17" to 18" Wheels

[C240Sport97]

Has anyone moved from 17" to 18" wheels?

If so, how has this affected the ride, especially on pot holed, bumpy third world London roads?

Is there significantly more noise?

Presumably the handling improves?

Any other issues/downsides?

Thanks mucho.

 

[mxs]

Has anyone moved from 17" to 18" wheels?

If so, how has this affected the ride, especially on pot holed, bumpy third world London roads?

Is there significantly more noise?

Presumably the handling improves?

Any other issues/downsides?

Thanks mucho.

A bit off topic, but I would be interested in buying your old 17's in you made the move to 18's!

 

[peterchurch]

Has anyone moved from 17" to 18" wheels?

If so, how has this affected the ride, especially on pot holed, bumpy third world London roads?

Is there significantly more noise?

Presumably the handling improves?

Any other issues/downsides?

Thanks mucho.

Hi,
this is a link to an MR2 site...

http://www.mr2roc.org/content/articles/wheels/wheels.php

there is some very good discussion on the subject. Where I think it will differ for an MB is the amount of power on tap. The MR2 was low Horse power light weight car, so it was easy to break them with silly wheels and 15" were fastest by a long shot
So if you have tonnes of power then I don't think you will lose acceleration, although you will use more fuel... If you have a low power engine then I think it could harm acceleration quite a bit

regards,

Peter

 

[MainMan]

The only thing that will improve is the appearance of the car. Most other things will deteriorate - ride, handling, tramlining, tyre noise. If the wheels are also wider you'll have worse grip in the wet and higher fuel consumption also. The best compromise for a C-class is probably 16" ers, but 17" ers look better and don't have much of an adverse effect.

 

[C240Sport97]

can anyone who has actually gone from 17" to 18" please provide some feedback on ride, handling and tyre noise. Much appreciated!

 

[Will]

can anyone who has actually gone from 17" to 18" please provide some feedback on ride, handling and tyre noise. Much appreciated!

Hi Sean,

I got my membership for the '18" AMG Wheel Club' last july! :bannana:

Having driven both my current and previous W202 on AMG 17s I would honestly say that there is not much trade-off.

What I mean is, with low-ish suspension and stiff dampers, plus running on 17" low-profile tyres, no-one would expect luxury ride 'comfort'.

At first, I would say that there is a very slight difference in overall ride comfort (as would be expected), but after a week or so, you would probably not notice any difference to what it was before?

Tyre noise seems to be virtually identical (and I am running the same brand/type of tyres as previously - Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD-3s). The tyre's width (as well as brand/tread pattern) would have most influence here, and I am running the same section front tyres, rears are only 10mm wider.

Regarding handling - I would say that there is very slightly less sidewall flex/roll, and overall the handling is slightly better 99% of the time (slightly more firm, slightly more 'meat' on the rear) but I may have noticed a slight reduction in cold weather/snow (larger footprint=slightly less pressure on the ground=minute difference in traction in snow perhaps?).

Lastly, the only other real difference would be tyre cost. 17" tyres are expensive anyway, but add another 10-20% perhaps for the 18s.

Overall, if you have even considered it (and it looks like you have ) I would say go for it. The improved looks and handling far outweigh any possible drawbacks IMHO!

Cheers,

Will

 

[Mambo]

can anyone who has actually gone from 17" to 18" please provide some feedback on ride, handling and tyre noise. Much appreciated!

Not much in it mate, the only thing that made a difference to me was lowering it but the wheels made very little noticeable difference. You do become a hell of a lot more paranoid when parking though

 

[Will]

I'll second that about the paranoid parking!

Remember that these were originally W210 wheels and normally run another 10mm of tyre front and rear!

No getting away with using the curb as the parking sensor!

Will

 

[C240Sport97]

Will and Mambo, thanks very much for the feedback. The ones (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7959590028&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT) I am looking at are the same width all round as my current ones.

I will sleep on this ...

 

[Mambo]

Will and Mambo, thanks very much for the feedback. The ones (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7959590028&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT) I am looking at are the same width all round as my current ones.

I will sleep on this ...

Good choice, have always like that style, let us know what you decide!

 

[Thmsshaun]

Will and Mambo, thanks very much for the feedback. The ones (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7959590028&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT) I am looking at are the same width all round as my current ones.

I will sleep on this ...

I should be getting a comission from this site

 

[Flash]

I absolutely agree with what most people have said about ride quality, comfort etc. being affected with bigger alloys (same applied when upgraded to 18s AMG on my W203) – on the 645 Cab it has got 19” wheels – they look great but even my other half (whose car it is) very quickly picked up on the fact that it has not got that “magic carpet ride…” - wonder how long it shall be before she curbs them…

With 16” you cannot really go wrong as they look good (very difficult to tell the difference between 17”, good ride quality, probably cheaper and cheaper tyres in comparison to 17”- (but you need sports suspension to help fill the arches).

Flash

 

[SportsCoupeRich]

An excellemt choice of wheel mate, i have them on my w203 coupe and they realy look awesome. didnt notice much difference in ride (apart from grip!!!!!! ) untill i had the brabus suspension put on - the cars tend to ride a little high without a bit of alteration.

to add to the major problem of changing (as well as the parking) i would say the £1100 i paid in Dec for P Zeros all round was a bit crippling.

problem with mine is they are the next size up in width on those wheels...i have 245 and 265 f + r respecrtively - - - - arches were modified!!!!

get em!

 

[Flash]

Cheers mate... - I like the alloys on ur coupe - the ones I got are a slightly different design. Brabus do a similar sort of design in the shape of star with stud around the rim.

I know what you mean about parking bit too and the rubber certainly is not cheap at all - approx by how many CMs does the Brabus suspension lower your car by?

Flash

 

[SportsCoupeRich]

the lowering kit is 35mm all round i think. so about an inch and a half after they have settled in. I was at the dealership the other day and my car was next to a std coupe with the evo pack 17s and slightly lowered AMG springs (20mm) and my car looked outrageously better in my opinion!!!! (sorry any coupe evo owners!!!!)

The springs about 500 fitted i think, but was well worth it.

DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT

 

[C240Sport97]

can you post some pics of your car with the wheels?

please

An excellemt choice of wheel mate, i have them on my w203 coupe and they realy look awesome. didnt notice much difference in ride (apart from grip!!!!!! ) untill i had the brabus suspension put on - the cars tend to ride a little high without a bit of alteration.

to add to the major problem of changing (as well as the parking) i would say the £1100 i paid in Dec for P Zeros all round was a bit crippling.

problem with mine is they are the next size up in width on those wheels...i have 245 and 265 f + r respecrtively - - - - arches were modified!!!!

get em!

 

[SportsCoupeRich]

if you search for my thread titled "WOW - drove the cls500" you will find pictures of my car on page 2, after pics of my fathers spanish cls500. Damn, my wheels look good!!!!

 

[Shude]

if you search for my thread titled "WOW - drove the cls500" you will find pictures of my car on page 2, after pics of my fathers spanish cls500. Damn, my wheels look good!!!!

I hope that was posted in the Gallery section or I'll be cross!

 

[C240Sport97]

yes, just seen them ... looks fabulous

if you search for my thread titled "WOW - drove the cls500" you will find pictures of my car on page 2, after pics of my fathers spanish cls500. Damn, my wheels look good!!!!

 

[SportsCoupeRich]

R2D2 posted them for me! any complaints to him please!!!!!!!

i accept full blame temporarily!!!