Tyre question....

[tweed]

I am looking at going from 17s to team dynamics pro race 16s atm

Best thing ive ever heard 

Surely tyre width depends on the wheel width?
With 17's I wouldn't go bigger than 7.5" et35 is good best tyre would be 205/40, but for more room a 195/40 will give plenty. 

[Len]

I have a set of 17x8 Momo wheels that I ran with 215/40 tyres.
That was when it was standard height.

Performance wise I would say 17's and 40 profile and as wide as you can go.
But if you want a bit more comfort and give in the tyre (If you cant handle a car properly) then 16's and 45 profile

[tweed]

As a performance rule you fit as small diameter wheel as the brakes allow!

The bigger the wheel the higher the weight and unsprung weight (wheels & brakes) have a huge affect.

So bigger the wheel the slower you get to 0 to 60mph and so on.

[tweed]

Read this. Keep in mind the 17 and 18 are a lot wider and have smaller tyre wall. So give the 15 and 16 8" wide and same size tyre they will match the grip on the skid. So this test shows that smaller the faster and  8" wide wheels with low profile tyres give best grip.  http://www.caranddriver.com/features/effects-of-upsized-wheels-and-tires-tested

[Len]

Forty odd years of driving and nearly 11 years with my Golf I dont need to read anything!

[tweed]

Doesn't matter how long you've been driving or what car, the fact is the physics are the same.

A larger wheel needs more force to move it and more force to keep it moving. So its a slower wheel and needs more force to keep at a constant speed than a smaller lighter wheel, so you will have poorer MPG also.


If big wheel are good why do F1 cars have 13" diameter wheels?

[Foreveryoungaus16v]

I worked out if I down sized from 17's to 16's with  low profile tires I would save over 11kg in weight at the wheels. Personally I think 17's don't look as smart on Mk3's as 16's if set up correctly. Looking forward to changing mine when I have the money. 

[Wayne]

You can get lightweight 17 wheels, I had 18 pro race on the Skoda and the difference against the CH reps was massive.

[tweed]

You can get lightweight 17 wheels, I had 18 pro race on the Skoda and the difference against the CH reps was massive.

I wont argue that but a 15" or 16" pro race wheel will still be lighter 

For performance for a mk3 golf I would say a 16" x 8" team dynamics pro race with 225/40/16 tyre but that will need arch work.

[hobbiniho]

i agree with tweed there is noticeable difference between the 17's that i have and the standard wheels but i dont care  the 17's dont spin nearly as easily as the 15's so actually make the car better to drive