17s to 15s - JOB DONE!!

Popped Mickey1's Borbet Cs onto my valver on Saturday. What a difference they make. The car drives so much better now.

Much more responsive, allows the Konis to do their job properly. You can really chuck it around now and I am getting btween 5 and 10 mpg better economy!!

If you have ever considererd putting 17s on a MK2 dont do it - it will spoil the way it drives.

So now I am on the lookout for some 15s but something a bit "different" as Marcus wants his wheels back



Edited by: Trev16v

 

nice,someone else who's seen the light

 

Looks better, but why would you get better fuel economy with smaller wheels?

 

Takes less power to move smaller wheels!

 

More rubber on the road and a larger rolling radius means lower mpg my cheerful chum

Smaller wheels are better for standing starts where as bigger wheels are better for top end.

I went from 15"s to 17" on mine -- I knew the ride would be effected and also raise the ride height [:^(] a bit but 17"s are pure class and the handling is better with a strut brace

 

i'm looking for a new set of wheels myself. was thinking of going for 16's but i think 15's might be better

 

AT LAST

of couse now you`ve got the problem of finding 15" wheels that you like

 

Madbloke, theoretically bigger wheels are better for top end, but if the engine can't pull the higher gearing the car will be slower

I had 17"s on a 16v and it wouldn't pull over 6000 in top gear

Would do 7000 in top on 15s

 

Matt,you should get black wheels again

 

Thats exactly right. There are some big hills down our way and on the 17s, going up hill in 3rd or 4th the engine would hold itself at around 5500rpm - very frustrating if you were trying to overtake someone, but now the car just revs round whatever gear you're in!

I have Schrick 260 cams fitted to this and they really don't kick in until about 5500 so the extr push of those is nice to feel again. Can't stop smiling

 

If i really wanted the power i'd put 13"s on

 

Roller Skate!! 9x13 fantastic.

 

Summary - 17s suck on mk2 16v

 

15's work.....

17's dont....

 

It's not the wheels that are at fault, it's the final drive in the gearbox.

you can feel the tiny difference going from 17"s to 15"s, imagine if you reduced the gearing down by 10%!!!

It feels GOOOOD

 

17"s do work ---- How could you drive the car anywhere if they didnt

 

Speaking of which I have to put mine on 13"s whilst i get new tyres fitted so will take it out for a blast to see if there is a big diff

 

Mine had 17"s on it when I took it out for a test-drive. Looked absolutely fantastic but I seriously questionned why I wanted a Golf if it was gonna' handle like it did. I literally struggled to get it out of the car park. Heavy steering? You don't even know...

Got 15"s on it now - a welcome upgrade from the 13" steelies I was sporting and a decent step-down from the 17"s.

Tom

 

Maybe you need to get down the Gym more often