Keep looking at the 18in Alaris wheels and thinking they look alot better than the 17in Teron that I've ordered. Car is 2.0 tdi combi elegance, has anyone experience of 18in wheels on an elegance? How is the ride? I'm sure the 17's would be a slightly more comfortable ride but are the 18's very harsh or are they okay?

I've 18" Turbines on mine, and while it could be a little smoother overall I've found them ok, and I have to cover some crap roads around Dublin. You can see em in the picture, you considering the change just for the look of it? Have you done it up on the configurator or just looking at the brochure?

 

when you hoping your car will be delivered?

 

Love those Turbines, think they look very smart with the graphite finish. Have just been looking at photos on Google and have also done it up on the configurator. Yep, really just for the look of it, although the style of the two sets are very similar, I think the car just looks better sitting on the 18's and also not totally gone on the indented part of the 17in Teron's. I'm also in Dublin and would be driving on country roads around South Dublin/Wicklow a fair bit so hence wondering about the ride. Car is due to be built week 16 so looking like end of April early May for delivery..

Unless you've gone for the 4 X $ the elegance spec has the poverty rear suspension (http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/318282-octavia-20tdi-firm-hard-suspension/) and can noisy & crashy fortunately mine is just noisy so, you may wanna think long and hard before possible adding to an already poor situation.

I have 18'' on mine with sportsuspension. Works great

If looks are top priority then definitely go for 18's.
 

However I prefer ride quality, wider tyre selection and practicality, so run 17's instead of 18's on my VRS. The 17's better protect the kerbs from my wife (and the alloys from the kerbs) plus provide a slightly gentler and more compliant ride. Tyres are also cheaper and generally in-stock.

Edited 11 March, 201511 yr by Orville

Love those Turbines, think they look very smart with the graphite finish. Have just been looking at photos on Google and have also done it up on the configurator. Yep, really just for the look of it, although the style of the two sets are very similar, I think the car just looks better sitting on the 18's and also not totally gone on the indented part of the 17in Teron's. I'm also in Dublin and would be driving on country roads around South Dublin/Wicklow a fair bit so hence wondering about the ride. Car is due to be built week 16 so looking like end of April early May for delivery..

I've had mine on almost every kind of road we have, you know yourself, the hugely varied kind, and so far I don't wish it was any different. I'd say you can't wait to get it. Who did you buy from?

Unless you've gone for the 4 X $ the elegance spec has the poverty rear suspension (http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/318282-octavia-20tdi-firm-hard-suspension/) and can noisy & crashy fortunately mine is just noisy so, you may wanna think long and hard before possible adding to an already poor situation.

  

Haven't gone for the 4x4..

I have 18'' on mine with sportsuspension. Works great

Cheers, have just gone for standard suspension rather than the sports suspension.

  

If looks are top priority then definitely go for 18's.

 

However I prefer ride quality, wider tyre selection and practicality, so run 17's instead of 18's on my VRS. The 17's better protect the kerbs from my wife (and the alloys from the kerbs) plus provide a slightly gentler and more compliant ride. Tyres are also cheaper and generally in-stock.

 

Looks aren't really top priority but if I can make it look abit better without compromising the ride too much I'd like too! I've been getting away with driving over kerbs for years having been driving Landcruiser's for the last 10 years, the tyres are so big it's nigh on impossible to kerb the rims so am gonna have to be abit more careful with the Octy.

 

I've had mine on almost every kind of road we have, you know yourself, the hugely varied kind, and so far I don't wish it was any different. I'd say you can't wait to get it. Who did you buy from?

Have ordered it from Sinnott Autos in Wicklow, even though I live 2 minutes from Spirit Skoda, went to Sinnott's to look at a 2nd hand Superb Combi and came away having ordered the Octavia, just a better deal in the long run! Yea, I'm getting fed up with the waiting at this stage, particularly as I sold the Landcrusier back in January planning on picking up a car straight away so I've now had to borrow a Peugeot 307 and it's an appalling piece of rubbish!!!(although a lot better than walking everywhere!!!).

I wouldn't get the 18s. More expensive to buy, more expensive tyres, which are more easily damaged and worse ride quality. What are the benefits? Looks? Don't see them from inside the car anyway.

The Elegance doesnt look or feel sporty so personally felt specifying 18's was a little pointless.

The 17's are a good compromise...they are an attractive wheel, standard fit, you still benefit from wider and thinner 225/45 section rubber (unlike the 205/55 on the 16's)....great compromise between road holding/grip and comfort..particularly with the standard suspension.

Tyres are cheaper and slightly less oportunity for kerbing too.

I had the chance of standard 18s or optional 19s on my vrs. I do a lot of point to point driving, so I went for the 18s, as they spin up marginally faster than the 19s out of corners, simple as that. I hardly drive on motorways, so don't need cruising economy. Just thought Id mention this aspect too...

I stuck with 17 for comfort and figured if I wanted to change later it was a relatively easy upgrade, unlike other factory fit options like xenons, parking sensors and camera. same take on the sports suspension.

I added 18" Turini's and lowered my Elegance by 40mm 1 month after it arrived. I love it, especially the improved cornering.

 

The point I'm making though, is you can change these things after it arrives quite easily.

I added 18" Turini's and lowered my Elegance by 40mm 1 month after it arrived. I love it, especially the improved cornering.

The point I'm making though, is you can change these things after it arrives quite easily.

Your car looks very good mate, but I still think it looks better with the 17s. But the handling I suppose is improved with the lowering and larger wheels.

Your car looks very good mate, but I still think it looks better with the 17s. But the handling I suppose is improved with the lowering and larger wheels.

 

Cheers, I like it, but don't expect that it's everyones cup of tea :coffee:

I've done almost 44k now running 18" Golus on standard suspension. Basically, it's a firm ride but also far too wallowy on undulating roads and crashy over poor surfaces and this is not entirely down to the larger rims in my opinion as others on 17" rims also report poor ride quality and compared to Superb II on 18s with standard springs the S2 was like a Rolls Royce, so I'm replacing springs and dampers at the end of this month in a bid to improve handling, damping and looks as will be lowering 35mm front 30mm rear with an Eibach Pro kit and Bilstein B4 dampers.

I have 18" Golus on sports suspension, I specc'd the sports side of things as I didn't want an unsightly gap between the tyre and wheel arch plus the standard suspension is a tad soft.  Combine that with the awful rear suspension setup and you need that bit extra.

 

Ride isn't bad.  Nowhere near as bad as previous A4 with S Line sports suspension and 18" wheels.  (I think the suspension was made of granite).

 

Road noise isn't intrusive, anything is better than the standard 17's which look lost in those big arches.

Thanks for all the replies, obviously I've no way of really comparing the ride difference between the 17's and 18's unless I can find a dealer that has a car with 18's I can try out but even then it would only be a relatively short test and difficult to really get a feel for the difference. More than likely I'll be keeping the car after the 3 year pcp(barring any major mechanical faults etc) so would probably go down the same road as Matt Pez and change the springs and dampers to improve the suspension if I felt it needed it! To change the rims and tyres now is roughly €200 whereas it'll cost a lot more to change at a later date and as Matt says from what I've been reading it's seems the ride quality is more to do with the standard suspension rather than the difference between the wheel size. Think I might chance the Alaris rims.

I so wish Skoda UK would give us this wheel option. It really doesn't make any sense why they don't.... :(

I've done almost 44k now running 18" Golus on standard suspension. Basically, it's a firm ride but also far too wallowy on undulating roads and crashy over poor surfaces and this is not entirely down to the larger rims in my opinion as others on 17" rims also report poor ride quality and compared to Superb II on 18s with standard springs the S2 was like a Rolls Royce, so I'm replacing springs and dampers at the end of this month in a bid to improve handling, damping and looks as will be lowering 35mm front 30mm rear with an Eibach Pro kit and Bilstein B4 dampers.

Be very interested to hear how you get on with the new setup after you've changed them Matt.

Be very interested to hear how you get on with the new setup after you've changed them Matt.

No problem, parts on order, got to wait until end of month as B4s not in UK stock so coming from Germany. I should point out that I understand more recent builds are much improved, mine is a very early MY13 build which is before mid Jun 13, and mine was actually built in Apr 13. I understand for example that the 150CR L&Ks with 18s fitted as standard and on Torsion Beam suspension which are all basically MY15 build or later and are much better damped so I'm convinced there has been ongoing development of the dampers but SUK refuse to confirm my theory as part nos remain unchanged except the last two letters on the part ref seem to vary but they refuse to explain what these letters mean. I think in hindsight I would also spec the factory sports springs with 18s but as an aftermarket mod, most seem to agree you can't really go wrong with Eibach Pros so if you plan to mod, may as well save the cash and leave it standard to start with.

No problem, parts on order, got to wait until end of month as B4s not in UK stock so coming from Germany. I should point out that I understand more recent builds are much improved, mine is a very early MY13 build which is before mid Jun 13, and mine was actually built in Apr 13. I understand for example that the 150CR L&Ks with 18s fitted as standard and on Torsion Beam suspension which are all basically MY15 build or later and are much better damped so I'm convinced there has been ongoing development of the dampers but SUK refuse to confirm my theory as part nos remain unchanged except the last two letters on the part ref seem to vary but they refuse to explain what these letters mean. I think in hindsight I would also spec the factory sports springs with 18s but as an aftermarket mod, most seem to agree you can't really go wrong with Eibach Pros so if you plan to mod, may as well save the cash and leave it standard to start with.

Thanks for the info Matt. Just been looking at the configuration again and the sports suspension is only €173 (£122) so prob worth ticking that box at the same time as the 18in wheels.. Assuming I can still change the configuration at this stage anyway!

Thanks for the info Matt. Just been looking at the configuration again and the sports suspension is only €173 (£122) so prob worth ticking that box at the same time as the 18in wheels.. Assuming I can still change the configuration at this stage anyway!

Only thing to bear in mind is factory sports springs lower 15mm whereas Eibach Pro lower 35/30mm. Some say that even factory sports are not low enough as the car does look like it's on stilts compared to a Golf GT or Passat Sport or Audi A3 Sport. Eibach will be more like Audi S Line suspension.

Well looks like I'm €400 better off for the moment! Just been onto the dealer and the order is 'frozen' so cannot make any changes to it. On the plus side build date has come forward a few weeks from the original date and car should be built in week 15, was originally week 18.

I've done almost 44k now running 18" Golus on standard suspension. Basically, it's a firm ride but also far too wallowy on undulating roads and crashy over poor surfaces and this is not entirely down to the larger rims in my opinion as others on 17" rims also report poor ride quality and compared to Superb II on 18s with standard springs the S2 was like a Rolls Royce, so I'm replacing springs and dampers at the end of this month in a bid to improve handling, damping and looks as will be lowering 35mm front 30mm rear with an Eibach Pro kit and Bilstein B4 dampers.

 

Again Matt I'd be also interested to hear, as I have simply installed a set of H&R springs and the standard shocks will go eventually - providing me with good grounding to revisit the suspension setup.