Forgive me if this has been gone over before -- I'm new here:

I think the Pegasus wheels are absolutely beautiful. But...

I'm worried about the potential drawbacks -- I've heard low profile tires generally:

1. Have a rougher ride (is it much more noticeable?)

2. Have faster tire wear

3. Are much more expensive to replace.

On the plus side, they look great and handling is sharper.

Can some folks share their experiences, positive and negative, with me?

I have 17" Pegasus wheel and they really set the car off. I wouldnt be concerned about any of your points above.

1) generally there is a degredation in ride comfort but considering you haven't one of the models with lowered or sports suspension I doubt if you'd notice.

2) depends on which tyres you go for....Michelin generally have a hard compound and last for ages.

3) if the tyres are an odd size and mean they aren't common the price can be expensive. But if you get a size which is more popular then the price may actually be cheaper. Example MK1 Octy RS...standard tyres is 205/50/17...upgrading to 225/45/17 is cheaper purely because of it's popularity.

I wouldn't worry...my concerns is rim protection against curbing...get a tyre with a rim protection lip.

Any other opinions on these wheels out there? Especially the ride quality and wear issues?

I had michelin pilots on my mk 1 vrs and they were very hard wearing so would be good for a more modestly performing car..as far road noise..I just turn the stereo up

the amount of inconvenience you would suffer is more than made up for the visual impact..there should be more than enough give in a standard octavias suspension to cope with slightly lower profile tyres

Some time in the last 6 months, someone posted on here saying he was glad he had the opportunity to test drive cars with both standard and larger wheels. He decided to keep the standard size due to the reduced ride quality and increased noise.

No idea who it was but you may find it by searching for thread sabout the Pegasus wheels.

I`ve had the opportunity to test drive the car with both 16" alloys and the 17"Pegas wheels. I am really glad that I did as I was not too impressed with the Pegasus wheels. They look great on the car, but I found that they were too noisy on the car. Offcourse the tyres might also be some of the reason for this, but we were surprised at how much noisier the car was. therefor we went for the 16" instead. And we can`t wait untill it gets here, arrives in Norway on July 4th and should be ready a few weeks later

I have 16" on my octy 2 estate and am very pleased with them, thought about the low profile 17" but didn't have them because i do quite a lot of driving on rough country roads and when i had low profile tyres on my Fabia VRS (which looked great and on that i wouldn't have any other type) over the rougher roads they were very noisey and the ride wasn't very smooth, felt every bump actually. I had the Octy 2 for more practical reasons so wanted a smoother ride over these roads, so stuck with the standard 16". Hope that helps.

Yes they look great; especially on a silver car (IMO).

Yes they cause a loss of ride comfort over rough road surfaces

They can get kerbed easily as the spokes bulge out slightly

Some tyres are noisier than others; see all the moans about the OE Bridgestones, but I've had Continetal Sport Contact 2's fitted now ; My God they grip well and are quieter.

You need to try the difference; when I had a 105pd loan car with standard 15" inch wheels fitted I was left wondering if I should change my wheels/tyres to smaller rims and higher profile tyres as the ride was much more relaxed. But I soon had a big grin on my face after a few corners in my car again.

Maybe get a set and swap them at weekends:thumbup:

As much of the above;

- My Octy 1 was more comfortable with less road noise on its 15" rims but the grip was nowhere near that of the 17"(appreciate chassis updates may have something to do with this).

- They are definately easier to kerb than the smaller wheels as the missus can vouch for

- The tyre pressures seem to need monitoring a lot closer on them.

Despite the above, I wouldn't swap the 17" as IMHO they look fantastic and the grip is excellent.

Mine has the Pegasus wheels with Continental sports on it.

A colleague of mine has the same car minus a few toys, namely the 17" wheels.

We swapped cars for about 20 minutes and both arrived at the same conclusion, the Bridgestones on his car are considerably noisier than my Conti's despite them being 20mm wider.

The ride isn't bad at all. Obviously it's a little firmer but thats the whole point of sports suspension isnt it? Oh and mine sits about 20mm lower than his (wheel arch to ground).

I wouldn't change the wheels and the other chap wishes he had opted for 17 inch rims too.

Yup, I think the aesthetic and the handling benefits outweigh the slightly firmer ride and increased tyre noise (though the b/stones are to blame for that)

And they are a doddle to keep clean.

I'd go and test 2 Octy demos, one with 17s and one without. That's the only way you will know whether you like it or not. Everyone's opinion of what is a harsh ride is different. Same with tyre noise...

Steve

I find the ride in my vRS to be alot more relaxed compaired to my old focus, and it is more refined too.

I see alot of people not too impressed with Bridgestone tyres, and i am curious to which model they are referring. I have the RE050 B'tones on my Octy, and they are the biz quite honestly, didnt think it was any noisier than the demo i drove which had 18" wheels and Conti SportContact 2's

These are mine.