[Mk2] [Generic] Properly sized wheels and tyres, the Joy! Ditched the 17"'s

[steve b]

Just got both fronts on finally today and how much better! Night and day, car turns in better, feels lighter and sharper, rides better, doesn't tramline as much. Fantastic!

The change :-

215/40/17" Front on 7.5" ET35 17" to 205/45/16" on 7" ET32

235/40/17" Rear on 7.5" ET35 17" to 225/45/16" on 8" ET35

Of note is I didn't refurb the fronts in time for a trackday and the rears had to go on as the rear 17" were too worn for a trackday and to drive home on. The rears didn't make a huge difference except ride quality.

The fronts however, MASSIVE difference, instant totally different feel to the car!

Function over form every time, ditch those 17" s !

From :-



To :-



Doesn't look quite as good, but definately worth it!

[Harry]

Sounds good Steve - which tyres?
We run 215 40 16 and 245 35 17 off set 37 front and rear with 7.5" and 8.5" wide rims and works very well.
( Fallken GRB 452 )Incidentally this Is still as per the OEM 15" *factory* rolling circumference set up.

[steve b]

( Fallken GRB 452 )

Got those on the rear and 912's up front

[Harry]

The 912's are the newer updated version and sound good again - have you tried them In the wet and say under hard cornering and braking

[steve b]

The 912's are the newer updated version and sound good again - have you tried them In the wet and say under hard cornering and braking

Not yet, only went on today. General B road drivng the seem good.

[platmatt8]

I`ve got these, in the stock pearl white, when i 1st took them off i counldn`t believe how light they where.

[steve b]

When I picked them up they were gloss white, but the paint had all cracked, they looked a right state.



Vauxhall Moonstone now, much better

[cantfindausername]

I think majority of your problem would have been that you were running different size tyres on non staggered wheels. The tyres would have been behaving differently, more roll on 1 set to the other etc.

[dawolf]

So would you say 16's are the best wheel size for the MR2?

I ask because I currently have 15's on mine and although the car feels very good on the road I do like the look of bigger wheels. However I don't want to compromise handling and feel on the road.

[steve b]

16" all the way or 15" on Trackday (stiff carcass) tyres.

I think the Japanese must agree as 99% of all mk2's that come from Japan wear 16's.

[lukem]

Fitting 17" was the worst mod I've ever made. Handling, feel & ride was so dissapointing afterwards. Went back to my trusty 15" standards. Aaahhhhhh, thats better.

[raptor95GTS]

i only changed to 17's so I could get decent tyres otherwise I've have stayed on stock 15's

[HighwayStar]

15f 16r I think is the way forward when I finally change wheels (wont be till after an engine swap though).
Just refurbed my 15s so not for a while I hope.

R.

[HighwayStar]

ps. just photoshoped an image in my garage... the very last one, what do you think? It's as close as I can estimate size going on other pics. It's subtle but it's there. Don't know what style they'd be yet...

R.

[dawolf]

Do you think it's really worth upgrading from 15's to 16's for road use? I'm not sure if they'd look much bigger really.

[HighwayStar]

It is subtle ... but it is there. Have you looked at the image?

R.

[GHOST]

I've owned MR2's with 15 16 and 17's on.

I think a lot of the problem with owners with 17's is that they're usually not staggered. Aftermarket wheels usually aren't and I think with just 7J on a 17" on the rear of an MR2 then you're really going to notice a difference in handling on the road.

I'm currently running 17's on my present one but they're 7J on the front and 8J on the rear and yeah, its harsher than the standard 15's but I do feel that they give a little before the rear end goes, whereas the 15's just stuck forever then 'went' making you stain your underwear in the process.

Each to their own I guess. I don't use my MR2 for track days and I'm old enough and wise enough not to hammer it in the wet

[cantfindausername]

Obvioulsy as wheel size goes up, tyre profile goes down, thats where a lot of comfort is lost, not to mention that people often upgrade their suspension at the same time.

I definately think its a case of you get used to what you have, and if you don't like it, you change it.

[mattcambs]

Do you think it's really worth upgrading from 15's to 16's for road use? I'm not sure if they'd look much bigger really.

A proper MR2 set of 16s looks WAY better than stock 15s mainly because they will be wider (7in & 8in versus 6in & 7in) and will have a lower offset (usually around 32 versus 45).

With no bodywork mods a slightly lowered MR2 looks best on 16s, no doubt about that imo.

I've also had 15s, 16s and 17s. I thought the 17s felt the most planted, but 15s gave the best feedback. 16s are the perfect compromise between the two imo

[Race Idiot]

I recently took my 16 inch buddy clubs off due to me wearing out the rears recently

Put my standard wheels back on and I can't belive how much nicer the car feels. Although this is probably because the tyres on the 16's are shot but steering felt more direct and the car just felt nimbler on the whole even with old worn S02's on the front and pretty new T1R's on the rear. Also the car rides allot better.

I'm almost tempted to see if anyone wants to swap for a set of staggered lightweight 15's