Stupid question 138

[jonesltd]

If you don't want to lower the car at present due to funds but have access to 19s but purchased 18s would the 19s have less of a gap between arch and wheel?

[Jimble]

Perhaps a little but not much, the tyre wall would generally be slimmer to keep the diameter the same, otherwise your speedo would read wrong.

[AndyG]

Regarding putting 19 inch wheels on.As well as the GTI that runs on 18 inch wheels we also run a mk6 1.4 basic model golf.I have to admit that on the motorway I prefer the 1.4s due to the noise from the 18 inch wheels at higher speeds.I think 19inch look the part but am I right in assuming that they would be noisier?

[Ess_Three]

Regarding putting 19 inch wheels on.As well as the GTI that runs on 18 inch wheels we also run a mk6 1.4 basic model golf.I have to admit that on the motorway I prefer the 1.4s due to the noise from the 18 inch wheels at higher speeds.I think 19inch look the part but am I right in assuming that they would be noisier?

19s no noisier than 18s...it's down to the design of the tread block, not the size.
Narrower, less sports orientated tyres are quieter.

[Ess_Three]

If you don't want to lower the car at present due to funds but have access to 19s but purchased 18s would the 19s have less of a gap between arch and wheel?

In general, the bigger the wheel and hence the smaller the tyre sidewall, the worse it looks if there is an arch gap.
A Golf at standard ride height on 17s can look better that the same car on 18s...and almost certainly will look better than the same car on 19s.
The smaller sidewall seems to highlight the arch gap.

The bigger the wheel size, the smaller the arch gap needs to be (in my eyes) to not look silly.