Anyone know what sort of arch mods i will neer to fit 17's on my fabia i was told that 16's would fit without but i think 17's would look better

I believe some of the Fabia owners on here are running 17s, and no modification was needed to the wheel arches...

Rob.

IIRC, Jason (Devontopia) didn't have to do any mods to wheel arch etc when he fitted his 17''-ers.

He's running standard suspension at the moment so I'm not sure whether this will still be the case if you really lower it. Guess Jason will tell us once he's had his done.

You probably only need to widen the arches if you go above a 7.5" wide wheel, unless you meant you were fitting 17" wide ones

Fairly sure Jason's are 7 x 17, should be OK even if lowered.

Jason has 17s, unlowered, and Graeme (fab16v) has 17" voodoos - lowered....?

edit: I think I probably spelt fab16v's name wrong - I have a meeting with someone called Graeme this afternoon... apologies if I got it wrong mate

Not the best view of my wheels, but my www below has a couple more too.

PS: 17's fit fine - just don't go any bigger profile than 40, thats all...

PS2: I'd highly recommend it too. cornering is now much fun!

edit: Just read Jon's post - I'm fairly sure they were labelled as 17x7.5J... I think 8J happens when you go up to 18"?

There's some pictures of fab16v's car here.

Originally posted by Bigal in this post

i think 17's would look better

What engine do you have in it? Bigger tyres will improve grip, but with some penalty to acceleration and fuel economy - on a TDi such as Jason's it's got enough torque to make the effects less noticeable, and being a diesel is never going to guzzle fuel...

I suppose fab16v would be a good person to comment on the effects on petrol models though.

And when can we expect you along at a Thursday night northern meet?

Rob.

if you keep the rolling radius the same and wheel weight down the effects on performance should be minimal...

Surely the reduction in acceleration is due to more friction between the tyre and road? So if you kept the change in this minimal, why bother changing?

Rob.

why would more grip reduce you acceleration? (ok agree in theory about the resistance/drag)

it might reduce the top speed but if you can accelerate without losing adhesion you must in real life get there quicker..

unless you drive a car incapable of wheelspin then it will be quicker... and will corner better.

Originally posted by ffelan in this post

why would more grip reduce you acceleration? (ok agree in theory about the resistance/drag)

The force acting on the axle will be the same, so the force exerted by the car to move forward will be the same. The resistance from the road will be increased however, as there is more area in contact with the road.

Rob.

Largest recommended wheel size for the Fabia (without mods)is 17 x 7.5J

Fitting 17s will afect the gearing slightly though, but look great!

Originally posted by FabiaTDi in this post

Largest recommended wheel size for the Fabia (without mods)is 17 x 7.5J

Fitting 17s will afect the gearing slightly though, but look great!

This is what I basically have. The extra 20mm width on each wheel has marginally affected the economy. I average about 45mpg on my commute to work now (according to comp) instead of 50+.

Also acceleration has been hampered in the 30-70 in 4th kind of region. I think my 0-60 may have been slightly affected by perhaps half a second, but its the mid-range which sucks a bit now. I reckon this is down to a slight change in gearing, which I noticed on my first m-way jaunt. I think I was doing about 200RPM less doing the same speed as before (I think it used to 2700RPM at 80mph, and is now 2500RPM at 80mph)

However, that magic 20mm also lets me corner a lot quicker, without risking oversteer like I had on the 185/65s. The fact the profile is a lot thinner also helps with cornering. (lack of sidewall flexing)

I think looing great was the #1 thing that got me though. I was just scanning through ebay for alloys and came across mine, with a beauty of a pic, and I knew right away I HAD to have them!

(bit like coming across a cracking bird, I guess - and I'm not talking about a woodpecker!)

What engine do you have in it? Bigger tyres will improve grip, but with some penalty to acceleration and fuel economy - on a TDi such as Jason's it's got enough torque to make the effects less noticeable, and being a diesel is never going to guzzle fuel...

I suppose fab16v would be a good person to comment on the effects on petrol models though.

And when can we expect you along at a Thursday night northern meet?

Rob.

Unfortunately for me it has only got a 1.4 8v engine but i have a friend who will put a 1.8 T engine in for

Originally posted by Bigal in this post

Unfortunately for me it has only got a 1.4 8v engine but i have a friend who will put a 1.8 T engine in for

Sorry for the late reply. Been away for a week.

As Steve has already said, mine is running 17's and it is lowered 30mm with no mods to the arches. BTW you did spell my name correctly there mate.

I think any bigger than 17's and you would have to do some arch mods though. I think mine are also 7.5x17 too with 205/40ZR17 tyres.

:cheers: