Ride performance

[s.pharmacist]

will an FR 170 which has been dropped on eibach coilovers with 19" alloy wheels have a better performance than the standard car? i would have thought so because the car is going to be closer to the floor but i was recently corrected and told that my 19's are goin to make the car sluggish?? is this true? am i going to have to keep the 18's?

all replies appreciated

 

[jdearden]

I believe performance wise smaller wheels are best suited for acceleration but a larger diameter should have a higher top speed if I remember my physics.

There's no real performance gained in likes of speed it's more about how it'll handle. The lower the centre of gravity the more stable and balanced during straight line and on corners.

The ride feel is going to be poor with 19's. You won't be able to wind the coilovers down low enough on 19's to benefit from the before mentioned. I'd go 18's with around a 50mm drop over standard for an optimum set up without getting arch rub or any other adverse effects. Also the lower the profile tyres the harsher the ride feel.

 

[Chan_P1_TDi_FR]

yes, larger circumference should = higher top speed, as long as your motor has enough power to do so.
also larger circumference = slower acceleration.

The thing is to balance what you want most and your engines output. tbh on normal driving acceleration is what you want as you'll hardly ever you top speed.

50mm is quite a drop, i'm on KW coilovers down between 35-40mm. and i can get scraping from the front arch liner support bolt. But then again i've got 10mm spacers. Am considering removing the archliner support tho.

 

[s.pharmacist]

right thanks a lot for all replies! i think i might still go with 19's though, they look to mean we'll ave to see, thanks again

 

[DanGB]

Remember the 19's will be heavier and the tyres and fair bit more expensive

 

[Paulki]

I think the only real effect will be to make the ride even harder. The standard FR 17" wheels with 225-45-17 tyres has a diameter (including tyre) of 634mm; on 19" wheels with 225-35-19's the diameter is 640mm.

The difference is too small to have any noticable effect on performance.

You will lose about 3mm in wheel arch clearence though.

 

[s.pharmacist]

I think the only real effect will be to make the ride even harder. The standard FR 17" wheels with 225-45-17 tyres has a diameter (including tyre) of 634mm; on 19" wheels with 225-35-19's the diameter is 640mm.

The difference is too small to have any noticable effect on performance.

You will lose about 3mm in wheel arch clearence though.

i dont know what to decide on!
so what your sayin is that dropped on 18's and dropped on 19's is basically the same thing, the only time im going to feel the difference is if i pulled up next to an identical car with diff wheels??

 

[jdearden]

to put it simple 19's are for style no benefit performance wise. But you get less wheel choices and the tyres cost a lot more per corner.