pic request

stani540 · Post by **stani540** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 6:45 pm

hi everyone i dont often wonder over into this section but im now looking into trading in my 60bhp 6N2 for something with a bit more grunt hoping for that replacement to be the 9N GT TDI 130bhp monster!

was just hoping you all could post pics of yours cars if there either on 16's or 17's, prefferably low! cos i just cant decide which size id go for!

thanks

dino · Post by **dino** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:38 pm

Sitting on VW Sport suspension with 16's

carmadaaron · Post by **carmadaaron** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:41 pm

go for 16s and slam its butt

stani540 · Post by **stani540** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:50 pm

you got any pics of your polo on those 18s? you get any rubbing?

dino · Post by **dino** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:13 pm

18's will ruin the handling and performance, even 17's ruin handling.

carmadaaron · Post by **carmadaaron** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:21 pm

dont mean to be rude dino, but i disagree with the 'ruins the handling' bit...
i find that there is less roll, and much more grip when cornering.

its more grippier than a bmw e46 saloon, esp round roundabouts.

acceleration wise, yeah it does kill it big time

dino · Post by **dino** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:42 pm

I've driven a 9n with 17's on and the handling was much worse than mine and i can't imagine they get better with 18's on, plus Polos aren't really designed for the 18's so i stand by my comment on ruining the handling.

Grip wise, all depends what tyres you have on therefore your car may have more grip than that E46 or the driver may not have been cornering as hard as you.

carmadaaron · Post by **carmadaaron** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:57 pm

how was the handling worse?

... a lower profile sidewall means less flex which means it handles better.

well the E46 driver was me... not at the same time obviously but through the same corners and roundabouts, the polo has more feedback and grip.. while the E46 has the higher sidewall (on 16" pirellis) and wobbles/struggles for grip.

Its just what ive experienced. when i went back to 14s (about twice a year... servicing and what not etc) i noticed more bodyroll and more wobbly handling.

dino · Post by **dino** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 9:00 pm

There's more metal and hence more weight. This unsprung rate takes more energy to move up and down over the bumps and hence can't react so easy/quickly.

You'll also find that your suspension is tuned in with the amount of give in your sidewalls of your tyres. If you reduce the sidewall then the shocks and springs are gonna be having to handle more work and again won't perform as well.

Or at least that's how I understand it!

Again on the grip thing, unless it's running the same tyres your can't really compare grip - you need to compare apples with apples.

EDIT - how wide are your 18's?

RichardBW · Post by **RichardBW** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 9:07 pm

VW Polo and good handling surely cannot go in the same sentence ; )
Before you slate me I do have a GT130ish on stock suspension and its pretty crap, I dont claim to be the best driver but I will push a car to its limit of grip and the polo dont take much pushing. Many cheaper cars have out handled me in this one I am afraid. Because of this I am about to swap the suspension and fit proper ARB's to see how it can be improved.
I will go with Dino on the 16's thing as well. I want to change to bigger brakes on the front which may require 17's but if possible I will stick with 16's for the sake of ride and handling.

carmadaaron · Post by **carmadaaron** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 10:06 pm

what im saying is that the bigger rims make the handling slightly better (in my opinion, 14" vs 18")... which doesnt mean that it was good/amazing handling to start with.

you both are running stock sports suspension i take it. mine aint sports suspension, and on 14" , the car handles like a boat, with the bigger rims it increased the grip and made steering more precise.

so yeah, in my opinion/experience, the bigger rims dont ruin the handling.

As compared to the E46, there is def more grip, as mentioned before, but I wasnt comparing the E46's handling to the polo, as i only mentioned it gripped better. (see earlier post)

Edit: they are 8" wide with 215s.

dino · Post by **dino** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 10:12 pm

In your opinion it doesn't but factually it does.

Anyway, long day - i'm off to bed.

carmadaaron · Post by **carmadaaron** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 10:18 pm

so why do sports model have 15" as standard, then the range topper GT have 16"?

to make the handling worse? hmmm

jmv · Post by **jmv** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 10:21 pm

i have 18's (225/40's) on my car and i must say apart from the looks they are crap. i can only turn 1 full turn in each direction, they touch over bump (40mph+).
The good point is that they fill the arches and there is slightly less body roll, however it is a nightmare in the rain.

I am goin to try 17's or a similar set to dino's 16's.

carmadaaron · Post by **carmadaaron** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 10:23 pm

you're sitting on the wrong tyre size btw... 215/35/18 wont rub
gotta pic of your ride ? it sounds cool with your mod list