Alloy Wheel Choice for Octavia SE

[FlyingGecko]

Ditto pipsyp's comment - 225/45 x 17, an excellent choice. If it wasn't for the need to get new wheels all round, that'd be the rubber on my SE. Then I'd have the handling to go with the ride.

 

Adamzworld, is there anything stopping you putting your own money into this car? Really?

[adamzworld]

Ditto pipsyp's comment - 225/45 x 17, an excellent choice. If it wasn't for the need to get new wheels all round, that'd be the rubber on my SE. Then I'd have the handling to go with the ride.

 

Adamzworld, is there anything stopping you putting your own money into this car? Really?

Afraid not, we used to buy our cars outright and back then we had the option of putting money towards them. Now they lease them and we have to stick with a budget of £350 p/m over 3 years inc servicing and emissions have to be below 115 co2's. We all have to go through the same leasing company so we don't have a huge amount of flexibility.

[pipsyp]

Do you know what.....as a company car id almost be inclined to go 1.6 Elegance over 2.0 SE.....you can only drive company wheels so quickly and it'll almost certainly work out cheaper than the SE on tax being in a lower percentage bracket. The 1.6 isnt crap and drives v well still...a very good motorway car.

I suppose the SE will look nice on the Golus wheels and drive well enough but the SE IMHO does lack (in a couple of areas vital to me) a bit of spec. Id rather have the much more comprehensive spec and give up the 45ps but we're all different.

Edited 17 April, 2015 by pipsyp

[pipsyp]

Also having owned a 2.0 Elegance for just over a year and nearly 23k miles I can say for sure that even with that motor its not huge fun to drive....competent but the steering rack is quite slow and lacking in feedback and there is a fair amount of pitch and roll when cornering due to the fairly high ride height and soft springs...though the damping is still quite firm.

150ps and 236lb/ft torque puts a fair strain on the standard suspension set up and the brakes too (they are perfectly fine but start being a bit heavy with them and they do start to fade even on the road). Brakes aside its less competent with the 205/55 wheels.

All I would say is that the 1.6 is probably better suited to the standard set up regardless of wheel choice so dont rule it out entirely.

You do also get heaps more spec....

ACC and front assist

Park assist

Amundsen Nav

folding mirrors

auto lights, wipers and mirror with high beam assist

multi function wheel

colour maxidot

leather alcantara interior (not sold on how hard wearing it is but looks alot better

that is quite a bit of kit.

Edited 17 April, 2015 by pipsyp

[adamzworld]

Also having owned a 2.0 Elegance for just over a year and nearly 23k miles I can say for sure that even with that motor its not huge fun to drive....competent but the steering rack is quite slow and lacking in feedback and there is a fair amount of pitch and roll when cornering due to the fairly high ride height and soft springs...though the damping is still quite firm.

150ps and 236lb/ft torque puts a fair strain on the standard suspension set up and the brakes too (they are perfectly fine but start being a bit heavy with them and they do start to fade even on the road). Brakes aside its less competent with the 205/55 wheels.

All I would say is that the 1.6 is probably better suited to the standard set up regardless of wheel choice so dont rule it out entirely.

You do also get heaps more spec....

ACC and front assist

Park assist

Amundsen Nav

folding mirrors

auto lights, wipers and mirror with high beam assist

multi function wheel

colour maxidot

leather alcantara interior (not sold on how hard wearing it is but looks alot better

that is quite a bit of kit.

Thanks for the feedback and I guess it's all relative when it comes to performance. My current company car is a Focus 1.6 diesel and in terms of real world speed, it never really struggles when overtaking other cars on the motorway. I think it's about 115bhp so power output is similar to 1.6 Octavia engine. Maybe I should go for creature comforts over power!

[themanwithnoaim]

Afraid not, we used to buy our cars outright and back then we had the option of putting money towards them. Now they lease them and we have to stick with a budget of £350 p/m over 3 years inc servicing and emissions have to be below 115 co2's. We all have to go through the same leasing company so we don't have a huge amount of flexibility.

Dunno what digbat you have setting up your leases but, there are TDI vRS's and 184 Scouts out there on £200 p.m. PCH. I wouldn't be surprized if you couldn't rustle up 2.0 TDI LandK for £350 a month.

[adamzworld]

Another benefit for me of going for the 1.6 over the 2 litre would be that the tax would work out to around £200 less a year!

[adamzworld]

Dunno what digbat you have setting up your leases but, there are TDI vRS's and 184 Scouts out there on £200 p.m. PCH. I wouldn't be surprized if you couldn't rustle up 2.0 TDI LandK for £350 a month.

I probably shouldn't name them on here, but let's just say they don't seem to have the greatest buying power with the big manufacturers!

[terakris]

Replied to your other post, but we have the 18's on the elegance and they are fine. Then again she(wifey) never takes it out of standard (or comfort mode, whatever it is by default). Over bumps and stuff its fine, no issues what so ever. I did worry they might be a bit harsh but there is still a fair amount of rubber on them so they give plenty of bounce still.

[adamzworld]

Replied to your other post, but we have the 18's on the elegance and they are fine. Then again she(wifey) never takes it out of standard (or comfort mode, whatever it is by default). Over bumps and stuff its fine, no issues what so ever. I did worry they might be a bit harsh but there is still a fair amount of rubber on them so they give plenty of bounce still.

Thanks again for the feedback Tekaris

[adamzworld]

Sorry, should have said; " thanks Terakris"

[pipsyp]

Replied to your other post, but we have the 18's on the elegance and they are fine. Then again she(wifey) never takes it out of standard (or comfort mode, whatever it is by default). Over bumps and stuff its fine, no issues what so ever. I did worry they might be a bit harsh but there is still a fair amount of rubber on them so they give plenty of bounce still.

Bear in mind no Octavia has Adaptive dampers....so drive mode selection has absolutely no impact on ride comfort....all it does on the Octavia is steering weight and throttle response.

In summary..with standard suspension quite alot of spring travel but already quite firm damping. 16's with their 55mm sidewalls provide a bit more cushioning and sidewall flex which helps the ride but at the cost of handling prowess (which the Octavia doesnt have in spades anyway). I was quite impressed with the SE on 16's I test drove when ordering my car in terms of ride comfort but for sure it didnt handle v well.

17's dont affect the ride a great deal by comparison but help handling due to there being an additional 40mm of rubber front and rear in contact with tarmac and 10mm out of tyre sidewall reduces flexing which also affects handling. Glad I chose the Elegance on that basis as it definitely handles better than the standard SE on 16's.

In truth 18's look a bit better but the additional 5mm reduction in tyre sidewall is academic really....neither really helps handling or adversely affects ride over 17's.

On a regular Octavia i personally preference 17's as best compromise....because they are standard on an Elegance spec car and for me I dont think 18's are warranted on a regular version as its not a sporty car to begin with. Each to their own of course.

To the OP I wittered on quite a bit sorry. I appreciate the predicament and its a bit of a tricky call.

Being entirely open minded.....

SE with 150ps car and 18's will drive well, be quite a bit quicker than a 1.6 and will look quite nice, but inside SE spec is quite dull and whilst not badly equipped it misses out on kit considerably compared to Elegance. I also think cars on 18's with the standard suspension look a bit carp.

The 1.6 wont light any fires, but then the 2.0 doesnt really anyway despite its straight line speed advantages. It will be dripping with standard kit and be cheap to boot. 17's on standard suspension about in the realms of acceptable to look at.

Just give it some thought and try to drive a 1.6 and 2.0 car, also check out an SE v Elegance to gain some perspective on it.

[themanwithnoaim]

I probably shouldn't name them on here, but let's just say they don't seem to have the greatest buying power with the big manufacturers!

You don't need to name and shame them on here, just show them a £200 a monh PCH and ask them WTF they are doing charging £150 a month for service and breakdown cover, if they don't respond, ask your bosses. 

[adamzworld]

Bear in mind no Octavia has Adaptive dampers....so drive mode selection has absolutely no impact on ride comfort....all it does on the Octavia is steering weight and throttle response.

In summary..with standard suspension quite alot of spring travel but already quite firm damping. 16's with their 55mm sidewalls provide a bit more cushioning and sidewall flex which helps the ride but at the cost of handling prowess (which the Octavia doesnt have in spades anyway). I was quite impressed with the SE on 16's I test drove when ordering my car in terms of ride comfort but for sure it didnt handle v well.

17's dont affect the ride a great deal by comparison but help handling due to there being an additional 40mm of rubber front and rear in contact with tarmac and 10mm out of tyre sidewall reduces flexing which also affects handling. Glad I chose the Elegance on that basis as it definitely handles better than the standard SE on 16's.

In truth 18's look a bit better but the additional 5mm reduction in tyre sidewall is academic really....neither really helps handling or adversely affects ride over 17's.

On a regular Octavia i personally preference 17's as best compromise....because they are standard on an Elegance spec car and for me I dont think 18's are warranted on a regular version as its not a sporty car to begin with. Each to their own of course.

To the OP I wittered on quite a bit sorry. I appreciate the predicament and its a bit of a tricky call.

Being entirely open minded.....

SE with 150ps car and 18's will drive well, be quite a bit quicker than a 1.6 and will look quite nice, but inside SE spec is quite dull and whilst not badly equipped it misses out on kit considerably compared to Elegance. I also think cars on 18's with the standard suspension look a bit carp.

The 1.6 wont light any fires, but then the 2.0 doesnt really anyway despite its straight line speed advantages. It will be dripping with standard kit and be cheap to boot. 17's on standard suspension about in the realms of acceptable to look at.

Just give it some thought and try to drive a 1.6 and 2.0 car, also check out an SE v Elegance to gain some perspective on it.

Thanks for the helpful feedback, I think I'll have a look at the cars side by side if possible so I can compare them in the flesh. I know what you mean about the 18's and I think the fairly high ride height of the standard car doesn't really help their appearance. I agree that the 17's are a good compromise, just wish I could get them with the SE spec without having to spec the additonal sports silver package.

[adamzworld]

You don't need to name and shame them on here, just show them a £200 a monh PCH and ask them WTF they are doing charging £150 a month for service and breakdown cover, if they don't respond, ask your bosses.

Thanks for highlighting the costs and when I speak to the leasing company next, I'll try and get a better idea of what they base their costs on.

[pipsyp]

Thanks for the helpful feedback, I think I'll have a look at the cars side by side if possible so I can compare them in the flesh. I know what you mean about the 18's and I think the fairly high ride height of the standard car doesn't really help their appearance. I agree that the 17's are a good compromise, just wish I could get them with the SE spec without having to spec the additonal sports silver package.

I know I keep harping on about it but there is such a spec divide between SE and Elegance (more so now than ever) that if I were in your position I would almost certainly bin the 2.0 motor for all the extra kit.

The 2.0 motor is good but Ive had a time trying to keep uo with a few repmobile 1.6 TDI Mk7 Golfs and latest A3's in my 2.0 150 so they are definitely not a slow car.

If it were a private purchase I probably would still encourage you down the Elegance route to be fair on spec alone.

You call though my friend, have a good look before making any decisions.

[kallekilponen]

In summary..with standard suspension quite alot of spring travel but already quite firm damping. 16's with their 55mm sidewalls provide a bit more cushioning and sidewall flex which helps the ride but at the cost of handling prowess (which the Octavia doesnt have in spades anyway). I was quite impressed with the SE on 16's I test drove when ordering my car in terms of ride comfort but for sure it didnt handle v well.

17's dont affect the ride a great deal by comparison but help handling due to there being an additional 40mm of rubber front and rear in contact with tarmac and 10mm out of tyre sidewall reduces flexing which also affects handling. Glad I chose the Elegance on that basis as it definitely handles better than the standard SE on 16's.

Here in Finland the Elegance comes with 16"s and for me, coming from a T5 Volvo with 17"s the handling and body control is heaps better on the Octy. I can drive in bends at much higher speeds than on the Volvo with lower profile tires and I get much more feedback through the wheel as well. So it really depends on what you're used to.

[fatzy]

Hi. Just to correct some data's. It seems that there are some misunderstandings regarding tyres and rims.

A 205/55R16 tyre is 205 mm wide and the side wall height is 55% of that: 112.75 mm.

On a 225/45R17 the side wall is 101.25 mm high.

Consequently, the 225/40R18 is a tyre with side wall of 90 mm.

As you see, for each step the side walls decrease with approx one centimeter. Hence the "cushioning" of the side wall will decrease. The side walls must also be reinforced because of this, and some low profile tyres are XL (extra load) only, with really stiff side walls just because flexing will destroy the tyre side wall.

The circumference (outer diameter) is approx the same for all these tyre dimensions, it is the rim that is one inch bigger in diameter for each.

So generally 16" is comfy, 17" is compromize but 225 wide.

18" is the sporty end (still 225 wide), but in my head suits lower sports suspension or vRS.

[terakris]

Bear in mind no Octavia has Adaptive dampers....so drive mode selection has absolutely no impact on ride comfort....all it does on the Octavia is steering weight and throttle response.

good point, my car does, wasnt thinking.

[adamzworld]

Thanks again to everyone for your feedback. I know this is slightly off topic, but the 1.6 Tdi has a 5 speed gearbox, whereas the 2 litre 150 has a 6 speed gearbox so would this not be more suited to motorway driving?

[themanwithnoaim]

Don't over think it, look at the fuel consumption figures.

[pipsyp]

Thanks again to everyone for your feedback. I know this is slightly off topic, but the 1.6 Tdi has a 5 speed gearbox, whereas the 2 litre 150 has a 6 speed gearbox so would this not be more suited to motorway driving?

Not really, the 1.6 will have relatively tall 3rd 4th and 5th ratios...5th likely being as tall as 6th in the 150 TDI.

It wont set the world alight but with 184lb/ft torque accessible for a fair portion of the engines usable rev range it wont struggle on the motorway at all.

Only difference really is that 3rd will be probably the best accelerative gear, whereas 4th is on the 150 IMHO (3rd is pretty short on the 6 speeder)....4th will pull hard on motorway like 5th does on 6 speed and 5th will be cruising gear just like 6th on the 150.

[ednmra]

I look on 6th (manual) as like the old time overdrive.  Good for cruising, not acceleration!

Also, when well loaded (4 or 5 up) and going uphill, I am nearly always in 5th, or in slow territory, 4th..

But on level roads, lightly loaded, I often ignore 4th and 5th. Just get up to speed in 3rd and drop it straight into 6th.

[Geek42]

... I often ignore 4th and 5th. Just get up to speed in 3rd and drop it straight into 6th.

 

I block change up and down between 3rd and 6th (not all the time obviously). In the 1.4TSi gears 4,5 and 6 are ludicrously close together, but I don't think that this is the case in the diesel. Not being in it for the outright speed I would quite like to see how this engine goes with the diesel gear box, just out of interest, as it could definitely do with a higher top gear.

[Oze30]

Will 19x9.5 fit on the rear? I think they're et 33 or 35