Changing to 16's

Well after owning my A2 for 2 and a half months, I am upgrading to 16's. The wheels that came with the car are a bit tatty, so the 16's will make the car look better. At the moment she has 15's on so looking forward to the ride on the new wheels. Is there much difference overall in the way the car drives cheers Spud

It depends on tire profile.
If the first size your wheel was standard 175/60/R15 and now you want have 185/50/R16 the car will be harder for holes but more stable in fast bend.

frawley31 said:

Well after owning my A2 for 2 and a half months, I am upgrading to 16's. The wheels that came with the car are a bit tatty, so the 16's will make the car look better. At the moment she has 15's on so looking forward to the ride on the new wheels. Is there much difference overall in the way the car drives cheers Spud

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You have raised my favourite subject. !!!!

but I won't bore people by repeating my views in detail.
But to summarise.
Since I have 18" wheels on my daily driver, I am happy with the ride. The SLIGHTLY firmer ride is fine and the better cornering response more than makes up for that.
Mot me I prefer the larger diameter wheels for cosmetic reasons too.

But whatever the science/ maths it is all about your personal preference.
You won't convince soneone who favours the ride of 15" wheels that the ride on 17" wheels is fine.
The other basic fact is that if you hit a pot hole you will get a large thump whatever your wheel size is.

So I am happy with the slightly firmer ride of 18" wheels and I respect other's views that they prefer the ride on smaller diameter wheels. It is entirely up to the individual to decide how firm the ride is.

One closing comment (sorry to repeat this guys) but the difference in tyre wall between a 15" wheel and a 16" wheel (if they are both the same rolling tyre diameter, as the should be) is half an inch. My bum can't tell the difference !!!!!

Steve B

trepek said:

It depends on tire profile.
If the first size your wheel was standard 175/60/R15 and now you want have 185/50/R16 the car will be harder for holes but more stable in fast bend.

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Cheers trepek for the advice

Birchall said:

You have raised my favourite subject. !!!!

but I won't bore people by repeating my views in detail.
But to summarise.
Since I have 18" wheels on my daily driver, I am happy with the ride. The SLIGHTLY firmer ride is fine and the better cornering response more than makes up for that.
Mot me I prefer the larger diameter wheels for cosmetic reasons too.

But whatever the science/ maths it is all about your personal preference.
You won't convince soneone who favours the ride of 15" wheels that the ride on 17" wheels is fine.
The other basic fact is that if you hit a pot hole you will get a large thump whatever your wheel size is.

So I am happy with the slightly firmer ride of 18" wheels and I respect other's views that they prefer the ride on smaller diameter wheels. It is entirely up to the individual to decide how firm the ride is.

One closing comment (sorry to repeat this guys) but the difference in tyre wall between a 15" wheel and a 16" wheel (if they are both the same rolling tyre diameter, as the should be) is half an inch. My bum can't tell the difference !!!!!

Steve B

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Thank's Steve, there is a lot of opinions about the subject. I have had a good read and will have to wait and see for myself. As I have posted my wheels are tatty and the 6 spoke 16's will make the car look better. The wheels are off a member so at least I know they will be ok. Thanks again Steve Spud

I find the ride in my FSI SE on 16s very crashy. My friend has a 1.4 on the 15s and his seems noticeably softer over the bumps, although I havent driven his. I did test drive a sport one once, but wasnt long enough to form an opinion of the ride.

Unfortunately my car came with a new set of tyres on it, so it will be a long time until I am replacing tyres, when I do, I will be going to 195 width which will give me a bit more sidewall and hopefully improve comfort.

I went from 16s to (one size oversized) 15s and my bum could definitely tell the difference over all the local potholes and speedbumps

Put 195/50/16s on your new 16 wheels, you won't regret it. Better ride, better grip, and cheaper tyres as a more common size. Plus your speedometer will be more accurate too.

I changed from 16" to 15" wheels some time ago. I noticed an immediate improvement in ride comfort, even more so than when I changed to Koni shock-absorbers! I wouldn't revert back to 16" wheels, now! My tyres are Goodyear 185/60

R15's These tyres give the quietest ride. I obtained all the information that I needed from The A2OC Forum.

David

So did I, but in the other direction.
When I bought my A2 it, it had 18" wheels. It totally lacked comfort so I bought a set of 17" Bolero but still not satisfied. Yesterday I swapped to 16" A1 Rims and now I have, at least, acceptable comfort. On the A2 16" seems to be the best compromise between style and comfort.

After I found a huge pair of gashes in the inner edge of my 16" tyres I had to put on my "was going to refurb in the summer" 17" RS4 style alloys and I much prefer them!
Yes, it's a bit more jittery over uneven roads but the feel in the corners round the country lanes to work is far better.

Depends what you want in your car. 15" alloys with spongy tyres will of course give a smoother ride over uneven roads but the other extreme is lower profile tyres (on larger alloys) giving you more feel for the road, especially in cornering ability.

I bought a set of 15" Audi alloys a few months back that I was going to refurb and put winter tyres on but think I'll sell them now and put winter tyres on the 16" instead! Personally I think 15" alloys make the car look more toy like - the 17" RS4 style suit the car perfectly IMO.

I think that we are clearly seeing that the wheel size is ENTIRELY a question of personal taste rather than a significantly measurable comfort.

If people find the A2 ride more comfortable on 15" wheels then I certainly wouldn't argue with that.
Equally if someone also says that the ride on 17" wheels (or even 18") is comfortable enough and has benefits such as cosmetic appearance or handling, then surely we cannot argue with that either.

You will find lots of people in "both camps" and so there is no right or wrong about this debate.
It is not 15" good, 17" bad, or even the other way around.

People will make their choice based on their own perceptions and preferences.
So can we leave it at that.
I prefer the looks and handling and ride of 18" wheels on my A2. I know for a fact that many people prefer the ride of 15" wheels. Neither of us are wrong, we are being human and having different preferences.

Also, when considering the ride quality of your A2 please remember that the shock absorbers and springs play a bigger part in comfort. Also a very light car will never soak up the bumps like a very heavy car does.
So if your A2 has a less than comfortable ride. Check your suspension before changing your wheel size. That may be part of the cause. It could even just be that light cars will not be as comfortable as heavy cars when hitting bumps (whatever the wheel size)

Steve B

Personal choice 17's, i have koni fsd's fitted and have both size's available for swapping when the winter months arrive, yes a little improvement can be found downsizing but the look and handling on the 17's outweighs the minimal difference in comfort achieved on 15's.
I did consider the happy medium of 16's, thinking best of both worlds but at the end of the day as i have found recently with a fresh new road surface, "it's not the car, it's the bloody roads".
Like what has been mentioned, the weight of the A2 plays a significant factor in the ride quality as new owners of the BMWi3 are reporting.

Tyre pressure has a big impact on ride and handling too of course.

dan_b said:

Tyre pressure has a big impact on ride and handling too of course.

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Yes and in a big way.

Unfortunately some people run with excessive tyre pressures to help MPG.
Many tyres when even marginally over inflated will give a firm ride and as you say, handling also suffers.
I prefer to stick to the recommended tyre pressures, safety before MPG.
This is not aimed at members who run at the maximum recommended pressures, that is fine, but running above this is very risky in many ways.

Steve B

Well a very tough decision I had to make today and all down to cost, buy 4 16's with tyres,but need to new tyers or buy 2 new tyers for my existing 15's as 2 where shot at.
I had to opt for 2 new 15's as buy the 16's would have cost me over 200 quid, money I just have not got at the moment. The offer was a good one but I've spent 120 quid on tyers and saved 100 bit gutted I could not get the 16's . oh well I had to let my head rule today and not my heart, I could had taken them and paid later a great offer from the person selling them, but I'd rather pay up front. Thanks to everyone for the advice Spud

A 7,5 x 17 ET32 TT rims with 215/40 tyres is much harder ride, than the original 6 x 16 ET35 with 195/45 tires I got the car with. But they keep me glued to the road in about 800 swings I pass every day.

After a week with the new wheels it is an obvious improvement in comfort. I think it is a combination of Rim size and Speed index.

old: S-line Bolero 7 x17 Vredestein, Ultrac Cento 205/45 ZR17
new: A1 7 Spoke 7 x16 Vredestein, Ultrac Cento 205/45 R16

I am happy with improved comfort and the nice looking new Rims.

To be honest, 17" or 18" wheels on the A2 is like an old lady with running shoes.

steaman said:

To be honest, 17" or 18" wheels on the A2 is like an old lady with running shoes.

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And she's lightning fast