Looking for the spec on the stock 18” wheels 

 

width,offset,tyre size. 

Cheers

The MK3 Fabia comes with 18" wheels?

According to the Latest Fabia Brochure these are the only 18" wheels available.

 

_Accessories Brochure_January 2019

 

GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND

Edited 27 June, 20196 yr by Auric Goldfinger

Thats odd they have gone for a 35 tyre actually smaller that my standard wheels! 
I guess that was the only option without going wider...

What are your standard tyres?

Top is standard. Same size overall is bottom. Recommend 40

Edited 27 June, 20196 yr by Dannyboy85

Stock 16vs18s quite a bit smaller overall on 35s

If it was  me I think I'd go for 225/35/18.  The 225 would fill the 7.5 wide rim a bit more, more rim protection

7 hours ago, Dannyboy85 said:

Top is standard. Same size overall is bottom. Recommend 40

 

 

How come you're running 215/55R16?

The standard spec is 215/45R16.

 

As follows;

   215/35R18                                                    7.5Jx18 ET46

 

 

Note, if you are actually running 215/55R16 tyres, they're about 7.5% larger than OEM and from what i've noticed, the speedo seems to over-report by roughly 5%. So you'd actually be going ~2.5% faster than your speedo says.

Edited 28 June, 20196 yr by FabiaGonzales
Bottom line

2 hours ago, FabiaGonzales said:

 

 

How come you're running 215/55R16?

The standard spec is 215/45R16.

 

As follows;

   215/35R18                                                    7.5Jx18 ET46

 

 

Note, if you are actually running 215/55R16 tyres, they're about 7.5% larger than OEM and from what i've noticed, the speedo seems to over-report by roughly 5%. So you'd actually be going ~2.5% faster than your speedo says.

No that’s my mistake, just hoping I can squeeze in some et45s in on the front! 

1 hour ago, Dannyboy85 said:

No that’s my mistake, just hoping I can squeeze in some et45s in on the front! 

 

I think the rim width (7/7.5/8J) etc, is more important for whether it'll fit. That's more of an issue than 1mm of offset difference.

 

Too big rim width on a small alloy (like an 8j on a R16 or R15) may cause grinding on the wishbone, or other parts in the wheel well.

6 hours ago, FabiaGonzales said:

 

I think the rim width (7/7.5/8J) etc, is more important for whether it'll fit. That's more of an issue than 1mm of offset difference.

 

Too big rim width on a small alloy (like an 8j on a R16 or R15) may cause grinding on the wishbone, or other parts in the wheel well.

Gone for 215-35-8j ET 42 Hopefully that will fit! I’ve only got 10mm spare between the suspension and wheel ET42 brings it in another 3mm. 

33 minutes ago, Dannyboy85 said:

Gone for 215-35-8j ET 42 Hopefully that will fit! I’ve only got 10mm spare between the suspension and wheel ET42 brings it in another 3mm. 

 

 

The lower the offset the further out it sits. ET0 would mean the mounting face of the wheel is dead centre of the wheel rim. Any positive number after that is moving the wheel further in. So ET42 is 3 mm futher out than ET45.

2 hours ago, Tech1e said:

 

The lower the offset the further out it sits. ET0 would mean the mounting face of the wheel is dead centre of the wheel rim. Any positive number after that is moving the wheel further in. So ET42 is 3 mm futher out than ET45.

Yes, but it’s a wider wheel so not same for same. 

8 hours ago, Dannyboy85 said:

Yes, but it’s a wider wheel so not same for same. 

 

What's your current? 215/45R16?

 

If you have 10mm space on a 7J ET46

The 8J is 25.4mm wider overall, call that 13mm each side.

You now have -3mm gap to the suspension...

You may need more than ET42 to clear the suspension.

 

Also 215 on an 8J is stretching it a bit.

 

I would stick to 17 inches at max personally, especially since you're on coilovers. It might get a bit rough! I test drove a car with 17's and it was noticably firmer, but not uncomfortably so. And a little noisier.

 

With corrected OEM size, and your target rim/tyres added;

 

Edited 29 June, 20196 yr by FabiaGonzales

10 hours ago, FabiaGonzales said:

 

What's your current? 215/45R16?

 

If you have 10mm space on a 7J ET46

The 8J is 25.4mm wider overall, call that 13mm each side.

You now have -3mm gap to the suspension...

You may need more than ET42 to clear the suspension.

 

Also 215 on an 8J is stretching it a bit.

 

I would stick to 17 inches at max personally, especially since you're on coilovers. It might get a bit rough! I test drove a car with 17's and it was noticably firmer, but not uncomfortably so. And a little noisier.

 

With corrected OEM size, and your target rim/tyres added;

 

Well had another remeasure and I figure there is 11mm between my wheel and suspension so it’s going to be close but should be ok. Now the tyre is closer but on an 8j tyre will be thinner than the wheel. Should be fine on the outer think it will still tuck in just. May need to raise the front slightly from 55mm lowered. I’m alright with that. 

Hight I’m on now is below. 

Had these 19s on my Audi A3 35s although a bit wider the ride quality was fine probably more down to the suspension. I keep my tyres aired up for fuel economy so can’t imagine there will be a massive change. Fingers crossed! 

3 hours ago, Dannyboy85 said:

Well had another remeasure and I figure there is 11mm between my wheel and suspension so it’s going to be close but should be ok. Now the tyre is closer but on an 8j tyre will be thinner than the wheel. Should be fine on the outer think it will still tuck in just. May need to raise the front slightly from 55mm lowered. I’m alright with that. 

 

Just make sure nothing rubs when on the ground, when its up in the air all the geometries go way off so yeah. Looks like you should be about ok. How are those ST X by KW coilovers treating you?

1 hour ago, FabiaGonzales said:

 

Just make sure nothing rubs when on the ground, when its up in the air all the geometries go way off so yeah. Looks like you should be about ok. How are those ST X by KW coilovers treating you?

I will be double checking everything! The coilovers are great! Nice and comfortable no complaints not crashy and drives well on the motorway. I do find with them and the remap it does tend to spin a bit more instead of hopping so that’s an improvement. Just ready to get some better tyres on it. 

11 hours ago, Dannyboy85 said:

The coilovers are great! Nice and comfortable no complaints not crashy and drives well on the motorway. I do find with them and the remap it does tend to spin a bit more instead of hopping so that’s an improvement.

 

Nice, considering i'll be needing shocks anyway, itll be cheaper for me to get these coilovers rather than uprated billstein shocks and eibach springs. I'll probably be keeping it about similar maybe a touch lower than the eibachs sit, 30/45 or so.

 

To further eliminate hopping, you will need to change the large bush on the wishbone, the hardest part is getting the original out. But once its out it's easily replaced with a Powerflex bush (part number: PFF85-1202). That really transforms the feel of the steering so much more responsive and refined, especially when aligned properly (if you do the bush, you will need it realigned).

 

Last thing is to swap out the sloppy stock engine mounts, preferably with Vibra-technics (VAG200M, VAG210M, VAG220M available here - note there are cheaper places like eBay where you can find them). These will increase vibration a tiny bit over stock, but it's less vibration than "poly filling" the oem mounts. The mounts will need a few hundred, maybe 1k miles to bed in properly.

 

Once that's done you should get zero wheel hop, more refined steering, smoother gearchanges, nice feeling throttle response, and maybe a bit better handling round corners since the engine won't rock about everywhere.

Edited 30 June, 20196 yr by FabiaGonzales
forgot to put part numbers...

Finally on fit perfect! About 3mm left between the suspension and set in enough I didn’t have to raise it at all!