Alloy size, 16’s or 17’s

[Viv172]

I was thinking of getting some 17s for my 172 mk2, but read on here that they will make the car slower I didnt think it would make a difference...

Does anyone know about this???

 

[klmillard]

get 17s!!

Aint that bad for power loss. If i was you i would stick to makes like OZ as they are very light and so you wont loos to much power

 

[Viv172]

has anyone got 17s on their mk 2 172???? what do you think??? any speed loss??

 

[Daz]

geordiepaul has, and hes selling his - only had them a very short time. Id get 16s.. according to Paul, the performance has seriously dropped. Its either show or go! hehe.

Daz.

 

[GR7]

Quote: Originally posted by VivJ on 19 April 2003

has anyone got 17s on their mk 2 172???? what do you think??? any speed loss??

I have 17" wheels on my 172 and I havent noticed any difference. I let a friend of mine drive it the other day and he cant find anything different about it either and he drives much faster than I do.

The 17" wheels sit in the arch better without any lowering, especially with lower profile tyres. Any speed loss is all in the mind!

Anyway, you arent supposed to go faster than 70ish and the car will go more than twice that speed! How much faster do you need to go, you just do more damage to your car, to yourself and others if you hit something at maniac speeds!

 

[geordiepaul]

Yeah the wheels do look good, the car looks more purposeful, fills the arches more. But acceleration is affected and by more than you might think. I may end up keeping my wheels cos they look so good I still have the originals so they can be swapped over. But now is the time to sell them if im going to cos they are still brand new.

 

[Sandro]

@VivJ: Stick to 16" if performance is your game. Go for 17" if looks are your thing.

You will notice the difference; remarkably.

 

[Viv172]

Thanks for your replys

GR its not so much the top speed that Im worried about, as I prefer to keep my licence, life, car etc .

I just dont want to loose any acceleration speed!! But I just love the look of 17s.....decisions, decisions!!!!!

 

[geordiepaul]

Right mate I have the answer. The main proplem with fitting 17s is the diameter of the tyre and NOT the weight (though Im sure if you put a considerably heavier wheel then it will slow you down)

On a 172 most people including me put a 205/40R17 tyre on well this increases the diameter by 14mm which is loads. So if you want 17s then you need to match the original diameter by as much as possible. So you should really fit 195/40R17 of which I have only found Pirelly that make a set or even better a 215/35R17 this matched the diameter perfectly so should not affect acceleration in any way. Only proble is it will be quite a wide tyre so you will need to make sure you get the right offset to make sure there is no rubbing!