Hi, I want to get some larger alloys for my Fabia vrs but have been told that if I get larger alloys it will blunt the performance because they will be heavier in weight. Is this true? and are there any recomended alloys which are lightweight or are just recomended. I quite the the aerospeed rsgt wheels.

ps. Does anyone know the weight of the standard wheels?

Thanks alot.

Matt

HI Matt.......I have just removed the 7.5x17 alloys off my Furbie vRS and put it back on it's original wheels/tyres for the Winter. The car is now slightly Quicker,does more MPG and the ride Quality has improved The 17" wheels will be going back on in the summer though...........I think one of the lightest wheels are OZ but I'm not really sure...........Hope this helps............Andy

Hi, I want to get some larger alloys for my Fabia vrs but have been told that if I get larger alloys it will blunt the performance because they will be heavier in weight. Is this true?

Yes , it's perfectly true.

If the wheels are heavier than standard this can reduce accelleration and economy. If you go for significantly wider wheels there is also more friction with the road which helps grip but can affect the performance.

Exactly how much this happens will depend on the wheels themselves. Cheapo alloys and tyres can be the worse for this

here are my thoughts on the subject. What is the weight difference between a standad 16" alloy and tyre, and a 17" alloy and tyre? not much i bet. Now consider the extra weight your car is carrying when you fill the tank up!!!! Has anyone ever commentend on how a full tank slows them down??? Not often. Now consider carrying a passenger - there is a lot more weight in the car than 1 person alone - do people complain about noticable decreases in performance - hardly. I think people get a little too obsessed with this topic and the improvement in looks out weighs the decrease in performance and economy ten times over. Just my opinion.

There was a slight difference when I stuck 17s on mine. The speedo seemed to move round a bit slower through the gears, but now im used to it and the cold air of winter makes up for it Economy suffered a bit aswell.

ITS ALL WORTH IT THOUGH :D:thumbup:

as were mentioning economy - i drove 90 miles on the motorway yesterday to pick up some wheels/ tyres, on the way the computer showed i was getting 56mpg (80 - 90ish), on the way back (with 4 17" wheels/ tyres in back) at same speeds i was getting 52mpg.

So with the weight of an extra 4 wheels/ tyres i only lost 4mpg, this might be worse with town driving but it's not so noticeable.

I put 17x7.5s with 215/40/17 tyres on just over a week ago. No difference in acceleration/mpg at all.

Handling seems marginally better, though that could just be a placebo effect. Not really bothered, 'cause I'm getting JBS'd on friday.

I've told my m8s (16st; 13st; and 10st) that although its my turn to drive next saturday, they'll have to sort out their own transport to the pub and back ('cause it might have an impact on performance/mpg etc.)

Cheers,

John.

I had 15s on mine with 195/50 tyres. The car was very quick, and I took corners like an F1 car...(okay, not quite, but you get the jist of it all ).

I've now got 16s, but the tyres are a damn huge 225/45. The road holding is much better and smoking off the line has less wheelspin and much better acceleration, but then after that, it seems slow. My average time with the 15s from 80km/h to 110km/h was 4.9 seconds. Now I'm getting an ugly 5.6 seconds, and I'm really not happy with these tyres, despite the better off-the-line run. Doin' twists is wallowy because of the softer sidewalls. And it looks ugly. They look toooo big, i.e., the whole set of wheels look too big with the tyres.

Once I get the rare set of 215/40s everything will be back to normal, and better too.

So yes, bigger wheels do affect performance if you don't get the right tyres