Best all round wheel size

[Gilly]

hey

ino there has been much discussion on this topic area but i have found my own solution

i was running 17s in 205/40 on a 1.2 16v mk3

the best thing about them is the looks but after bending them i was forced to go back to the standard 14s. The car was A LOT faster ont he standard wheels, but the handling was crap and it would slide and squeek round ever corner even when not going that fast

Now i have bought some 172 wheels. I reakon this are wikid cos they are the best of both worlds for me. I still have the same pick up and top speed as the smaller wheels, and nearly as nice looks as te 17s, and it is absolutly STUCK to the road

so

14s-look not so good, handle crap, very quick

17s-look wikid, handle ok, speed lost

16s-look good, handle amazing, quick, car just feels right

have u found the same?

 

[boyracer666]

yea, hence me owning sum 195/45/16s

love the grip and dont crash over bumps too much...

 

[JJ172]

Or, try 17s with 225/35x17s

 

[RobFenn]

Gilly, the 17s dont mean better handling, it means worse. You have more grip. Admittedly, on the road, grip is a very positive factor, youre never going that fast to test the handling to its fullest but good handling is not linked to grip. There is also the factor that your clio was designed for your 14s so will be better.

16 inch wheels have a low rolling radius with 195 tyres, less so than 15s with 185s. They will have more grip being wider, and will also good looks and the ride will be bearable. Luckily, this is what you now have, so consider it sorted!

-Rob

 

[Tom]

plus renault spent millions developing the clio and the sportiest one has 16s

(im not counting the V6- its not the same)

 

[The Monk]

agree with you there Rob, changed back to 14s now after ive had 17s, the accelration is so much better, on motorway you could really notice the difference, before with 17s the car struggle to acclerate at 90, now the car just carry on acclerate as good in the top end as the mid-range, also the car is so much more fun to drive, on a large roundabout you could feel the grips losing and the car just settle into a nice 4 wheel drift

 

[ClioJohn]

cept the standard wheels are 15s....

 

[RobFenn]

Who knows, did renault go to the bother of changing set up of suspension for 15s? They sell a lot of authentiques on the continent so you would presume the car was designed for 14s...

 

[BrynO]

Quote: Originally posted by ClioJohn on 02 September 2003

cept the standard wheels are 15s....

..on a Mk1 172, 16 on a Mk2 and Cup.

 

[Gilly]

standard alloys are 15 on a mk3 but the steels are 14

 

[Fred@BTM]

Quote: Originally posted by Tomclio16v on 02 September 2003


plus renault spent millions developing the clio



Ive spent 6 grand developing "me b**ch" and its 10X better than that thing that came out the factory known as a clio

 

[Martin172]

thats an interesting point - in the uk 172 comes with 16inch standards. In oz they come with 15inch standard.

what would the difference be if i got some 16s, and should mine alsoe accelerate a little quicker than yours in the uk?

martin