17"'s on a 1.4?

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kiankaos
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17"'s on a 1.4?

Post by kiankaos »

can it be done? has anyone done it yet??

what bout 19's and lowering??
Col
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Post by Col »

what mk polo is it your talking about?? I've got 17's on my Mk4 and so have a few other people I know. Mk5 is basically the same shape so 17's will go on it too, the Mk6 has bigger arches so 17's would fit no probs.

As for 19's Mk6 would be the only one with big enough arches!! seen a few Mk4's on 18's with 215/35 tyres but it is a real squeeze :?
KarlM
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Post by KarlM »

I've got 17's on at the moment but i'm making the jump up to 18's shortly. for the amount of work thats involved in making 17's fit (without any scrubbing) you may as well make 18's fit. Because theres loads of narrow (7.0 and 7.5) 18' (and 19') wheels in 4 stud now, and on the Polo, its width thats the problem, not diameter. Check out ACE, Techno, Oxigen, TSW, Toora, Allesio or Team Dynamics

PS 19's have been done, B-Autos black mk4. check www.performancevwmag.com for details
KarlM
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Post by KarlM »

FYI - The black Polo is in the June 2001 issue of PVW, it also contains how they did it
Polo17
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Post by Polo17 »

that black polo had 18's not 19's
Col
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Post by Col »

tend to disagree on the width problem (true enuff I only have 7's) but I think the diameter means you can't lower it as much at the back

The main catching point is the rear bumper/arch joint, bigger wheels mean that they'll be closer to the bumper so more likely to catch

I'm not saying they won't fit, anything can fit with a lot of time and money (and a grinder and sledge!! ) :D

The space between the front of the rear arch when you have 18's and 215/35 tyres is about 25mm, don't think 19's would fit without custom arches, where the arches would have to be seriously modifed. The rear of the front arch has about the same distance with 18's, 25mm. Ok for driving in straight lines but turning is another matter!! :(
polo2k
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Post by polo2k »

i thnk the prob with goin big on a 1.4 is touque cos the bigger the wheel diam the more torque you need to achive the same acceleration
plus for every extra inch you add to the total diam (diamater over tyre) you gain one foot in distance for every revolution of the wheel so you speedo become very in acurate
imagine if a wheel is doing 100 rpm and you add an inch total diam then you add 100 ft to the distance to to sid 100 revoutions
oh and yes i am a tyre fitter among other things so i know about downsizing tyres but they dont make a negative profile so if total wheel diam is 18" (for example) and you fit 18" rims then 1" of rubber per side (225/35/18 approx) then you are adding 2 feet per revoltion of the wheel
all in all meaning that by the time you are at 19" rims you get over taken by a shopping trolly in asda :D
oh and finally for every inch total wheel diam you add (remember over tyres) you RAISE the car by half an inch so even if your on a -50mm drop you need a ladder to get in the door
im not hating but the 1.4 isnt exactly the fastest thing on the road and upping wheel size does look cool but it will prollt impaire performance :?
this really is the last bit: the bigger a wheel is the more easilly it gets bent. and the lower tyre profile you go for the higher the risk of scratting a wheel when wounting a tyre :oops: and this is coming from someone who has seen it done wany times (damn noobie tyre fitters) hence the reason why i fit all my own tyres :roll:
ok class dismissed lol
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