18's vs 17's

[Kilkenny]

Took the 18's off my L&K yesterday and replaced them with 17's from my Elegance. What a difference. There are 30,000 km on the car and they were the most horrible miles I have ever travelled. Was coming to a stage where the car was going. The 17's have transformed the car. Smooth,quiet,safe at high speed and no twitchiness on the road.
The elegance however is now a fookin pig to drive. It was a beautiful car on the road,but for now it's a pig.
 

Edited 10 August, 2014 by Gizmo68
Please join freedom if you wish to sell on Briskoda

[Stinker]

I thought the elegance came with 18s as standard. One of the contributing factors for me choosing an SE over an elegance, hate crashy ride.

[Alvaro]

I completely agree with you. My previous Superb (2009 Twindoor 1.8 TSI DSG Elegance) was on 17" and, together with the engine, it's the only thing I miss from it when compared to my current car (2013 Combi 2.0 TDI Exclusive). I can't imagine how people like cars with 19 or 20" alloys, riding on that cars must be a torture.

[Kilkenny]

Not in the south. 17's standard on the Elegance

[Stinker]

Not in the south. 17's standard on the Elegance

Ah right. For those not in the know that's the south of Ireland!

[Kilkenny]

Ah right. For those not in the know that's the south of Ireland![

And that ends today's geography lesson.

[Sparkly]

Well this post makes me feel a little smug about my incoming 1.8 tsi SE on 17's.

Until I cave and decide I need to drop it 40mm and fill the arches

Sigh, I'll do it too........

[Superb170]

Took the 18's off my L&K yesterday and replaced them with 17's from my Elegance. What a difference. There are 30,000 km on the car and they were the most horrible miles I have ever travelled. Was coming to a stage where the car was going. The 17's have transformed the car. Smooth,quiet,safe at high speed and no twitchiness on the road.

The elegance however is now a fookin pig to drive. It was a beautiful car on the road,but for now it's a pig.

Interesting but I'm not surprised with the result. I don't think I'll go that far as I love the look of the Sirius wheels but I can't wait for the tyres to wear down a bit more and then it's on to the highest profile tyre that I can stick on the 18 rim. Is that more of an experiment or will you leave them on?

[Pessimal]

Strange, coming from a volvo v70 running 17's and a mk5 golf gt sport running 17's (both 225/45/17) and now running a superb elegance running 18's (225/40/18) the superb is in a different league for ride comfort.

Only really large potholes or other defects in the road seem to encroach into the cabin. I have a set of 16's to go on for the winter with 205/55/16 tyres, so maybe I'll enter spring next year agreeing with you.

[ILOVEMYSUPERB]

I can't wait for the tyres to wear down a bit more and then it's on to the highest profile tyre that I can stick on the 18 rim.

Won't that throw the speedo out?

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[Sparkly]

Won't that throw the speedo out?

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Yup

[Superb170]

Won't that throw the speedo out?

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Only by 2/3% or so on a 45 profile. Nothing really noticeable. I'd live with that for a quieter ride.

[Sparkly]

A car is legally allowed to over read on speed by a moderate margin.

It is not allowed to under read its speed.

You might be able to live with it, but the police and your insurers may differ.

www.willtheyfit.com is a good tool to check where you are.

225/40/17 to 225/45/17 will cause a 3.55% under read

[Superb170]

A car is legally allowed to over read on speed by a moderate margin.

It is not allowed to under read its speed.

You might be able to live with it, but the police and your insurers may differ.

www.willtheyfit.com is a good tool to check where you are.

225/40/17 to 225/45/17 will cause a 3.55% under read

That's a useful reckoner. I checked with insurance company before and they didn't seem to have any issue. My speedo (and I assume most others do too as a built in tolerance) reads approx 5% over so 3% the other way would still be ok. I take your point though and I would double check again before actually changing them.

[Kilkenny]

Couldn't give a fook about ins co's or speedos. The fact is the car was dammed uncomfortable to either drive or be a passenger in.Now it is,and it's only because I changed the wheels/tyres,now it's a nice car to be in.

[Sparkly]

Couldn't give a fook about ins co's or speedos

You probably ought to though

No pay out from insurance in event of a crash and black listed for life (can and does happen), probably worth giving a fook seen as if you get it wrong it can also affect ABS, ESP, XDS and other driver aids, so on the wrong day you might be risking more than the financial hit.

But in the interest of balance if you have gone from 18's from a Superb to 17's from a Superb your rolling radius should be ok.

[Sparkly]

That's a useful reckoner. I checked with insurance company before and they didn't seem to have any issue. My speedo (and I assume most others do too as a built in tolerance) reads approx 5% over so 3% the other way would still be ok. I take your point though and I would double check again before actually changing them.

Mostly if you are going to the lengths of checking to that extent you will be fine, and you are right about std speedo over reading.

Most people I have talked to look at 2.5% deviation from factory as being 'rule of thumb' acceptable.

[Kilkenny]

Superbs are sold here with both 17's and 18's. Don't think for a minute think they differentiate which wheels to put on which cars so as they can calibrate the speedos..........DO THEY.

Hope I'm right.

[Sparkly]

If you have gone from 18's from a Superb to 17's from a Superb your rolling radius should be ok.

This ^^

As long as the tyres are right fit, they should be entirely fine.

What you can't do is just change the sidewall ratio from stock fitment or just pick any old tyre.

It is the wheel plus tyre which determines the rolling radius.

Speedo on all Superbs will be the same, so you can take SE wheels and fit to Elegance or L&K. (As long as right tyre sizes have been used), that's the bit you need to be careful with

[JakeBlade]

I thought someone had posted previously that they had success putting 45 profile tyres onto the 18s (instead of 40), and Skoda had said it was within acceptable limits.  Or maybe it was all just a dream.

[Camberley_Chris]

I hate the 18" wheels that were 'standard' on my '61-plate' Superb Estate Elegance although I love everything else about the car.

Now that the tyres are worn I'm looking to change the wheels to 17" (or even 16" if they'll fit over the brakes).

Anyone know of a good source of replacement wheels? (Skoda or after market)

I guess my scratched 18" ones could be refurbished and sold on.

Any advice welcomed.

[Gizmo]

I hate the 18" wheels that were 'standard' on my '61-plate' Superb Estate Elegance although I love everything else about the car.

Now that the tyres are worn I'm looking to change the wheels to 17" (or even 16" if they'll fit over the brakes).

Anyone know of a good source of replacement wheels? (Skoda or after market)

I guess my scratched 18" ones could be refurbished and sold on.

Any advice welcomed.

 

Chris, yes 16” wheels will fit over all but the 3.6 brakes, i used to run 16” winters as do many others.

 

SOLD I have some 17” RS4 reps in the classifieds if you are interested.

 

 

[Superb170]

I thought someone had posted previously that they had success putting 45 profile tyres onto the 18s (instead of 40), and Skoda had said it was within acceptable limits.  Or maybe it was all just a dream.

I have checked with Skoda and they said it is fine to go with a 45 profile in place of the 40 so I probably posted that before but I haven't actually done it yet.  I believe it is a common enough swap.  Choosing the most suitable brand of tyre will be equally as important and I'm noting the various comments on some of the other threads re tyre choice

[kopparberg]

Surely there carnt be that much difference, you sure there is air in the 18z lol

[Superb170]

Surely there carnt be that much difference, you sure there is air in the 18z lol

Pressures are as per recommended. My biggest issues are a humming tyre noise specifically at around 100kph and over sensitivity to changes in road surface leading to pulling and twitching with the steering. The extra profile should make a difference to that.