4

 

[kristian]

Re: !7"?advantages or disavantages

im only looking at getting uprated springs at the moment, most likely a -35mm set.so it would probly be best just to stick with 16's then? do 16's look lost in the arches tho?or do they fill them quite nicely?lol.

 

[Zenith]

Re: !7"?advantages or disavantages

My old 16"s

Edit: plus lowered 30mm

 

[kristian]

Re: !7"?advantages or disavantages

they look very smart!! so what is the normal width of 16's? do you find the ride is still smooth with a -30mm drop? whats the lowest you can go befor the ride starts to get harsh?

 

[Zenith]

Re: !7"?advantages or disavantages

The normal width for 16" is 7" which is probably the maximum you can go on a bravo and is the same width as 17" wheels.

The handling was superb I must say with the Eibach springs and low profile tyres but I still think the ride was too harsh and could feel all the bumps. But then thats the tradeoff you make. You can't get good performance and a good ride. I'm going back to 15" purely for the ride quality although hopefully I will still have some of the performance from the springs.

I will say that my 15"s will never look as good as the 16"s but its up to you. The ride quality wasn't something that you couldn't live with or anything, it wasn't rock hard. Your choice.

 

[thomas]

Re: !7"?advantages or disavantages

Quote Zenith

"You can't get good performance and a good ride"

Yeah perhaps not with a Bravo. But i have driven a WRX Sti on 18s with Prodrive suspension and it makes my bog standard HGT feel awful!

I beleive you can do good with the bravo. If all suspension components are in good nick and the shocks/springs match each other and of decent quality then 17's should be fine.

I think the bad ride complaints on 17's comes mostly from the fact that most weigh quite a bit more than 15 wheel and thus the suspension cannot dampen bumps as easily.

 

[Zenith]

Re: !7"?advantages or disavantages

True but its difficult to compare a 18k Impreza with my 1k Bravo lol.

When I got my wheels fitted I also had brand new Eibach springs and Bilstein shocks fitted and it was still quite harsh for my liking.

tbh supension will play a minor role in comfort on road surfaces. Suspension has to be stiff enough to use on speed bumps etc and hold the weight of the car/engine. Driving over a few minor bumps won't be enough to compress the springs. Those bumps are dampened by the air in the tyres mostly. If you have half an inch of air in the tyres it isn't going to dampen very well and you will feel the bumps more.

Thats why when I hit a curb at 30mph with the above alloys on it buckled all 4, because there was no dampening, the full force of the curb hit the wheel. And they were exepnsive quality wheels too.

Imprezas don't need as low a profile tyre because of the size of the arches.

 

[kristian]

Re: !7"?advantages or disavantages

i already have a powerflow cat back system which is pritty loud inside the car,so the general comfort of my drive isnt to much of a problem!lol, im more worried about what will happen to my acceleration,im no boy racer but everyone loves a quick game of traffic light grand prix every now and then!!lol.is loss of acceleration really that noticable with 17's?

 

[josh]

Re: !7"?advantages or disavantages

imo- i have 17" with 45/50mm drop and like you say with your exhaust comfort isnt top of the list mine dont scrub or even rub with four people in the car. i found that the differnce in acc. wasnt huge but then mines a 1.8 so wouldnt know how it affects the 1.4. the difference in price 16" to 17" isnt a lot so if you want looks go for the 17" if not go for 16".
(not saying 16" dont have looks but ya know what i mean)

thats just my opinion

Josh

 

[Dan Brown]

Re: !7"?advantages or disavantages

I like 17's and if you spend some decent cash on getting some light ones I don't think you will have any probs.

Dan

 

[kristian]

Re: !7"?advantages or disavantages

yeah i think im still slightly more attracted to 17's!! the lenso's i want are roughly £100 extra for 17's apossed to 16's, do you think its worth it? the quality of the rims are superb, so hopefully they should be fairly light too!