16" or 17" wheels?

[davidmacdonald306]

I've just purchased a set of meister r coilovers to be fitted in the next few weeks and I'm going to be replacing the standard 17" s spokes in the new year. What I'd like your thoughts on guys is should I stick to 17" or get 16"s?
I was planning on sticking with the 17" but after reading a few posts about the car handling better on 16"s I'm not so sure now. I plan on taking it to a few track/ drag days come the summer. Any thoughts welcome!

[stoney]

16 would prob be best

[EcosseGP]

Depends on what else you're planning to do. If you're looking at changing brake callipers you'll need to take that into consideration too ..

[john]

16's are a great all rounder and much more forgiving and less twitchy, as for bigger brakes! They just slow you down 😳

[Mon the fish]

R56S/R53 JCW brakes fit fine under non-OEM 16s, and they are all you need for brakes

[jdl_1967]

I went from 17" S Spokes to 15" Pro Race 1.2 which weight about half of the S Spokes. I know you don't want to go that far, but you'll definitely notice a big difference with smaller / lighter wheels on. Unsprung weight makes a big difference to responses and how the car drives and feels.

Aesthetically, I also prefer the look of the smaller wheel on the R53 / R50.

Davy's (MiniiGP) blue R53 has the original 16" X Lite (R84) wheels, personally I think they are one of the best looking OEM wheels for the Gen 1 cars and they were also one of the lightest OEM wheels available.

[badwolf340]

R56S/R53 JCW brakes fit fine under non-OEM 16s, and they are all you need for brakes
Standard pads or updated ? And is that what you have on your R53 ?

[Mon the fish]

Standard pads or updated ? And is that what you have on your R53 ?
Lots of choice of pads, I only tried yellowstuff on mine. I run the Brembos now, mostly because I'm a tart. It does restrict me to be 17s. TBH I don't notice massively better braking

The guys in Time Attack ran R56S brakes instead of Brembos, so they're obviously good enough

[davidmacdonald306]

Thanks for your thoughts guys, am looking for light 16" wheels sub £500 in black, any recommendations?

[Crombers]

17's for looks imo, as for 16's never tried em but they almost always say that the chuckability factor gets better the smaller you go.


"Black"!! :thud: ............... it's just (not) me :Whistle:

[jdl_1967]

Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 are very light yet reasonably priced. They come in gloss or matt black.