Not sure about that.

[andy]

i have just passed my test and got a 1.2 80sx.On asking my old boss at my local garage about 17's and lowering 40mm i was told this would ruin the cars geometry and the car would handle worse than before,

Is this correct and is there away around it????? P.s. he is a race mechanic so its kinda worrying,

 

[Tom]

Well, your car is designed for 14-15" wheels and its current ride height. Mucking around with it will mess the gemometry and could leave it handling worse.

17" are not for handling, 16" is about as big as you can go before ride and handling drops off. Some guy came along to a trackday with 18" on a Lotus seven style car and got totally thrashed by lower powered cars in 15"s!

 

[andy]

not sure about that

cheers mate,mite have to settle for a set of nice 16's then,shame cuz the 17's look smart,andy

 

[Tom]

Re: not sure about that

Depends what you want really. Plenty will argue 17's are still good. Alot is down to driving style as well.

 

[andy]

not sure about that

i drive quite steady really,not alot of point racing a 1.2 u dont go anywhere,mite have think,cheers mate

 

[Tom]

Re: not sure about that

Only thing you can do is see if you can testdrive someone elses.

 

[andy]

not sure about that

the only problem is:im the only one out of our group(www.mega-watt.co.uk)who has thought of doing it as far as i know.So i dont know of any other car.good idea though,cheers

 

[David]

In my experience big wheels (17's) are not the way to go, sure they make the car look great but on uneven road surfaces the ride is crap. Lets face it the best roads in the county are B roads and the road surface tends to be neglected by the local councils and 17ich wheels don't like bumpy roads especially at speed.I enjoy fast driving and fitted 17s thinking they would give me more grip. On smooth surfaces there was considerably more grip but as soon as I went onto an slightly bump road the tyres spend more time off the road surface then on.

Although I never lowered any of my cars I believe that it would be a similar situation to fitting big wheels.

I feel by lowering and fitting large alloys to your car your kidding yourself if you think its going to improve the road holding on the public raods. These sort of things are taken from racing and most racing circuits have very smooth surfaces. Best to listen to your boss or better talk to someone who drives racing cars.

Cheers David.

P.S. I have nothing against people who have big alloys and have lowered their car, I think it improves the “look” of the car considerably

 

[andy]

not sure about that

cheers mate,where i live is mostly expressways and round town driving so i could maybe get away with it,think im gona play it safe though unless i hear of someone who highly recomends it,thanx,andy