Alloy wheels?

parabola_89

Currently driving a '06 Civic 2 door (not the newer, rounded model. I managed to find one of the last registered previous models). At the moment, it's on 16", 4 stud Honda-branded alloys. They're grand and all, but I think they're a bit small for the car, and I've seen similar ones on a Jazz so you can get the idea of how they look on mine!

Looking into buying a new set, preferably with tyres included (they don't have to be the best available - something cheap like Talon will do!) but everywhere I look, prices seem to be upwards of €700 for the whole package. I'd like at least 18". Again, they don't have to be a big name - anything that looks decent will do! Anyone have any ideas where I could get something suitable in Ireland? I'd prefer to stay away from places like eBay and that because I've heard of people that have been badly caught by buying "new" wheels, when they're actually refurbished ones that've been badly kerbed. :eek:

kingbrumak

My best advice here would be to buy a smaller set of wheels. Go for a nice 16" and put the cash saved towards a nice set of matched spring and dampers or even better a reasonable set of coilovers, get it sitting nice and low on the smaller rims. It's the way things are going at the moment and fitting 18's would bring too much heart ache in the long run. You need consider the extra strain that the larger wheels will put on engine, gear box etc....

But if the 18's are what you want, and you're willing to ignore the potentially disastrous consequences, you should check out ice-tronix for a nice set of tenzo-Rs or look into a nice set of Rotas. You will pay through the nose for 18's no matter where you go. Cheaper wheels may look the part but when it comes to withstanding our excellent Irish roads they won't last as well as a good brand name. Also when thinking of 18's you should consider the fortune you have to fork out every time you need new tyres, because as with the wheels, you get what you pay for.

I know this may not be what you want to hear but it's just my two cents on big wheels!

--Kaiser--

Fitting bigger wheels is a sure fire way of slowing down your car, reducing the effectiveness of the brakes and worsening the handling, have a read of this;

Unsprung Weight Pt 1
Unsprung Weight Pt 2

parabola_89

Thanks for both of those quick replies! They've definitely given me something to think about, especially the two articles from the post above! This is my first car (so I'm basically a noob when it comes to this stuff ) and they helped a lot in explaining some of the things I've read in other threads.

kingbrumak

You don't need big wheels to look good

Tomebagel

kingbrumak wrote: »

You don't need big wheels to look good

Rota gt3's,would look great on it!

kingbrumak

Tomebagel wrote: »

Rota gt3's,would look great on it!

Love the GT3s, if you want to be ahead of the curve and take a bit of a risk. Look at coloured rims. They're huge in Japan and will be huge here before long! But again, keep the size to something reasonable.

parabola_89

kingbrumak wrote: »

You don't need big wheels to look good

Very nice! I was actually thinking of the reverse colour scheme. Mine is red so, ideally, I was looking for black wheels. You wouldn't know the specs for this would you? By that, I mean the size of the wheels and how much it's been lowered?

Midnight_EG

parabola_89 wrote: »

Very nice! I was actually thinking of the reverse colour scheme. Mine is red so, ideally, I was looking for black wheels. You wouldn't know the specs for this would you? By that, I mean the size of the wheels and how much it's been lowered?

Here's my black GT3's for you to ponder over :]


40mm drop, they'll look pretty much the same on yours

http://a.imageshack.us/img16/5469/img0654l.jpg
http://a.imageshack.us/img408/6901/img0692w.jpg

Flesh Gorden

parabola_89 wrote: »

Looking into buying a new set, preferably with tyres included but everywhere I look, prices seem to be upwards of €700 for the whole package. I'd like at least 18".

An all inclusive set of 18" alloys and tyres for €700 will come with the cheapest tyres money can buy - sava, triangle, wanli,
the types that are fairly unpredictable in the wet, not worth the saving

My last car came with a set of 17" TSW alloys and I ended up hating them, the ride was rock hard. Don't think I'd go above 15 or 16" on smaller cars from now on.

You need to be thinking about clearance issues too with larger wheels, that and the possibility of having tyres so wide they stick out from under the arches ( which I've seen on a corsa and mkIV golf and looked fairly silly)

Anyone have any ideas where I could get something suitable in Ireland?

I did a good bit of research into getting a set of 17"s for my first car and found even after delivery english companies had much better prices then anyone here, I didn't end up buying them, changed the car instead, but found topgearuk to be pretty good to deal with when getting quotes, I've bought tyres from them since as they'd great prices on toyo tires.

I'd prefer to stay away from places like eBay and that because
I've heard of people that have been badly caught by buying "new" wheels, when they're actually refurbished ones that've been badly kerbed. :eek:

To be honest, that's pretty far from the truth.

If you search for new alloys, and they're listed as new alloys, your going to get new alloys - the likes of Rochford tyres/alloywheels.com and a few other companies operate on ebay , most of those companies have their own seperate websites so they're not some fella with a few sets in a barn in fermanagh