15" and 16" Wheel Car Equivalence

[AJSGSE1990]

Most sites will not allow you to search for wheels without a model and the M100 is usually not available. Firstly, are these specs correct:

4x100mm bolt pattern and hub bore is 57.1 mm

a) 14x6J (ET60) with 185/60HR14
b) 15x6.5J (ET60) with 205/50ZR15
c) 16x7J (ET60) with 205/45ZR16

If you ignore the offset and use an ET38 (+/- 20mm) as a search term it opens a very large number of possible options, many get very close to the original S2 design without having to go wider than 6.5J. Personally, the car is at its limit of tyre width, anymore and it would lose agility. My ideal size feels like 16" 6.5J with a max 195 tyre.

What would be good is to have a list of make/model where the wheels would technically fit, even with a lower ET number, trying wheel-size.com:

Seat Cordoba 1994-1998 ET38
Seat Ibiza 1994 - 2002 ET 38
VW Derby 1994 -1997 ET38
Golf 1983 1992 ET38

Skoda Felicia 1995 - 2001 ET35
VW Corrado 1991 -1995 ET35
VW Lupo 2003 -2005 ET35
VW Scirocco 1981 -1992 ET35

Dodge Aries 1984 - 1985 ET37

[dapinky]

I ran mine on a set of 17" alloys from a Corsa Limited Edition for a while (borrowed them from Angies daily driver), and they were fine. I only used them for 'general driving' so no really strenuous testing, and no track days, so I can't tell you if the scrub angle change from the reduced offset made much difference.

What I can say, is that the 40 profile tyres (205/40r17) made the ride far more severe, and i felt more of the road through the car - which may be a good thing, but I prefer the slightly more 'compliant' feel of 50 profile rubber on a smaller wheel to give the same overall circumference.

[AJSGSE1990]

What I can say, is that the 40 profile tyres (205/40r17) made the ride far more severe, and i felt more of the road through the car - which may be a good thing, but I prefer the slightly more 'compliant' feel of 50 profile rubber on a smaller wheel to give the same overall circumference.

Couldn't agree more, too much tyre ruins cars. Even on the race cars for an amateur like me I prefer the car to move a bit and tell me what is going on rather than 11/10ths Time Attack mode. The current 15" 185 are plenty, I have pushed as far as is normal without getting too busy and its perfect. Only reason I'm toying with 16 is for the front brakes which after a few hundred miles is the only part of the car I "feel" needs a bit of help. Everything else feels just right and proportionate.

I am very pleasantly surprised at how good this car is, 80k miles, a few foibles but on country roads its perfect.

Cheers,

Andrew.