DILEMA RE 17IN ALLOYS OR 18 IN ALLOYS

Guest · Oct 4, 2003

Dear fellow FORUM memberS

i am planning on selling my 17in wheels

I am A porsche Boxster owner of a 2.7 2002 car with 7500 miles.

I bought the car on 28/8/03 from Porsche swindon.

As you all know i skidded same day and mounted a Kerb.

Currently i have the sport Classic 1 TYPE alloy wheels.

These are 17 in wheels with P zero rosso n3 tyres

According to Porsche when car was serviced in July 2003 the wheels all had 6mm tyre tread. That was at 6000 miles

Sadly i skidded on diesel and mounted a kerbon the same day I bought the car and damaged the Rear left alloy and damaged both front left and rear left tyre.

The front alloy was replaced with a new one and two new pirelli P zero rossos were put on.

Hence now two alloy wheels have 6mm tread the other are month old.

They are all ok and all balance well.

I have bought some new 18 in Sport Classic two wheels with Continental tyres.

However the Family areobjecting to them being put on.

The reason when i crashed the car and it was recovered the RAC person who brought it home on a Trailer said that 18 in alloys are more slippery in the wet than 17 in.

He told my family that with 18in wheels the weight of a car is spread over a greater area, hence there is less grip in the wet. he said 17 in wheels are better in the wet and 18 in the dry.

I want to put on the 18 in wheels, but getting a lot of pressure from family etc NOT to.

What is your take?

Should i keep the 18 in alloys and flog my 17 in wheels

or keep my 17 in alloys and sell the 18 in alloys which are new?

Raj

daro911 · Oct 4, 2003

[

]Answers obvious really "Sell the family" [8D] keep all the alloys and before you ask you can advertise them! on ebay.co.uk [

][

]

Helen Goff · Oct 4, 2003

have the 18"for dry days and the 17"for wet days[

]

Melv · Oct 5, 2003

" the RAC person who brought it home on a Trailer said that 18 in alloys are more slippery in the wet than 17 in. "

Load of b*ll*x!!

Melv

Andy Cooke · Oct 6, 2003

The answer is simple the more rubber you have in contact with the road the more grip you have.
I have 18" wheel with sport suspension and have driven in horrendously wet conditions and have no problems. The real answer when its wet is that you need to slow down and do things gently, respect both GO and WOAH pedals and all will be well.
Porsche would not fit the 18" wheels as an option if they were unsafe.

Tony Daniel · Oct 7, 2003

The only time you would benefit from different size wheels on your car would be on snow & ice. I have 18'' Conti's and they are superb in the wet, but there isn't any tyre made that will grip on diesel[

].

P.S

Join the AA

evoke · Oct 7, 2003

Agree with all of the comments so far. And to be honest with you, will you really notice the difference if you drive normally? Michael Shumacher may be able to tell the difference but us mere mortals?

JCB.. · Oct 7, 2003

If you drive 'normally' why bother with a Boxster? ( as much as it lends itself to it ).

You certainly don't need to be F1 driver to tell when your wheel/tyre setup is correct.

If you are in any doubt stick your space saver on the back and dump the throttle or jump on the brake peddle!

JCB..

Guest · Oct 9, 2003

I was told by someone who should know what he is talking about, that the S was designed with 17" wheels but the 18" was made an option because marketing wanted it !! Says it all really.

peterfrost · Oct 9, 2003

rajuk,
My twopennyworth.
I'm on my second boxster S -first had 17" with Pirelli. I rate v.good and forgiving. I did two track days one part wet,one 5 deg C.
Do you have PSM ? It will save you in extremis,just kills the power as it goes into oversteer.
-second has 18" 5 spoke(those weight savers! that are 1kg+ a corner heavier than the 17") with dunlop 9090's looks the dogs what's its and has stacks of grip.but I would not track them. They've got too much tread pattern/depth ,bound to overheat in the dry, but great in the wet.
But for fun /track I run 17" with Continentals(not really from choice they just came with the 2nd hand wheels) these are good and I will only use in the dry by choice.
I say tyre choice is more important than diameter,and lower grip with good handling are better than a tyre that holds on and suddenly lets go.
I reckon your Pirellis would be the best.
peter

Guest · Oct 13, 2003

hiya

sorry been away due to work and not online much.

Thanks for all replies.

I decided to keep both sets.

Looking on ebay i will only get 300 to 400 for old 17 in wheels and my 18 in wheels are technically second hand as i have put them on for a few hundred miles.

I will put the 18 in on next summer and leave the 17 in ones for now.

thanks for comments