Will 17s Fit

[markw 1]

will 17" alloys fit on a lowered 205 gti or do they look daft

[mattbenselin 0]

daft! they prob fit with some care but I don't think you will find many, if any, one on here who would suggest you do it. It will be a downgrade to handling, comfort and in my opinion looks. Also the speedo may read wrong after. What makes you want to do this?

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

You are going to get minced on here for asking that! Yes they do fit but you may have to trim some bimpers / arch, depending on how much you have lowered it. Personally I think they look good, however 16"s are they best compromise of handling and looks. 15" are the cheapest and give good handling on the average british road

 

Some styles of 17" wheel look good, some don't. 206 GTI 180 wheels look awesome IMHO. A plain wheel tends to suit a 205, like a classic 5 spoke, not some of the modern fiddly stuff. Ideally you want a period alloy to suit the styling. We have all seen old Ford Cortinas with modern Focus wheels on and they look wrong!

[Rom 0]

Dont do it !!

 

Im pretty sure youd have trouble with the rears rubbing. Probably the fronts too.

Youll also suffer acceleration wise.

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

lol! I started typing this when no one had replied

[markw 1]

the reason i ask is because i had 15" compomotive MOs on my old car which look lost and wanted to go with 16s on the new car,there

just seems to be more 2nd hand 17" MOs on flea bay, than the 16s i wanted so, you can all keep your hair on i was only asking!

[cybernck 400 1 Cars]

17" Compomotive MO's look amazing on a 205 .

 

so do 206/307 17's though they look a little bit too big on a standard car.

[Daz_C 8 1 Cars]

17's wil fit with abit of trimming on the rear arch trim and maybe on the underside lip of the front too, depending on the offset of the wheels. you'll need some decent/firm suspension for it not to rub on the back though, especially if its been lowered.

Some 17's on Some 205's look good IMO......

[Ricardo 0]

Surely it would depend on the size of tyres whether they would fit/rub and if the speedo was effected!

[calvinhorse 870]

my brother bought a gti which originally had 17's on and about a 40mmm drop and is totally un butchered bar the lip on the plastic rear arches.

i recon with a decent set of motorsport rims on ie compomotives it would look excellent! i think it would change the handeling alot but certainly not ruin it.

Edited November 21, 2008 by calvinhorse

[cybernck 400 1 Cars]

 

 

you can't go any larger than 205/40/17 with standard arches btw.

[Para 82 2 Cars]

Everything can be done and fitting 17" is not a big problem. It requires some work and it's worth it when you want to achieve stunning look of your car. Personally I think the best compromise it's to fit 16' as they look great and difference in handling is not very noticeable. Here are few pics of 17s

 

 

[Batfink 201]

The difference in handling will be most certainly noticeable! They may not be heavier than a set of speedlines but the rotation inertia will be apparant and the car slower due to the larger wheel size.

Theres a reason why a lot of this forum have been getting excited over the 15" C5 (steelie) alloys as they are so much lighter than the standard 1.9 wheels.

I've noticed the difference straight away when I moved my gentry from 14's to 15's and when me and my brother got rid of the speedlines on his rallye for 13" steel wheels.

 

If its just looks you want then all the above is irrelevant but your choice of style will be the difference to whether it looks gash or not.

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

Kev (Batfink) is quite right. Lighter wheel reduces unspring weight (better handling), less overall weight (better power to weight) and is similar to lightening your flywheel (quicker revving).

 

Motorsport wheels are magnesium which is lighter than alloy, can accomodate larger brakes and provide better cooling properties to the brakes. This is why WRC cars tend not to use steels. Magnesium is not cheap and goes porous over time and brittle, so they don't last long.

[DaveW 6]

17'' venoms would took top

[marc t 0]

17s are really done to the owners feelings I think. My current one has 15 TSWs and I keep thinking about trying to get an oe set of 15s instead. My old one had 17s in summer and 15s in winter. I didn't seem to throw the speedo out much but the pick up was slower. I guess that would be the weight of the wheels (but don't quote me). Also the brakes can look at bit lost in there if you can see through the wheel.

 

Mine was lowered slightly alround and I did trim the plastic lip on the arch trim and a bit on the valance.

 

 

 

 

[calvinhorse 870]

17'' venoms would took top

 

god dave, your sooooooooo cool

[bensonmi 4 2 Cars]

dont do it! i put a set on my i car took them off after a week. never again! ruined the handling and the rears caught the metal on the front corner of the sill and i needed to trim away the back bumper, could be an issue with the offset but the handling was so bad it nearly spun going in a straight lin on a couple of occasions! stick to 15's and slam it.

[Peetypug 5]

i had 17 wolfrace ikons with 205 40 17 tyres on mine for nearly 2 years without a problem

 

it wasn't lowered though

[lybker 26 2 Cars]

When I fitted 17", I didn´t want to compromise ride height - meaning I wanted it to still hit my allready shortened bumpstop first before the arches.

 

This was only possible after fitting wider arches + cutting existing ones / redoing inner arches

 

205 with 17"

 

tires are : 235/610-17"

 

reduced handling is highly compensated by the improved grip during accelleration / cornering.

 

If the car has standard power - u would deffinatly feel the difference in reduced acceleration :-)