18" RS6 Alloys on a standard highline??

[mightymidget 0]

I'm looking to possibly buy a set of RS6 style wheels which a guy has fitted to his 40mm lowered VR6. He's told me that his car needed no extra work to fit them and has no rubbing. He's suggested that the wheels should be a straight fit on a standard car and need no spacers or arch work. I'm still a little skeptical though.

The wheels in question are 215/35/18 8J.These wheel do look great so it would be excellent if they'd fit a standard none-lowered car without modification.

Any opinions appreciated as I'm really lost on this one as I've always run the standard 15's.

Thanks in advance.. MM.

[craggsy 91]

18s will ruin how the car handles...and on standard suspension will be shocking. If you must go big then no bigger than 17s with a 205.40 17 tyre or maybe 195.40 17.

Just my opinion tho'...its your car matey

[mightymidget 0]

thanks for your feedback craggsy. What about the fitting though, do you think this straight fit with no rubbing is just nonsense??

[mightymidget 0]

18s will ruin how the car handles...and on standard suspension will be shocking. If you must go big then no bigger than 17s with a 205.40 17 tyre or maybe 195.40 17.

um,.. been doing a bit more research into this. The 215/35/18's have an approx outside tyre diameter of 60.8cm where as the standard 205/50/15's have a diameter of 58.6cm. That's a difference of 2.2cm's (22mm). That would raise the center of gravity by approx 11mm. (measured from the center axle to the ground).

In comparison the 205/40/17 that a lot of people use have an outside tyre diameter of 59.6cm. 10mm more than standard 15's and would raise CG or ground clearance measured at the pan by 5mm.

These are very small differences over the standard configuration. I ain't no expert but do you really think that's enough to ruin the handling? Also there's the consideration that the 18's run a much lower profile and as such should offer less side wall flex and bounce through the corners. What's the forum opinion on this?

[craggsy 91]

Ive ran 17s before and hated every moment of it.....was glad when I dropped down to 16s, mixture of looks and handling. I now have 2 sets of 16s, summer and winter/track uses

[gloster 0]

I too used to run 17's and i felt the driveability just disappeared , i now have 16's on mine and all good imo.

Don't know myself ref 18's but i'd be surprised if they went straight on especially with anything more than 205's without arch rolling etc.

[antera309 3]

I ran 8x18" R32 alloys on my cabrio with 215/35/18 tyres. I was running about a 40mm drop and the rear arches had to be rolled to get them on with no rubbing. I also had to cut part of the front wheelarch liners away. Handling was fine, although they did make the ride quality a bit harsh (as you would expect on such low profile tyres). On an 18" wheel anything wider than 8" would definitely be a no-no unless you're prepared to do more extensive arch work.

[mannie 0]

The amount of people on 17" rather then 18" should tells you something about the ride&handling of the 18" rim .Imo the best ride/handling is the 15" .

[mightymidget 0]

The amount of people on 17" rather then 18" should tells you something about the ride&handling of the 18" rim .Imo the best ride/handling is the 15" .

I agree, just curious as these wheels look really good, I'm probably gunna play safe and go for 17"s. Although it has to be said that theres not too much info on 18" on VR6's. Hardly anyones really tried them and Just seem to accept 17 is the most you can go when the physics suggest otherwise.

Never been one to follow the norm, probably why I was always in trouble at school

[ben_notts 0]

i ran 17's on a 40 drop with a 45 tyre profile and it felt rough. saying that most of notts is speed bumped so id never run that setup again. im still on the stock BBS and love the combo with a 35mm drop as i feel both the handling improvements but retain the comfort for the dreaded bumps. im looking to go upto 16's when i find a set that im feeling but im probs gonna buy a charger first!

it depends what your really goin for, i mean 18's are huge in the arches and do look flashy but your defo gonna notice the knock back on ride quality. if your dead set on them go for it, you can always ebay them if its not for you!

[philbatesvr6 0]

iv got 17's with 205 45 tyres on with a 50mm drop it looks good and handeled ok BUT now iv put some audi A3 15's with 205 50 tyres on and its so much better it handels better its quicker on pull off and when i wind my coilovers down some more imho it will look alot better

15's FTW

[mightymidget 0]

Thanks for all your input and suggestions on this. After careful consideration and reading through these forums I decided to go for 16's and lower it down some to get rid of the 4x4 look. I've bought some BBS two piece split rims that will look really good once fitted.

The 18's would have looked great but I can't afford to mess about with different spacers, rolling arches etc.. Especially if the general consensus is that the handling will be effected.

Still think 18's could be made to work if only I had the time and money to play :-(

Once again thanks for all the replies.