Hey,

 

I'm going to order new Fabia estate, but im wondering if i should take 16 or 17 inch alloys.

 

What to consider making this choice? 

 

 

Depending on the roads you mainly drive... highways ==> 17 inch, city ==> 16 inch

Depending on the roads you mainly drive... highways ==> 17 inch, city ==> 16 inch

 

 

Yep - I'm with pab567 on this -- city / country roads ( rough-ish surfaces ), the 16". The tyres (generally) have a "taller" aspect ratio - so are more forgiving on the rougher stuff. The really low, low-profilers on the 17" just haven't enough give. Much harder on uneven surfaces.

Hi Arnos and welcome to Briskoda.

 

I have just part ex'd my Roomster Scout (16" alloys) for a Roomster SE (15" alloys) and find the ride considerably quieter and far more comfortable on 15" alloys.  I personally would not specify 16" alloys on a Roomster/Fabia again and I am sure I would find 17" alloys unbearable.

 

I found 16" alloys more susceptible to kerb and pothole damage than 15" alloys and I guess 17" alloys would be even more so.  As others have said, I suggest you avoid 17" alloys unless you do most of your driving on smooth, well-surfaced roads.

17 inch looks better. They're the same width so no gain in handling other than low profile benefits.

Comfort should be tour main choice

Thanks for the info, just what i needed. Gonna go with 16s, because here in Estonia, potholes are all over the place.

Another aspect: when the time comes to get new tires, the 17" ones are generally more expensive than the 16". 

 

An offtopic comment: I actually tried to get 15" rims on our Fabia III Style (SE L), but the dealer refused to "downgrade" the rims for me. The Style has 16" as standard, and that is what i got.

Another aspect: when the time comes to get new tires, the 17" ones are generally more expensive than the 16". 

 

An offtopic comment: I actually tried to get 15" rims on our Fabia III Style (SE L), but the dealer refused to "downgrade" the rims for me. The Style has 16" as standard, and that is what i got.

 

Yes - I had that thought too - but I reckon that 15" rims would not fit - the brake calipers are *very* close to the 16"rims - at least on the front. Guessing there's bigger disc rotors on the front than the Fabia II.

Interesting. In Poland we get 15 alu as default for Style version (so brakes will fit).

Brakes fitting is not an issue, the 15" spare wheel will fit.

 

It is just what Dealers might or might not do for customers, and them what some are allowed to do.

Location, location, location.

 

As to going for Smaller Alloys, ie 16" on instead of 17",  you might have the Rims Protected a bit more with a taller sidewall,

but road noise is unlikely to be reduced if you had say 215 tyres on both rims & the same brand of tyres.

Or if it is 205's on the 17'S & 205's on the 16's, but both the same Brand / Tread.

Imhe will lower and wider tires be noisier and also more uncomfortable on uneven roads. As most roads tend to be these days.

I feel it very intense at every spring and fall going from winter- to summer tires and vice versa. They differ 1".

Have driven Spacebacks on all the tyre sizes used by the UK Fabia III and bizarrely I prefer the 17". Also there appears a greater availability of tyres in this size over the 16". 

 

However for poor roads the 15" 185/60 provides a softer ride but at the expense of handling. Think the 195/55 R15 tyre which for the Spaceback is an approved size, would provide the best compromise between ride and handling.

 

 

TP

Interesting. In Poland we get 15 alu as default for Style version (so brakes will fit).

 

 

Brakes fitting is not an issue, the 15" spare wheel will fit.

 

 

I stand corrected!  Sorry guys!

..... Edit! Just "happened " to be in with dealer today - and the one Fabia which I had looked closely at - was the only one in forecourt with 15" wheels - all the rest were 16". I assumed they were ALL 16 ! A quick brochure check shows that Carme 15" alloys are standard on the mid-spec "Ambition" model (like SE - but not the same!). And ... The base model (called "Active") has as standard, 14" steel wheels.

So, complete surprise to me - I was sure they were gone to 16" as standard. All the rest of the "stock" cars were 16", or 17".

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Do 18" wheels fit on Fabia? There's one good offer for 18" brand new wheels now:

http://avelg.ee/pood/toode/veljed/18/alutec/alutec-nitro-18x8-5x100-et35-63-9144

 

Tõnu

Edited 22 October, 201510 yr by MantaOwner

You can fit 18" Rims, but then you are going to have to fit pretty low profile tyres to keep a similar Total Diameter / Rolling Radius to the original as the cars comes from the factory.

 

http://kouki.co.uk/utilities/visual-tyre-size-calculator